McLaren driver Jenson Button said that he was pushing as hard as he could in the final stages of the Brazilian Grand Prix, as he fought hard with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso for the final podium place at the Interlagos track.
Button managed to secure third place in the final stint of the race, utilising his better pace on the harder Pirelli tyres to catch and pass Alonso.He then attempted to catch up with the leading Red Bulls, but made little impression on their huge lead.
But despite being a well-beaten third, Button said that he was pushing 'like qualifying' during the final stint, and said that a change of tyres trategy had helped him to overhaul Alonso.
"I had no pace on the softer tyres," he mused in the post-race press conference, "So I used the harder rubber in the last two stints and it worked pretty well.
"Ferrari struggled on the harder tyres and I managed to make the pass [on Alonso]. Every lap was like a qualifying lap."
He also suggested that a bold move by Alonso earlier in the race around the outside of turn six had actually been less spectacular than it appeared.
"Fernando was very close out of Turn 5 and so I covered line for Turn 6," he rambled, "Normally it's quite easy to block there.
"I looked back to see where he was, then looked back in front and saw lots of debris on the inside, from Michael's puncture I think.
"I didn't want to drive through it so I backed off but I couldn't go left because he was already there, so I just had to pull in behind him."
Meanwhile, his team mate Lewis Hamilton said that he was just happy to end his disappointing 2011 season, after seeing his hopes of a strong finish at Interlagos vanish with a gearbox failure.
"I'm just happy the season's done. I think it's been an interesting year, and today I was giving my all," he told reporters after the race.
"I feel like I enjoyed the race and it's a bit unfortunate for us and the for the team that we weren't able to get the extra points, but otherwise I enjoyed racing out there."
He added: "We've had a long, long year. I'm looking forward to a bit of down time and then just attacking next year. I've got lots I can improve on, but I feel it's all positive, even if we didn't have a great result today."
The DNF confirmed that Hamilton finished fifth in the final championship standings, while Button secured the runners-up spot with third place.
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