Button sets sight on third straight pole

The championship leader has started from the top spot and won in Australia and Malaysia, and he continued with his strong run today, going quickest of all in the afternoon session.

"Obviously we want to be on pole, that is always the aim, and when you are at the front you are out of the trouble in Turn One," said Button.

"We obviously want to be as far up as possible but that is not our only aim, it is about having a good balance for the race and if you watch qualifying we have obviously been on pole but also have a good strategy for the race.

"It is a circuit I've enjoyed in the past and I've had some reasonably good results here in the past, even with a difficult car.

"I am looking forward to it and it is quite a similar circuit to Sepang, our tyre compounds are also reasonably difficult to work with, the softer of the two is graining, so we are going to have to work hard to stop that graining, and again the tyres are going to be very important this weekend and getting them working in the correct operating range."

The Brawn GP driver insisted he has been delighted with his return to the top after two season in the doldrums.

"It is obviously a great feeling. It is not just me, we have all worked so hard for this," Button added. "Because you have had a couple of bad seasons it doesn't mean you have lost your passion for the sport, and your love for the sport.

"It goes not just for myself but for Rubens and the rest of the team, we have finally produced a car that is competitive and we are getting the best out of it.

"It is not our fault we have built a good car, and when a regulation changes I think things change in F1. We have seen changed. Some people might not be that happy about it, but instead of getting angry and putting their views out there, they need to concentrate on improving and catching us up."

Button added that the diffuser row, despite rival teams being unhappy about the FIA's decision, will not taint the championship.

"We had legal issues last year and the year before we had legal issues with other teams. It is not a problem because if parts on our car were illegal it would be an issue, but they are not.

"They are legal, it is just other teams have questioned the legality of our parts and the court has said they are legal. Nothing matters except we have got the performance and other people don't seem to have it at the moment."