Button predicts difficult race

Button, looking for his sixth consecutive points finish this weekend, admitted he was struggling with his car's handling when loaded with fuel, a bad omen ahead of tomorrow's race.

"I would obviously have liked to be further up the grid here but we made the best of what we had today," said Button. "On low fuel the car was very good but as soon as we put the fuel in we were struggling for rear grip.

"For some reason, in these windy conditions, the car doesn't work so well but we're expecting it to be a lot calmer tomorrow.

"I think it will be a tough race but I know we will have tremendous support from the Honda fans out there and we will do everything we can to secure a good result."

Teammate Rubens Barrichello qualified right behind Button, the Brazilian thankful to his Honda team after helping him get into the top ten.

"I would like to thank all the boys for doing a tremendous job. When the circumstances are not working in your favour it's very difficult, but we have done the best job we can," said Barrichello.

"Thanks to the hard work of the team I was able to qualify well inside the top ten today. This is obviously our home race so we will be giving it everything we have tomorrow in order to secure the best possible result and to put on a good show for our home crowd."