Button Positive after Promising Day

Button was third fastest in the first session and, after switching his focus to long runs in the afternoon, the BAR driver ended up ninth overall.

"A very straightforward and positive first day for us," he said. "We've had no distractions from our usual set-up and tyre programme and we achieved plenty of running.

"It is however extremely hot, but that's what we've come to expect from the Hungaroring and we train to deal with these conditions. So far, so good and let's hope for the same from the rest of the weekend."

Button's trouble-free day was in contrast to the drama suffered by teammate Takuma Sato, who was hit by a driveshaft boot failure in second practice that left him stranded in the garage for much of the afternoon.

"The first session went well this morning - it was pretty straightforward running," said the Japanese. "This afternoon we tried a slightly different set-up and the car was performing well until we had a driveshaft boot failure which ended my session early.

"It's a shame that I could not do my scheduled programme this afternoon so I will have to rely on Michelin's advice and hope that we have a trouble-free day tomorrow."