Jenson Button pins hopes on wet Malaysian GP weekend

Button, who won a rain-hit race at Sepang in 2009, was happy with the pace of the car on intermediate tyres in Melbourne and is keen for similar conditions this weekend.

"I'd rather it was mixed conditions, then we have more of a chance to score points" said Button when asked by AUTOSPORT about the car's anticipated dry pace in Malaysia.

"Inters were very good to us in the last race, with P3 in Q2.

"When you have a quick car, you want it to be dry every day; no wind, calm, but when you don't have such a quick car you want everything thrown at the field so you have an opportunity."

Button accepts that McLaren faces another tough weekend if it stays dry.

But he is hopeful that things won't be as bad as they were in Melbourne thanks to the smoother track surface.

"It's going to be another tough weekend," said Button.

"But this is a circuit where we are a little bit lucky in terms of the bumpiness.

"It's a lot smoother than the last race, which should help us quite a bit.

"The car was bouncing around quite a bit in the last race, which doesn't help the setup.

"Where it is less bumpy, especially in low speed corners, it should really help us put the car where it should work.

"We won't be fighting at the front but at least we can get the best out of the car that we have."

While Button will not be in the battle for victory in Malaysia, he considers it unlikely that Kimi Raikkonen and Lotus will have a decisive tyre advantage and be able to win again.

"Lotus did a great job and Kimi did a great job in the race but a lot of people will have learned from what they did," he said.

"It's very different conditions with the heat and the type of circuit.

"I think you will be seeing a different winner here."