Button was 'always out of control' in 'scary' Chinese GP

Jenson Button has revealed that he was 'pretty much always out of control' en route to third position in a 'scary' and 'dangerous' Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai at the weekend - as he acknowledged the need for Brawn GP to address the issue that it has in getting heat into the tyres in wet conditions as soon as possible.

On a drenched track surface and with the rain continuing to fall with a good deal of fervour, the Formula 1 World Championship leader conceded that he had been powerless to prevent the Red Bulls of Mark Webber and then Sebastian Vettel from coming past him and ending his hitherto unbroken early-season run of supremacy.

If the two energy drinks-backed machines were practically walking on water, then the Mercedes-powered BGP 001 was comparatively tip-toeing around the circuit - and it is a situation that Button is adamant cannot be permitted to endure.

"I was pretty much just always out of control," the British star reflected. "There's always been a lot of spray in Formula 1 - I don't think that has changed - but for some reason we seem to be having a lot of wet races over the last couple of years, which I think stick in our memories more. The wet is always difficult, but this year and Fuji two years ago and a couple of wet races in-between have for me been a lot more difficult and challenging for sure, because of the aquaplaning and just not getting heat into the tyres.

"I think everyone was struggling with the aquaplaning out there. We thought it would be raining, but it was amazing the amount of water build-up considering it hadn't been raining that hard, compared to Sepang. It was pretty crazy conditions into the last corner - it was a just a lake and you couldn't actually brake for the corner. A few other places were the same.

"I didn't expect so much aquaplaning. If it's wet, it's wet - you can normally master the line and try and find an area on the circuit where it's dry or where you're not aquaplaning, but here it's very, very difficult. You're aquaplaning as you come onto the main straight and as you go down the dip across the start-and-finish line, and in those conditions there's nothing you can do and it's very, very scary in a way.

"Normally when you follow a car you see the two lines in the water and you know exactly where they've been, and you can follow that line because there's less water there - but I never saw any lines on the circuit. That was the amazing thing. The water didn't seem to clear and that was the worst thing about it, I think.

"I was also really struggling to get some heat into the tyres. They were shuddering because you can't get temperature into them, fronts and rears. The tyres don't seem to work as well as previously in the very wet conditions; we don't seem to be able to break through the water.

"Obviously these guys (Red Bull) could get them to work, so it wasn't such a bad problem for them, but [for us] it was a difficult race and every lap you thought you were going to throw the car off, you really did. Rubens [Barrichello - team-mate] and I struggled quite a bit, and it's a new issue for me. I don't know what the reason for that is. I hope we will solve those problems in the future, because we cannot let these guys be that far in front."

Indeed, when the Frome-born ace took the chequered flag he was the best part of three-quarters of a minute adrift of race-winner Vettel, and more than half a minute behind second-placed Webber, suggesting that Red Bull's superiority in inclement conditions is anything but negligible. He also enjoyed a spirited battle with the latter along the way, but admitted that it was always going to be a question of 'when' rather than 'if' his Australian rival found a way by.

"I was just waiting for Mark to appear, well not appear in my mirrors, but appear in front," the 29-year-old recounted. "I knew that the Red Bulls obviously had very good pace - we saw that in the first stint and when the safety car came in, [because] they seemed to be very strong from the word 'go'. Our pace could get closer to them, but when we're on cold tyres they could really get their car working, which is very impressive.

"After the first stop, I was back in front of Mark, due to the difference in stop laps, but I felt like I was really slow, because I was trying to miss every river. The problem with that is that it changes every lap - the conditions are changing every lap and the position of the rivers is changing every lap, so it makes it very, very difficult.

"I got to the second-to-last corner and locked up the fronts. Mark went through, I tried to stay with him but there was no chance and then he made a mistake in the last corner where I jumped back past him again. The problem was, for everyone who was racing, you can't see the car in front, where he is and when you're in front you can't see the car behind. It makes it quite dangerous. You might say it's more fun, but it's not, it's quite dangerous.

"Mark did a great move round the outside of turn seven. I didn't have a clue where he was, and he was alongside at turn eight and it was such a shock as you can't see anything when it is raining. Then he just cut across the front and made the move stick. For me it was impossible to do anything about it. As soon as these guys get near you or alongside you, you cannot challenge them and it would have been silly to have tried. We couldn't challenge these two guys - they were immensely quick.

"From then on really it was just holding on and getting to the end of the race, because for all of us, however quick or slow you drive, it's just as dangerous and it was so easy to throw the car off as we saw with [Adrian] Sutil, in a pretty fast part of the circuit. It could have easily happened to any of us. Getting to the end of the race, in spite of being third and not being on the top step, was such a relief."