Button: Steps forward

Jenson Button is cautiously optimistic that Brawn GP can place their recent poor form behind them at this weekend's European Grand Prix in Valencia.

The Briton assumed a dominant lead in the world championship by virtue of six victories in the first seven races of the season but the team's car has struggled for grip in the last three races.

Button has scored nine points in Britain, Germany and Hungary - his championship lead being cut to 18.5 points by nearest rival Mark Webber, who has taken 24 points in the same period.

The lack of grip the BGP001 car experienced was put down to cooler track temperatures and the team hoped their problems would be solved in the heat of Hungary.

However, despite also introducing an upgrade - including a new front wing and sidepods - at the Hungaroring, their struggles continued.

Team boss Ross Brawn and his engineers have been using the summer break to try and work out where they have gone wrong, with Button revealing that some recent changes are to be discarded in an attempt to bring the car back up to pace.

"I think we understand the car much better than we did one or two races ago," he said. "It looks positive. I hope that when we go on the circuit tomorrow it feels positive.

"We've made some steps forward since the last race. We've had a look at some of the areas we thought we improved in over the last couple of races, and we looked at the possibility of going back on those changes.

"We can be strong again - this car is not bad. I think that we went just slightly in the wrong direction, but we'll pick up our pace again.

"The changes with the car that we've made, some are definitely positive, some maybe aren't so.

"We think we know where we went wrong, but you never know 100 per cent until you get out on the circuit.

"At the end of tomorrow we might put our hands up and go 'we really don't know why we still can't get the tyres working', but I'm positive we know the reasons and we can get back to where it was."

Podium

After finishing sixth, fifth and seventh at the last three rounds, Button said he was targeting a podium finish on Sunday.

He said: "We need to get some good results. We can't finish off the podium; we need to be on the podium as often as possible."

Even so, Button conceded that with Ferrari and McLaren coming on strong in Hungary - Lewis Hamilton leading home Kimi Raikkonen last time out - the sharp end of the grid has become more competitive of late.

"It's very competitive," Button continued. "You haven't just got the Red Bulls who are strong, you've got the McLarens, the Ferraris, the Renaults and even the Williams.

"We need to get back on top of it. I've got an 18.5-point lead, but that could disappear very quickly."

Red Bull have presented the most consistent challenge to Brawn GP so far this season with both their drivers, Webber and Sebastian Vettel, in the title hunt.

Button added that he was relieved his nearest rivals drive for the same team and were therefore capable of taking points off one another.

"The Red Bulls have been very competitive, especially the last few races," he said. "The only positive that I can take out of that is that there's two of them and not just one.

"You'd say at the start of the season that Vettel was quicker and Mark was more consistent maybe, but Mark has upped his game, and at the last couple of races he's been very strong.

"He's got the advantage over Vettel, but Vettel's not going to settle in for third in the championship - he's still fighting."