Button battles against the odds

An engine failure in first free practice caused Button to spin into the wall and meant that his set-up time at a new track to F1 was severely restricted as the team rebuilt and fitted a new engine to the car. The R202 was never completely to his liking, so he had to settle for a midfield place in a very competitive session.

"After what happened this morning 13th is not too bad," he said. "I want to thank the boys for all their work - they did a great job today. The car isn't exactly how I want it, but we haven't had enough running time to solve the problem."

Team-mate Jarno Trulli was also heading for a midfield starting slot when he pulled a great lap out of the bag with his final effort and vaulted up to eighth. It was as high as the Italian had been all weekend.

"The track got better and better through the session and we had to change the car to suit that," he said. "We have been struggling a bit this weekend and eighth is a very good result which should allow us to fight for points tomorrow."