Brawn: Button handling title pressure

Button was forced to retire from the Belgian Grand Prix through an accident not of his making, and the Briton has seen his points lead dwindle to just 16 ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello with five races to go.

"There is a lot of pressure on drivers, this is pressure we have never had before and he has got to get used to it," Brawn told the BBC. "But he is handling it very well."

Brawn added that he has reminded his driver that prior to the season Button and the team were not even in the world championship, let alone contenders to win it.

"I keep saying to guy just look back six months and we didn't have a team," he said. "Whatever we get will be a huge bonus.

"It will be frustrating if we don't get where we want to, but what we get will be huge."

Button admitted afterwards that his first retirement of the season stemmed from his poor qualifying form, having caught up in a midfield pile-up with Romain Grosjean.

"I got a very good start, I got past Lewis [Hamilton] and obviously Rubens [Barrichello] had his problem," he told the BBC. "I got pushed a bit wide at Turn 1 but I think I made up about four places at the start.

"As we were going up the straight to Turn five, I went to the outside of Heikki [Kovalainen], braked, turned in and I was still on the outside, and Grosjean out-braked himself and hit my back wheel. I don't think he was even trying to overtake me.

"So it was frustrating to be taken out like that, especially when I had made up quite a few places at the start and that Rubens had had his problem, which was obviously good for me.

"It's the first time I haven't finished a race by this year and basically it was because I was back in 14th on the grid."