F1: A fun day out at the Spa

Sometimes, no matter how hard he tries, Jenson Button's body language gives away the truth under the words he says. The reality of the 2011 Belgian Grand Prix was that, for the third time in recent races, a team cock-up cost Button a chance of victory.

In qualifying, Button was called into the pits at the end of Q2. Politely, he questioned the decision: "are you sure?" he asked. The decision bumped him out of the top ten as car after car flashed over the line and relegated him down the grid. P13.

That put him down amongst the argy-bargy at the start of the race which was more like a junior kart race than a Formula One start. Within 100 metres, Button's race strategy - like Michael Schumacher who had crashed in P1 and started last (the stewards let him race despite not setting a time within 107% of the leaders) - Button had started on hard tyres. As the end-plate on his rear wing shredded following DiResta being punted into the back of the McLaren, Button's race seemed all but done. But, unusually in recent events, the team was on top of the situation. They told him to stay out until lap 5. When he pitted they switched him to soft tyres. It looked like a poor decision as the heavy car floundered for the next ten laps or so. Then, almost as if someone had unleashed a beast, the car started to do as Button told it.

There's a thing about a racing line: it's got more rubber on it so the car grips better; off the racing line the rubber is in little balls, called marbles, that grind off tyres as they move laterally across the track while the car drives the wheels forward - driving off-line is like driving on ball bearings. So overtaking on the outside of a bend is, except in very race cases, a definite no-no. And this year, it's even more so as the Pirelli tyres shred and shed marbles at a rate that leaves a significant build up across much more of the track than in previous years.

But not for Button when his car is working: lap after lap, car after car - in one case two cars at a time, Button blasted around the outside of the cars he was chasing. In a sport where grip is the single most important factor - without it the car flies off the track even if it's going slowly - Button proved that, given the car he wants, he can drive it on any part of the track. And he did it on tyres that were often several laps past their prime as he stretched their life beyond that other drivers considered acceptable.

Finishing third having been in the bottom half of the field at half-time demonstrated exactly why Button is a Champion. His drive showed exactly why he will be one again, if the car works. And if the team doesn't screw up.

But for Button, who has failed to finish in two races where, amongst other things, a wheel fell off as he left the pits, coming third was scant consolation. His additional pit stop plus the slow first five laps added to the disadvantage of having to battle his way through the midfield twice put him at least a minute behind Vettel whose flawless drive from pole to victory is seen as the mark of a great driver. And nothing should be taken away from him or his team-mate Webber who finished a fine second, still scratching his head and wondering what Vettel finds in an identical car to make him consistently faster.

But the results show one glaring thing: give Button back that missing minute and he would have finished more than half a minute ahead of Vettel.

The pace was there: Hamilton, who started on the second row, was as quick as the Red Bulls in the early stages. Then an error saw him turn in as Kobayashi fought back after the McLaren had passed him. Hamilton had a massive crash, his immobile yellow helmet in the cockpit raising awful memories of an immobile yellow helmet on Senna. But he was not injured and was not unconscious, merely winded his team later said.

Michael Schumacher, claiming 20 years in F1 (conveniently forgetting his years out), started last and fought a clean race (odd how that seems an important thing to mention) to finish fourth - after his team mate received a series of messages that appeared to suggest that Rosberg should give way to his older (and, this year at least) far less successful big brother.That was embarrassing: Schumacher's drive to 5th had been stellar - it was marred by what has all the appearance of a cheap trick.