Button mystified by 'gripless' seventh

The world champion could only manage seventh on the grid and was more than 0.7s slower than team-mate Lewis Hamilton, and said afterwards that he had struggled throughout qualifying with a lack of grip - which contributed to more than one grassy moment.

"The car was good yesterday and this morning we were very happy with it," Button told the BBC. "But this afternoon I just couldn't get the tyre temperature and really struggled with locking, front and rear, and generally low grip.

"I couldn't find any grip out there. I'm disappointed to be that far down, Lewis was a lot quicker, but still only fourth.

"So a bit of head-scratching going to be going on in a minute, but the good thing is that I am going to be on the clean side and there are a couple of long straights after the start so it is going to be a fun first lap."

Button added that there are opportunities to be taken at the start of the race and that wet weather conditions might also play their part on Sunday.

"It's whatever the weather does," he said. "If it is cold like this then it is tricky for everyone to get heat into the tyres, especially the fronts if you have got that much fuel on board. It's going to be tough whatever the weather does, also there is a chance of rain tomorrow. It's all up in the air a little bit.

"You can make or break your race on the first lap so we will be looking for a good start and to make up some places."