Button says 14th was best possible result

Having worked hard overnight to improve the car ahead of qualifying, Button was able to get into Q2 - but knew there was little chance of further progress.

"Realistically we got the best out of the car today, although it is frustrating that we were not quite able to put a complete lap together," he said. "On my first run in Q2, the tyres were graining during the last sector, so we tried to look after them on my second run.

"Unfortunately that meant that they did not work fully in the first sector, putting me two-tenths down on my best lap time halfway round the lap. Once the tyres started working well in the middle sector I was able to gain all of the time back and improve my lap time.

"So it's a little bit disappointing. However we improved all the way through qualifying today and have generally been working well over the weekend. It's a nice feeling as I haven't felt totally confident with the car for the last couple of races."

Teammate Barrichello could only manage 18th overall, but was equally aware of the limits of the current RA108.

"The last time that I started 18th on the grid at Hockenheim I won the race in 2000, so you never know what might happen tomorrow," he said. "Realistically the car was just not quick enough in a very competitive midfield today.

"We were losing a couple of tenths in the first sector but it was the long middle sector that really cost us time. We are having to run a compromised downforce set-up because of the straights and that then impacts the third sector through the stadium complex, so it is difficult to hook up a consistently good lap time.

"We are so close to the limit of the car's performance that if you don't quite get it right, you can lose a lot of places, and that's what happened today. I'm not sure that it is going to rain tomorrow but that's what we need to have a good race."