Button: BAR007 is ready to win

The British ace's upbeat projection about the pace of his new Honda-powered machine comes after it was easily able to outpace the team's Concept car, an updated version of its 2004 machine, and the new Sauber that had been marked out as a potential front-runner, during his two days of running.

Speaking to autosport.com after his first impressions of the BAR007, Button admitted that the team's confidence at the car's launch had been carried forwards - and that it was on course to keep to its target of race wins in 2005.

"We have to win this year," he told autosport.com. "We're a team that wants to move forward every season and to move forward we have to win a race.

"There's no reason why we can't win in Melbourne. We want to be ready for the season when it starts and that is why we're doing so much testing. A win is what we need and from then on it will be a case of consistently challenging for victories with whoever will be up there."

Despite an engine failure on the first day of the test, Button's running with the BAR007 has been pretty troublefree - and he has taken great heart from the fact the car has been quicker than the Concept machine.

"Testing of the 007 has gone pretty smoothly," added Button. "We had a small problem on the first day of running, which cost us a bit of time, but on Thursday we did 127 laps and a lot of tyre testing, doing lots of comparisons. We've also done some set-up work, and the balance is improving.

"We cannot say this car is going to win the world championship, but we're happy with it so far. The times are good compared to the Concept car and, if you look at the Sauber, they seem to be struggling even though they've already had a few days of testing in this very same track. So, it's nice to be in a strong position only after two days of testing."

BAR test driver Anthony Davidson has taken over duties with the BAR007 at Valencia today.