Button: McLaren move totally justified

Jenson Button says his position in this year's championship shows his decision to move to McLaren is completely justified now

The Briton clinched last year's title with the Brawn GP team - now Mercedes GP - but decided to leave the Brackley-based squad to drive alongside Lewis Hamilton at McLaren.

Although some questioned Button's decision to leave world championship-winning squad, the world champion reckons his strong first part of the season show his move was only right.

Button is currently three points off the lead of the championship, having won two races so far.

"I think it really justifies my decision to join McLaren at the start of the year," Button said on his official website.

"I know there were some people who were openly questioning that decision, and my motivation for moving, but I think I've shown that it was the right move.

"One of the motivating factors was being able to watch - from the outside - how much performance the team was able to bring to last year's car, transforming it from a backmarker into a race winner.

"That really struck me, because it not only showed how much development power is available to them, but also how hungry they were to chase performance, particularly when it would have been easier to knock it on the head quite early on and focus on 2010. That racer's approach really excited me," added Button, whose former team is already over 100 points behind McLaren in the standings.

The British driver also admitted he is enjoying the new challenge, especially in such a close championship.

"I always said that I was looking for a new challenge, and that's exactly what I've got: it's exciting to be working and racing alongside Lewis, and it's a real buzz to be the world champion and to be fighting for the championship again," he added.

"Being in the thick of it is exactly what being a racing driver is all about. This is an incredible season - and we should all really enjoy it.

"And that really struck me after the race on Sunday- in the press conference, you had three world champions on the podium - when was the last time that happened? And it makes you realise what an incredible field we have this year."