Button career in first gear as Honda stall

While Lewis Hamilton heads into tomorrow's Malaysian Grand Prix full of hope, Button is left pondering an uncertain future.

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He claims not to be envious of the new kid on the grid and keeps up the pretence that all is harmonious behind the scenes at Honda. However, the truth is that he has been badly let down by the team he paid £10million to stay with when Williams tried to lure him away two years ago.

He finished 15th fastest in both yesterday's practice sessions, matching his dismal performance in the season-opening race in Melbourne three weeks ago. His critics will cite a perceived lack of determination and say that he is blaming the car for his own shortcomings.

But Super Aguri's Anthony Davidson, who observed Button at close quarters during six years as Honda's test driver, believes his friend has the gumption to turn his fortunes round.

He said: "You will rarely seen Jenson crack under the pressure.

"From all the years I have been racing against him the one thing that he has worked on is his racing ability.

"That is awesome now. His wheel-to-wheel performance is really good. In Brazil last year he drove really well. The overtaking moves were great.

"The other thing he has had to work on is the fact when the equipment is not right there is to get the best out of it. He is a much more complete driver now.

"When he was at Benetton and the car was not good you could see the old school Jenson. 'The car is not there so why should I bother?'

"But he knows it is serious stuff now and I have seen that work ethic in him.

"He has got a relaxed way about him but people read into that wrongly. It's unfair."

Welcome though Davidson's endorsement will be, Button's predicament is partially out of his hands. Nick Fry, Honda's chief executive, is working away behind the scenes to rectify their problems, but he is hampered by the fact the operation is split between Northamptonshire and Japan.

Fry said: "We're going to do everything we can to make this car into a winner. We will explore every avenue, but we will build a new car if that's what it takes for Jenson. Honda are determined to win. Period."

Button is trying to stay positive, but, at 27 and in his eighth season, time seems to be running out on his ambition of winning the world title. Neither of the leading two teams, Ferrari or McLaren, need or want him.

He said: "There's no use firing people willy nilly for the hell of it to show that you are doing something. That's no help at all.

"We are not just sitting back saying the car's rubbish, let's concentrate on next year. We understand now a lot more about what went wrong with the design and it's unbelievable the work going on non-stop, night and day.

"We are not going to be winning for the next three or four races, exciting knowing so many big things are being changed, and maybe it's a good thing for the long term."

The spotlight will again fall on Hamilton, who set the third fastest time in practice yesterday behind Ferrari's Felipe Massa and his own McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso.

The 22-year-old from Hertfordshire believes he can win a race this season but there seems no stopping Ferrari cantering to victory in sun-baked Sepang. Even their fear that Kimi Raikkonen might require an unscheduled engine change were allayed by Ferrari boss Jean Todt.

Raikkonen did not even have to push to win commandingly in Melbourne, while Massa came through the field from the back of the grid to finish sixth. Nothing much seems to have changed since then, with some paddock observers believing the title will be Raikkonen's as early as August.

The best chance of an upset, and even a Hamilton victory here, would seem to hinge on the weather.

It is regularly up to 50deg Centigrade on the track, but, if the showers forecast for tomorrow arrive, the race will become a lottery.

Raikkonen said: "It's been a reasonably good day, even though I am not completely happy with the set-up of my car. Having said that I think we can fight for first place."

Nobody would disagree.