Button happy to be back in the points

However, he was happy to take two points for fifth, which takes his tally into double figures for the season.

"The team did a great job," he said. "It was hard for me at the start of the race but once the rear tyres had worn in a little and lost some grip, the balance was very good. The only problem was getting stuck behind (Olivier) Panis after my first stop. I couldn't get past him, and lost quite a lot of time because of it."

Ferrari showed that a two-stop strategy was the way to go at the Nurburgring, and Renault's engineering director Pat Symonds admitted that both Button and team-mate Jarno Trulli had their races compromised by getting stuck behind Kimi Raikkonen in the early stages.

"Our strategy today was built around leading McLaren at the end of the first lap," he said. "When we failed to achieve that, it was obviously going to be a difficult race. On top of this we experienced some problems on both cars with intermittent engine faults."

Trulli finished eighth after losing time with a trip over the gravel at Turn One.