Button sees light at the end of the tunnel

The 21-year-old was 17th fastest - six places behind team mate Giancarlo Fisichella - after being plagued by a water leak, but the Benettons look to be heading for their first top 15 grid position after a difficult start to the season.

"I know we can do better and I'm pushing as hard as I can to get there," said Button, who has just moved to the Principality. "Our performance has picked up today compared to recent races and I think we have a better basis from which to make progress. If anything my chassis was perhaps set a bit too low today but we will sort that out for qualifying"

The Enstone-based team has struggled so far this year, running uncharacteristically towards the back of the grid. Fisichella scored the team's only point of the season in Brazil and Button's best result is 10th in the same race.

"Monaco is always a hectic race and we made things even harder for ourselves because we found a problem with our control software on the installation lap," said Benetton's director of engineering Pat Symonds.

"The car seems much more competitive here and Giancarlo's times reflect that. Unfortunately Jenson had to stop during the afternoon with a substantial water leak and didn't get a chance to run on new tyres."