Jenson Button is turning Japanese
By GEOFF SWEET
ESS FINE ... Button with his girlfriend Jessica Michibata
JENSON BUTTON last night revealed he is turning Japanese in a bid to wrestle every last point from his next three exhausting races.
On Sunday, he faces Formula One's toughest test in Singapore — a circuit where the heat and humidity can go off the scale and even the fittest drivers wilt.
Button, 31, took time off from the debate over an £80million deal with McLaren or a possible move to Red Bull or Ferrari to give his verdict on the gruelling leg of the season, which also takes in the Japanese and Korean Grands Prix by October 16.
It is a real sweat racing in the Far East, so that is exactly where the 2009 world champion will live to ensure he is fully acclimatised.
The Frome flier, whose girlfriend Jessica is Japanese, has his work cut out chasing down Fernando Alonso's Ferrari for second place behind inevitable title winner, Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.
Button explained: "For the next month I will rent an apartment in Tokyo with my girlfriend Jessica.
"I pretty much live there when I'm not at each of these next three races in Singapore, Japan and Korea. I never spend as many days in one place during the year as I do in Japan during September and October.
"It's very humid in Singapore and it's pretty humid in Japan and Korea. So you're better off preparing for these races in Japan than you are in Europe."
The biggest test awaits Button this weekend. The Singapore GP — F1's only night race — is more punishing than any other.
So tough that Button admitted: "At the end of the race all the drivers sit in their cars for a few moments before getting out. If you get out too quickly, you feel light-headed and dizzy.
"So this is the grand prix we train for. It's almost too tough — you're totally drained by the end. If you look at pictures on the podium, you can tell the drivers are not completely with it, due to the heat and dehydration."
The 61-lap race runs close to the sport's two-hour time limit. It is 20 minutes longer than the Malaysian GP staged 200 miles to the north — and that extra effort takes its toll.
Adding to the physical demands is the timetable. The race does not start until 8pm so drivers, engineers and mechanics become nocturnal to ensure they are at peak performance late in the day.
With Vettel 112 points clear of Alonso and 177 in front of Button himself, the Brit is not focusing on another world title — only a strong end to the year in the final six races with India, Abu Dhabi and Brazil also still to come.
He admitted: "My goal for the rest of the year is to win as many races as I can. That will at least give the team a good springboard into 2012."
Credit: The Sun (www.thesun.co.uk)
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