Jenson Button fears his Formula One world title dreams will slip through his fingers unless his team arrest the current slide.

After six wins from the opening seven races, Button has failed to make the podium in the last three rounds, finishing seventh in yesterday's Hungarian Grand Prix.

While Brawn GP have struggled, Red Bull have been the form team with Mark Webber cutting the Briton's lead to 18.5 points after finishing third at the Hungaroring.

Button has drawn comparisons between himself and a cyclist leading the Tour de France but who is unable to climb.

“I feel like I'm wearing the yellow jersey knowing that when I get to the mountains I'm going to be useless and overtaken,” he said.

“I've lost 15 points to Webber over the last three races, which is massive — five points per race.

“He'll be in front of me in four races time, and there are seven races left, so it's not a comfortable lead, but I can't do anything about it. We're leading the championship, but it is inevitable they are going to overtake us if the performances keep going like they are. We've got to sort it out.”

The one saving grace for Button is McLaren and Ferrari have finally rediscovered their form, with Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen one and two yesterday.

Now driving much quicker cars, and aided by the power boost from KERS, Formula One's old order was restored at the Hungaroring.

It means the teams are not only taking points off Button but also the Red Bulls of Webber and Sebastian Vettel, who had claimed one-twos in the previous couple of races.

“In a way it's good because the Red Bulls are suffering a little,” said Button. “They're finding it a bit difficult, which is nice.

“At the next race in Valencia, KERS is reasonably important, but the big KERS circuits will be Spa and Monza. I feel they are going to destroy us on those two circuits — which is maybe a good thing!”
Webber, though, does not believe that the KERS cars will dominate the rest of the season.

He said: “Thankfully we capitalised in the early part of the championship when the McLarens and Ferraris were struggling in terms of points, which was a big benefit to us.

“Despite KERS, we're going to continue to be in the hunt and still be very much a force. Our guys have a lot of positive things to look forward to.”

Hamilton, meanwhile, will use his victory at Hungary as the launch pad for a concerted challenge to win back the drivers' crown next year.

The Briton has no chance of retaining his title but the manner in which McLaren have transformed a car, which was virtually uncontrollable earlier in the season, into a winner has given Hamilton hope for the future.

He said: “It is important that we continue to push. We want to come back next year with the best possible chance of winning the championship, so we need to keep working and understand everything to help us make a good foundation for next season. Clearly we have a good car now. We have made some serious improvements and now it is much better balanced.”

The success ended Hamilton's five-race drought without a point, and 10 since the last time he took the chequered flag in China last October.

He added: “You've seen ourselves and Ferrari stepping up our game, and if we'd had this car at the beginning of the season I reckon we'd have won more races. But we always said we were six months behind the top guys and, sure enough, six months later we're back at the front.”

The FIA imposed a one-race ban on Renault after Fernando Alonso lost a wheel in the s race.

Motorsport's governing body said stewards concluded Alonso had been released from a pit stop without the safety retaining device for the right front wheel being locked in position, and that the team had failed to inform the Spaniard of the situation by radio.