Button Hopes to Have F1 Taped Again in 2002

Jenson Button watched most of last season's Formula One races when he returned home afterwards but he has not bothered to programme the video recorder much this year.

"I can't remember the races this year actually. I try to block them out of my memory," the 21-year-old Briton said with a grin at Suzuka's season-ending Japanese Grand Prix. "I watched one race this year...I think it was Spa. And I didn't watch much of that, either. I fell asleep.

"I watched most of the races last year. But normally when you get home, if you've had a bad weekend you don't want to go over it again, do you?"

The Benetton driver has come down to earth with a bump this season after an outstanding debut with Williams, when he became the youngest man to score a Championship point in Formula One. He also qualified third at Spa, one of the classic circuits that sorts the men from the boys.

This year he has scored just two points. A ninth place on the grid at Suzuka was the best qualifying performance of his year. Ask Button about the highest point of a season in which he has had to face off rumours that he was in danger of losing his place, and he shrugs.

"Don't know really, it's difficult that," he replied, speaking before Sunday's race when he finished seventh. "There haven't been many. Flying home"

Target Silverstone

"But it's just got better all season which is a good thing. There have been lots of low points but it's just gradually got better all year."

Button says that next year, with the team becoming Renault, should be even better. The optimism, so lacking at the start of the season when Benetton were struggling to outqualify the Minardis, is back to such an extent that he can even talk of winning a race now.

"A lot of other teams don't seem to have got any better throughout the season but I think we're one of the best teams for that so it's very promising for next year," he said. "If they (Renault) can make the same steps forward over the winter I think we'll be able to be qualifying in the top 10 at the start of the season and winning by Silverstone," he said.

"I'll have a go at winning at Silverstone. Next season it's 100 percent Renault and everyone's going to know about it and be watching with open eyes. I think it's great," he added. "I think they've done a great job halfway through the season to step up and keep the improvements flooding in. They've got a long winter and hopefully they can make some big changes again."

Button said he had learned a lot more in his second year about setting up a car with race engineers and hoped that too would show next year. And after a mentally and physically demanding second year in Formula One, he intends to double his training, with a week in Kenya in November, before regular testing resumes in January.

"Over the winter I'm going to be training like Hell, big-time training," said the Briton, who said he was still suffering back pains in the car. "I'll do twice as much hopefully. I'm really into it and mentally I think it's going to help as well."