US GP: Button says action-packed race shows Austin an ideal venue

The McLaren driver was able to battle through to fifth, despite falling to 16th place on lap one with a bad start from 12th on the grid.

"The end result obviously isn't what we wanted. But I had so many great fights with about half the field," said Button.

"It's a great place to race here. The low grip on the first lap made it very tricky. I think every car went off the circuit at some point. It was like driving in the wet.

"But we put on a great show. Hopefully the American fans really enjoyed today. I don't think we could've done any better really."

The Briton was also delighted with how clean the battles had been, including one spectacular dice with Kimi Raikkonen in particular.

"There was a lot of overtaking, and most of it was very clean - which was good to see," Button said.

"Kimi gave me room on the outside. He's fair."

Button acknowledged that he had been among those most sceptical about Austin's overtaking potential at the start of the weekend.

"I seemed to be wrong on that, which is good..." he joked.

"From 12th, you wouldn't say fifth is that amazing, but from where I was on the first lap, you would."