Button Keen to Stay at Renault

Jenson Button has made clear that he wants to stay on at Renault after his contract with the Formula One team expires at the end of the year.

"I've been pleased with my performances and certainly it would be nice to stay with Renault," the English driver told weekly paper Motorsport News on Wednesday.

"They are clearly moving up the grid and in the next few years it is not impossible that they could be challenging Ferrari. It's not good to keep chopping and changing teams. At McLaren, Ferrari and Williams they have kept their driver line-ups for a couple of years," he said.

"When you swap teams you have new people and a new car and it takes a while to get used to the way of working."

Button was loaned to Renault by Williams, with whom he has a long term deal, at the end of his debut season in 2000. The 22-year-old struggled last season but has been impressive this year and has scored eight of Renault's 11 points.

His form has increased his chances of staying and Spaniard Fernando Alonso, the test driver who was seen as a strong candidate to replace Button, is testing with Jaguar at Silverstone this week.

Renault boss Patrick Faure said he was very happy with Button's performances this year and recognised that Alonso, who drove for Minardi in 2001, was unlikely to want to remain a test driver for much longer.

"We haven't decided our team of drivers for next year," he said in Monaco last weekend. "Obviously Fernando is part of the equation. But it is conceivable that we could loan him out to another team while we retain a long-term contract with him."

Eddie Irvine's contract at Jaguar is up for renewal while Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa has another year to run.