Button: 'I can be champ within four years'

That is the length of the deal Button has struck with BAR boss David Richards, the final two being options that both men are keen to take up at this early stage of their working relationship.

The team has struggled to become competitive since it entered F1 in 1999, and only scored its first points of this season at Silverstone. But after driving for Williams and Renault, Button does not see the move to the Honda-powered outfit as a risky step down.

"No not at all," he said. "It is not a gamble. It's a team that is going to improve definitely through the next few years, even next year the package is going to be a lot stronger.

"There are some very good people on board at the team, one being David and also Geoff Willis, the technical director. I worked with him at Williams and he is a very good guy who is obviously very good at his job. I don't exactly know what it is going to be like next year, but you have to go on trust and I have known David for a long time and what he has achieved in the past. From what I have heard it is very positive. It is a team that will be world champion in the future."

"It's a team that will keep on improving. There is a lot happening over the winter and it's more of a long-term thing. This is the team I think I will be world champion with."

When asked if he thought this could happen within four years, he said: "I think so."

Button discovered that Renault were dropping him for 2003 in favour of test driver Fernando Alonso the day after the British Grand Prix. He had offers on the table from Jaguar, Toyota and Sauber as well as BAR, and chose the latter after negotiations with Richards at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

He signed the BAR contract on the Sunday night of the French GP, having earlier beaten his Renault team-mate Jarno Trulli to sixth place at Magny-Cours.