Korean GP win to be fought out between McLaren and Red Bull, says Jenson Button

Button starts third on the grid, having been bumped off the front row by new world champion Sebastian Vettel as Lewis Hamilton took pole, but says he reckons the race is wide open given the high tyre degradation expected in the race.

"As a team and in terms of the car, I think we are in a great place right now," said Button, "I really don't know how the race is going to go tomorrow but you would think it would be between us and the Red Bulls. I don't think Ferrari is that far behind in terms of consistency over one lap they don't have the pace in race consistency.

"It is a great way to end the season, as a team we are obviously disappointed we could not get this performance earlier in the year, but it can only be good for next year. Obviously there are rule changes but having a good base for this year going into 2012 is something we really need."

Button added that while he was a bit disappointed not to be on pole, he felt he was in a strong position to record back-to-back victories following his Suzuka triumph last weekend.

"We all want to be on pole position, and congratulations to Lewis for getting pole, he's been quick all weekend and tough to get hold to," he said. "I am reasonably happy and we can race well from here, as Seb [Vettel] said there is lot to play for.

"We haven't a clue in terms of tyre degradation on high fuel so it's a little bit of an unknown but another challenge tomorrow."

Asked what the key performance factors in the race would be, Button replied: "Being quick! That is something we have been good at in the last few races in terms of consistency.

"We know the tyres have a short life here and if you can make any difference by looking after them is a little bit unknown tomorrow. We will see, but I think everyone is looking forward to tomorrow, it should be a lot of fun.

"We are finding our feet on high fuel, seeing how it feels and acts. Today was a reasonably good day for me, obviously thought we could fight for first but Lewis was too quick today but all in all a pretty good day and looks good for tomorrow."