Button: BAR test form is real

The Briton ended last week's crucial Jerez test just 0.012s slower than Ralf Schumacher's Williams, and has continued to set impressive times at Valencia this week. Button has declared himself ultra-confident that the new BAR006 is a genuine contender which could bring the team its first Formula 1 win.

Although he admitted that earlier lap record runs at Barcelona were deliberately focused on out-and-out speed, Button claimed that more recent performances have come without any specific effort on setting the quickest lap time.

Speaking exclusively to AUTOSPORT, Button said: "Apart from Barcelona, both with the new car and the interim model, we haven't really gone out to break the lap record. Now it's just happening that we are quick because of our work - and that is great and helping to lift everyone in the team.

"I don't know where the others are compared to us, but at the moment we are just running through all our testing programmes and somehow we always manage to be quick, which is good news. The times have come as a consequence of the speed of the car, not because we are going out with fuel loads to set quick times."