Button clinches rain-swept Canadian Grand Prix on Pirelli P Zeros

Jan. 1, 2020
Tires played a central role at Montreal's Canadian Grand Prix over the weekend. After a prolonged red flag period due to torrential rain, Jenson Button claimed his first win of the year using three different types of Pirelli P Zero Formula One rubber
Tires played a central role at Montreal's Canadian Grand Prix over the weekend. After a prolonged red flag period due to torrential rain, Jenson Button claimed his first win of the year using three different types of Pirelli P Zero Formula One rubber.

Button passed Sebastian Vettel on the final lap to win the race, despite a collision with his teammate, a drive-through penalty and five pit stops, which at one point in the race had Button back in 21st place.

The race began in wet conditions behind the safety car for the first four laps, which meant that all the cars started on the P Zero Orange full wet tires – the first time that this has happened all year. Button was the first driver to switch to the debut P Zero Blue intermediate tires on lap eight.

However, the rain returned just over half an hour after the race started and brought out the safety car. Shortly afterwards, on lap 24, the race was red-flagged as conditions were un-driveable. According to the rules, teams were allowed to change tires and work on their cars while they waited for racing to resume.

The race restarted nearly two hours later, once again on the P Zero Orange tires. As conditions dried out, the leading runners moved onto intermediate tires, then slick tires. Button made a final stop for the P Zero Red supersoft tires on lap 51 to win the race by 2.7 seconds, having taken full advantage of one more safety car period with just 12 laps to go.

Vettel – who led every lap apart from the final one – finished second on the P Zero Red supersoft tires after three stops, while teammate Mark Webber was third. The final eight laps saw a frenetic battle for the podium places, with Vettel defending from Button, Webber and Michael Schumacher.

 

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The finish occurred nearly four and a half hours after the race began.

“This was one of the most thrilling and unpredictable grands prix we have seen so far this season, with an amazing drive from Jenson Button and all three podium places decided on the very final lap,” observes Paul Hembery, Pirelli’s motorsports director.

“We finally got a wet race, which showcased the effectiveness of our P Zero Orange full wet and also the P Zero Blue intermediate tire,” he says.

“Once the race re-started, it was very interesting for us to run the wet and intermediate tire down to the crossover point, which we’ve never done before in competition,” Hembery points out. “This proved to be a key point in the strategy as both Button and Vettel showed. We really enjoyed watching Kamui Kobayashi as well, who delivered a fantastically spirited drive in a race that was well worth the wait. The final battle for the podium was definitely one of our highlights of the year so far.”

For more information, visit www.us.pirelli.com.

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