Button: BAR Improvement Not Enough

The British BAR driver, who finished third in last year's Championship, said the car had improved in testing in the two weeks since his home race at Silverstone but still not enough.

"We've made progress but it's not enough to challenge them, I don't think," said Button who will start on the front row of the grid alongside McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen in Sunday's race.

"Maybe I should be a bit more upbeat but that's the way it is.

"Hopefully, we will be closer here which we'll be very happy with and we can keep moving forward throughout the year and hopefully get a bit closer and maybe challenge towards the end, I don't know."

"If we are closer to the Renaults and McLarens tomorrow then that is a positive change for us and a move forward, so that is our aim.

"I have to say, the team has done a great job this weekend and Honda with the engine and it is great to be back on the front row again."

Button described his drive to second place behind Michael Schumacher at Hockenheim last year as the best of his career and he has saved some of his best performances for the circuit, which was shortened three years after his debut in 1999.

"It's a circuit that I've enjoyed a lot, the shorter Hockenheim, but I've also had some good races on the long circuit," he said.

"My first year here I finished fourth in the wet behind DC (David Coulthard) and it's a great circuit, I always enjoy it here.

"I have never qualified inside the top 12, so it's nice to be on the front row and it's a lot easier starting from this position."

Button was on pole at the Canadian Grand Prix, only for the Renaults of Championship leader Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella to sweep past him before the first corner.

"The McLarens and Renaults seem to be very good off the line so it is going to be interesting to see where we end up in turn one," he said.

Button is 12th in the drivers standings after losing a podium finish and two races to his team's disqualification and subsequent ban for a breach of the technical regulations at the San Marino Grand Prix.

A decision on the future of the 25-year-old , who is wanted by BAR and Williams, is likely to be decided over the next month.