Button 'Amazed' by McLaren, Renault Pace

Button had hoped to have claimed a spot on the podium after securing second place on the grid, but in the end his BAR just did not have the pace to match the front-runners and he steadily lost ground over the course of the race.

"You are never going to be happy (to finish fifth), but you cannot expect any more because the top two cars are staggering," said Button after the race. "I was following them in the quick corners and the difference in performance is amazing.

"It is a little bit worrying for the rest of the year, although a little encouraging that I managed to finish 35 seconds ahead of the rest of the competition."

Button said that BAR's lack of pace had not been down to any specific fault on the car.

"This wasn't just an issue with one end of the car - there just was not enough grip."

Button's boss, Nick Fry, was trying to keep a positive frame of mind about BAR's pace at Silverstone - although he admitted that the team needed to make big improvements in this week's test at Jerez in Spain.

"We were not quite quick enough," he told ITV. "We are clearly faster than the Ferrari and closer to the Renault. So we have the third fastest car but we need to work harder.

"We have got three days of testing in Jerez this week and we will work like crazy. Our testing is going well indeed, but we have just got to work harder."