- Japanese GP
Button backs FIA's running of the Japanese Grand Prix
Jenson Button believes the FIA did "a really good job" of managing Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix in difficult conditions.
The race was stopped after Jules Bianchi crashed into a recovery vehicle and suffered severe head injuries, for which he is being treated at Mie General Hospital. The race was initially red flagged after just two laps due to heavy rain, before a drier spell in which over 30 laps were completed. Before Bianchi's accident more rain had started to fall and some drivers questioned whether a safety car should be deployed, but Button believes the FIA reacted in the right way to the conditions.
"Big accidents happen and it's an accident," he said. "We go out racing and we give it our all and sometimes something like this happens. Our thoughts are massively with Jules and his family right now. It's tough for everyone, but especially Jules. Our thoughts are with him and I hope he's okay.
"We raced at 15:20 when it was green flagged again behind the safety car again. I think the FIA did a really good job of controlling the situation. It's so difficult and they are listening to us the whole time. We want to go racing but we want to do it in a safe way, and by the time the spray is not too much you are almost on intermediate tyres already - it's that sort of thing around here, I think it must be the asphalt.
"It's massive amounts of spray that makes it dangerous rather than the grip level around here. It was called at the right time, I think, and I think they did a very good job of controlling the situation because it's not easy on them either."
Button said the only surprise was when the race initially started under a safety car at 15:00 after heavy rain, but believes the correct decision was made two laps later when the racing was postponed until the rain had passed.
"When we were sat on the grid initially and said the race was going to start at 15:00, it was a bit of a shock . I've never seen race like that at the start of a race. It was the safety car for two laps and then they did the right thing and they called it and red flagged it.
"Then we went back out behind the safety car and I think the FIA were in an unbelievably difficult position. They want to put the show on for the fans, but obviously our safety is very important. I think they called it well when the safety car came in, that was correct."
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