Button: KERS will boost McLaren

KERS will return to the sport next season, having been outlawed this year, and although Button has never used the system himself, he expects it to more than make up for the loss of the F-duct - which was pioneered by McLaren.

"We don't have the F-duct next year, which is a bit sad because we have a great system," Button said during a McLaren webchat.

"I've never driven with KERS before, but this team used KERS last year and used it well - I know because they kept coming by me at the start!

"They have so much experience in that area that I think we'll have an advantage - as will Mercedes and Force India, who use Mercedes engines.

"We'll have an advantage on Red Bull and Ferrari I think, which is great. We'll take every advantage we possibly can."

Button also believes the change from adjustable front to rear wings will have a significant impact on the handling of the cars over a race distance.

"We're only going to be able to adjust the rear wing for overtaking, when we're within a second of another car, so it's not going to help the balance," he said.

"It's unfortunate that we're losing the adjustable front wing, that's going to make the balance very difficult. We're running 150kg of fuel at the start of the race and 5kg at the end, so we're going to have very difference balance and it's going to be tough for us - you'll see a lot of cars oversteering and understeering, and not being able to change it."

Aside from the return of KERS, the removal of the F-duct and the adjustable wing tweaks, Button says the regulations remain static enough that the 2011 cars will be evolutions of the current models.

"The rest of the car is pretty much the same," Button said. "If you don't have big regulation changes, a lot of what you develop through the year is used next season. For us that's good, we ended the year with a strong package. But there's always room for improvement.

"We really want to fight Red Bull and Ferrari next season and we need to push hard this winter - that's exactly what we're doing. I enjoy being involved with the development of the car - especially when you get the reward at the end of it. It's going to be a long winter but I'm very excited about next year."