Button predicts battle to the wire

Red Bull's Mark Webber is leading the standings, five points ahead of Lewis Hamilton and 19 in front of Fernando Alonso.

Button sits just one point behind the Spaniard, with Sebastian Vettel two points adrift of the Briton with five races left.

The reigning world champion, who finished in second behind Alonso at Monza last Sunday, admitted he finds it hard to believe how close this season has been.

He also conceded the result in Italy was a boost for his championship hopes, despite losing out to Alonso.

"Absolutely, because I took the opportunity with both hands, and I scored 18 points on a day when Lewis scored none, Mark took home eight and Sebastian 12," said Button on his website.

"Now, you can't help but look at the drivers' championship table and just think, 'wow, how can it be so close?' It's funny - after Spa, everyone was saying it was a two-horse race between Lewis and Mark, but I can easily see this championship going right down to the last race.

"I think we've seen that no one driver's going to walk away with the world title - there's going to be a fight right to the very end."

Button says consistency will be key to take this year's title, but he reckons there are times when a driver simply has to push hard and go for victory.

He believes the experience from last year will be useful to him in the final races.

"I think you have to take each race as it comes," he said. "I think that driving just to score a certain number of points isn't in a racing driver's psyche: I felt that a little bit last year, I knew I only had to keep scoring consistently to take the title, but that was probably more mentally taxing than just putting your head down and going for it.

"For instance, at Interlagos last year, I had nothing to really lose - I was 14th on the grid and my team-mate was on pole. What did I have to gain by driving steadily and taking home a handful of points? I just went for it, and that was a really liberating race for me, and an experience that will be useful this year too.

"I think consistency is important in some ways though: obviously, you need a car that will get you to the finish of every grand prix, and you don't want to start making knee-jerk, or radical, decisions on set-up or strategy because you think it might give you an advantage.

"We're racers, so we'll always be racing - but the pressure's now on all of us, because none of us can afford another non-finish or a mistake. And the guy who cracks least will be world champion."