Button believes V8s could help him

The Honda Racing star, who had his first taste of V8 power during testing at Barcelona last week, believes the need for smooth and consistent driving with the new engines will be perfect for his style.

"The engine does feel differently, definitely," said Button, speaking at the BRDC Awards at Silverstone. "There is not as much torque there as with a V10 engine, although most V10 engines in F1 haven't got a lot of torque anyway.

"But when you really notice it is when you make a mistake. Because the torque isn't there you cannot pull yourself out of a difficult situation so easily. And that is really going to hurt some people who aren't consistent next year - which is a good thing.

"It is a different way of driving definitely. You do have to change your style slightly because it is very important to be smooth with the car and  not lose time.

"Hopefully it will help me, we'll see. It's strange because you go though turn three at Barcelona, and I've never done that corner flat and in a V8 it's flat. It's not even a corner anymore. We're still doing pretty high speeds in the high speed corners."

Button also believes that the change of engine regulations will likely benefit the major car manufacturers - because they have got the resources needed to make the most out of the rules.

"I think you will see the top manufacturers really shining through in 2006 because it is a massive change - it is the biggest change of the decade really," he added. "And you'll see Honda being very strong. Toyota will also be very strong. And probably BMW, but it is difficult to know what Ilmor (Mercedes) are going to do."