Buoyed by the performance of his
Honda RA108 in Barcelona,
Jenson Button exuded confidence when asked about the team's prospects of marking
Rubens Barrichello's record-breaking
F1 appearance with more points.
Although the Brazilian was unlucky in Spain, Button managed to take advantage of some unexpected retirements, as well as the improvements made to his own car, to claim sixth place at the Circuit de Catalunya - and believes that Istanbul Park could prove equally fruitful this weekend.
"It was very encouraging," the Briton said of Barcelona, "The first few races, in qualifying, were reasonable, but I struggled in the race to have a good performance, [so] it was finally nice to get to the end of a grand prix - and to be not just scoring one point, but to get three points on the board.
"It was a good race and the pace of the car was reasonable. There is a lot of work still to be done, but the positives are that we are improving and, every race we go to, we feel we are getting a little bit more out of the car. So far, everything is going to plan and we've got a few tweaks here which should make a bit of time. Also this is a circuit which I think will suit our car a little bit more than Barcelona, which is very bumpy [when] ride quality is an area where we are lacking.
"We have got a few tweaks on that side and [Istanbul Park] is a smoother circuit, so I will be looking for a good performance in qualifying and then we will see. If everyone finishes, it is very difficult to score points because you have got six very fast cars and you are fighting over two points, but we will aim for points, for sure."
Button admitted that he remained unsure about
Bridgestone's tyre selection for the round, which takes place three months earlier in the schedule than any of its three previous editions.
