Button Eyes Second Place in the Standings

Briton Jenson Button has targeted second place in this season's Drivers' Championship after closing the gap on Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello in the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim on Sunday.

BAR'S Button produced the best race of his career to finish second behind Michael Schumacher and would probably have given the Ferrari World Champion a hard time had he not been relegated 10 places on the grid because of an engine change on Friday.

Brazilian Barrichello, who hit the rear of David Coulthard's McLaren after a re-start and was forced to pit for a new front wing, placed 12th.

"Two races ago, I didn't imagine I could challenge Rubens in the Ferrari, but there's a good possibility now, the car is running very strong," Button told reporters on Tuesday.

"We've got a really good chance of getting that second spot," added the Englishman, who lies third in the standings on 61 points, 13 behind Barrichello.

In South Africa to promote a photographic exhibition commissioned by his BAR team, Button believes his first World Championship is not far away.

"The car (Ferrari) itself, the reliability and Michael seems to be doing a very good job himself...(but) as a team we are there, we are getting closer and closer," he said. "He (Schumacher) hasn't just walked away with every race. There have been some challenges and I think the racing behind Michael has been fantastic."

Schumacher, who equalled his own record of 11 wins in a single season with victory from pole position on Sunday, is now 36 points clear of teammate Barrichello and closer to an inevitable and unprecedented seventh title.

The German has won all but one of the year's 12 races, with six still to come.