Button Pleased with Strong Fourth Place

Briton Jenson Button was delighted after finishing in a strong fourth position for his BAR team at Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix at the A1-Ring circuit.

"I had a great race; I really enjoyed it," said Button, who has scored eight points so far this year. "I matched my best race finish today so it's great to be back up there getting the points again. This is just what the team needed - and deserved. We earned our result today; it wasn't just a fluke.

"I've had a great weekend all round really. I think we've shown how quick we are all the way through practice and qualifying, and today's was a genuine race performance. It was nice to be able to challenge the front-runners, which is what we are capable of doing.

"We have to maintain the momentum now and I'll be doing three days' testing in Valencia next week in preparation for Monaco to make sure that happens."

Meanwhile, Canadian teammate Jacques Villeneuve endured a torrid race that was hampered very early on. The BAR driver was able to finish, but he did it in a disappointing 12th position.

"We had a problem all the way through the race because the electronics on the steering stopped working on the first lap," explained Villeneuve. "I had no limiter button, no idea of which gear I was in, no neutral - no nothing. I had to do it all manually. My race engineer was even counting my speed down for me coming into the pits.

"I've had problems in four races out of six now and it's obviously very frustrating. It's a great shame because it will be difficult for us to get a car that's better than this in race trim. It felt really great. I'll just have to continue working hard and hopefully things will come good for me soon."