Alonso regret at over staying Ferrari welcome

That is the terrible bit.

Under the old rules, which were tweaked mid-season, Button and Alonso would have taken heavy grid penalties with additional in-race time penalties for any position-drops that could not be served.

“A lot of people go through disgusting experiences in life and it is definitely not one that I would wish upon anyone”.

“You can replace money and jewellery”, he continued, “it obviously hurts because of the sentimental value of things like the engagement ring. That is all replaceable but our health isn’t”.

“I woke up and the drawer next to the bed was open and I thought immediately that was odd”, he said.

But that never materialized, as he returned to an increasingly uncompetitive Renault after an ill-fated move to McLaren, then had five years at Ferrari in which his racing reputation was widely praised – but not rewarded in silverware.

“Spa is a truly spectacular circuit, arguably the best on the calendar for many, but given the unique power and downforce package required the track won’t play to our strengths”, Boullier told reporters. “I had the issue in Brazil a few years ago, so you do worry”.

“Sometimes, with Ferrari, you win or you lose depending on what the mood of the team in general, of the group in general”, he said.

“It’s always scary but it is behind us now”.

“It was unusual no one woke up but one of the officers we spoke to said it could be that we were gassed, so that is where that came from”.

“But the most important thing is to win and to feel competitive – and at the moment Mercedes are the guys that we need to beat”, added Alonso, referring to the dominance of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, who have won eight of this season’s 10 races.

Button spent the final week of his time off during Formula One’s four-week mid-season European summer break with his wife’s family in Japan.

“The support from fans has been unbelievable – nearly bigger than when I won the world championship”.

Meanwhile, Button has sought to dampen down any expectation that Honda are set to produce a seismic performance boost this weekend when the sport reconvenes for the Belgian GP after McLaren’s engine providers elected to spend three of their remaining seven development tokens. Both Button and his team-mate Fernando Alonso expect to start the race at the back.