Button ecstatic after best qualifying yet

The Williams driver was an early spinner in this morning's practice. His beached car was then hit by Eddie Irvine's out of control Jaguar before Button had even managed to get out of the cockpit, badly damaging the Williams-BMW FW22

'The day started off quite badly,' the 20-year-old admitted. 'However the track got drier and drier and there was more of a dry line out there to take. The team did a great job on the timing of my runs, I was very happy with the balance of the car and I was confident I could do a good time.'

Despite his confident attitude, Button did confess to feeling especially emotional about this result.

'I didn't quite expect to be sixth on the grid and given that it's the British Grand Prix, I feel absolutely fantastic,' he said afterwards.

'I feel very excited about lining up on the grid next to Michael Schumacher tomorrow. I'm just looking forward to a good race. Hopefully we'll get a good crowd and I'll try to give them something to cheer about.'