Button baffled by Honda's relapse

The Briton is baffled by the fact that the RA107 has struggled at Silverstone after showing signs of significant progress at last weekend's French Grand Prix.

"I am surprised after Magny-Cours that the car is not behaving well," said Button, who failed to make it past the first qualifying session.

"It is bumpy here, which might have something to do with it, but we are surprised that we are not on the pace of France. We really have to look into it after this weekend to find out the reasons why."

Button said that his car was not just slow, but had also lost the consistency and balance that it had shown in France.

"It feels very different," he said. "The rear stability isn't very good and even if you have a lot of understeer in the car, the rear stability isn't good. So it is really strange. I don't know what has changed."

The only good news for Button is that the back pain that kept him out of the car on Friday afternoon had now eased.

"The back is alright," he said. "It is hurting a little bit but it is not a problem. It doesn't slow me down.

"But it is disappointing to be this far down. Two or three years ago I was second on the grid here.

"We will see what we can do. It will be difficult to score points. I think our race pace is as usual better than qualifying, but it needs to be a hell of a lot more than qualifying."