Happy Button relieved after problems

Third driver Anthony Davidson brought the first session of yesterday's practice to a halt after only three minutes when his car's engine let go in a cloud of smoke, spewing oil across the circuit.

He managed more laps in the afternoon before hurriedly pulling over with the rear of his car in flames after a similar failure.

Following Friday's problems, the team decided to revert to the previous specification engine, ditching plans to run a newer version at Monza.

As a result, Button and Rubens Barrichello did not turn a wheel all day in order to avoid a penalty for changing their engine.

Button and Barrichello finally took to the track on Saturday, with the Briton qualifying in a promising sixth.

"I'm really pleased with how qualifying has gone today," said Button. "We were a little bit apprehensive because we didn't get to run any new tyres in free practice this morning and when I went out in qualifying one there was a red flag, so we still hadn't run any new tyres by the end of that session.

"I got through Q1 and Q2 though and in Q3 the long run pace was very good, which bodes well for tomorrow. On one lap we still couldn't get a strong lap out of the car until my last qualy run when I put it sixth on the grid. I'm happy.

"I got everything I could out of the car and the most important thing is that we know we are competitive for the race, so a similar story to Turkey really."

Barrichello, ninth today, added: "Qualifying went well today considering that I didn't do any running on Friday, so a top ten finish with both cars is pretty good. Our race pace is good and I think we're quite confident with the strategy, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow."