Button hopeful of race charge after being knocked out in Q1 at Silverstone

The McLaren driver - who has never finished on the podium in his home race in his Formula 1 career so far - struggled for tyre temperature early in Q1, then was stymied by the return of the rain and yellow flags for Timo Glock's Club spin when on a much better lap at the end of the segment.

Button was 18th fastest, but will gain one position from Toro Rosso driver Jean-Eric Vergne being demoted 10 places for his clash with Heikki Kovalainen in Valencia.

With more rain expected on Sunday, Button hopes that saving tyres in qualifying could turn out to be advantageous.

"We don't get that many tyres, so this could actually be a good thing," he said. "If tomorrow's wet - which we think it's going to be - then we haven't put as much mileage on the tyres. You've got to take the positives, because it was a very unlucky session."

He added: "Obviously I'd rather put on a much better show for the fans on Saturday, but not getting heat into the fronts is the story of my year so I'm not too upset. It's pretty normal and I know I can drive a racing car in the wet, so it shouldn't be a problem tomorrow."

Button said the difference between the two sets of tyres he used in Q1 was significant, but that he had grown accustomed to such problems this season.

"It felt completely different [on the second set]," he said. "I came out of the pits and could actually get heat into the tyres straight away and it felt good, whereas with the first set I came out of the pits and had front shuddering and just couldn't get fronts up to temperature. The story of my year, really."

The Briton had no doubt that his final lap would have got him beyond Q1 but for the rain around Stowe and Club, and the yellows for the stranded Marussia.

"I gained almost 1.7s according to my dash compared to the previous lap-ime, which wouldn't have just got me in, it would've given us the quickest laptime," said Button. "It's a pity but it just wasn't meant to be."