Button places blame on Montoya for demise.

Jenson Button laid blame for his demise from the United States Grand Prix firmly at the door of Juan Pablo Montoya after he was involved in the turn two pile up at Indianapolis.

It was a disappointing end to the weekend for Button, who was chasing his first points finish since Spain, having managed his best qualifying performance in two months in seventh place

02.07.2006 Indianapolis, USA,
Jenson Button (GBR), Honda Racing F1 Team, RA106 retires from the ra
02.07.2006 Indianapolis, USA, Jenson Button (GBR), Honda Racing F1 Team,…
© Crash Dot Net Ltd

Jenson Button laid blame for his demise from the United States Grand Prix firmly at the door of Juan Pablo Montoya after he was involved in the turn two pile up at Indianapolis.

It was a disappointing end to the weekend for Button, who was chasing his first points finish since Spain, having managed his best qualifying performance in two months in seventh place

However, when he was squeezed between Kimi Raikkonen and Nick Heidfeld, he was pitched into a spin that did more damage than was immediately obvious.

Indeed, while Raikkonen, Heidfeld, Montoya and Scott Speed were unable to continue, Button did finish the first lap but it was soon discovered his Honda was losing water due to damage to the radiator and with rules stipulating that it could not be topped up, he was forced to retire.

Button was adamant as to whom was at fault for the accident and could not hide his frustration at not being able to continue.

"It's really disappointing because we were fuelled to go long and I think the strategy would have worked well for us. We had a great opportunity today. I was approaching turn two and we were already three abreast when Montoya decided to get past all three of us at the same time.

"He had a lot of room to go up the inside so I don't really know why he hit my back wheel, but that pushed me into Heidfeld who hit my right rear which launched his car into the air. I saw him roll and it was all just a big mess really.

"We came in and the guys worked on the car but it became clear that it would not have been able to finish the race. The impact was so hard I'm surprised I was able to drive away from it, never mind get back to the pits, so it just goes to show what a strong car we have."

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