Happy Button enjoys 'fun' race

The Honda driver was looking set for fifth place until he moved past Nick Heidfeld on the final lap, just seconds before the BMW Sauber driver was hit from behind by Button's teammate Rubens Barrichello.

"I'm really pleased to have finished where I started in fourth position," said Button, who struggled for pace during part of the race. "Initially the car felt really good; I was pulling away from the field well and staying in touch with the cars in front.

"Then I started to struggle with the rear tyres which were practically bald so I had to come in early for my first pitstop. I had no rear grip and because of that I was losing three seconds or more a lap.

"In the dry there was only one line and from that point I was just in my element really. It was a lot of fun and reminded me of the karting days when I won the European Championships back in 1997.

"Into the last corner I was in front of Rubens and de la Rosa and I came down the inside of Heidfeld, turned into the corner and when I looked into my mirrors I could see the people behind me were going straight on and into each other.

"There are a few areas where we are weak which we need to work on, but we are still fired up for our home race in Japan next weekend."

Barrichello finished in sixth position after the last-lap crash, from which Pedro de la Rosa benefited to pass the Brazilian for fifth.

"My race was OK, although my car was better on the wet tyres than the 'slicks'," he said. "It was a real shame that my last lap was ruined and there were some problems with the backmarkers so I lost time and two positions.

"Heidfeld was forced to make an avoiding manoeuvre in turn 2 but I was there on the track already and we touched, which damaged my front wing.

"With the resulting loss of front downforce, I lost more time over the remainder of that final lap. There was more confusion at the hairpin, and again Heidfeld and I came together, but I managed to recover to finish the race. 4th and 6th is another good team result.

"We are looking competitive for our home race next weekend when I hope we can secure another good team result in front of the Japanese crowd."