Jenson Button has insisted he is happy with his current lot at
Honda in the 2008
Formula 1 World Championship, despite having but three points to his name so far this year courtesy of a single sixth-place finish in Spain.
Honda has failed to make the kind of progress many had expected the squad to make under the guidance of new team principal and former
Ferrari strategic genius Ross Brawn, with a paltry eight points on the board full stop and just two top ten qualifying showings, one ninth position apiece for Button and team-mate
Rubens Barrichello in Bahrain and Montreal respectively.
Indeed, Button has not now tasted podium champagne for an agonising 26 races, and he rates his chances of ascending the rostrum in front of his home fans in this weekend's British Grand Prix slim-to-none. The 28-year-old's best result at
Silverstone is the fourth spot he registered back in 2004, though he qualified on the front row of the grid the following season.
“You always want to do well in your home grand prix,” he reflected, speaking to international news agency
Reuters. “We might get some points, which will be a big bonus, but I'm going to have to leave it to Lewis [Hamilton] to fight for the victory.
“The last two years [at Silverstone] have been pretty tough. I had a problem with the engine in 2006 and last year we just weren't quick enough basically, so this year I just want to get some points in my home grand prix.”
The Frome-born ace has scored a total of 232 points since he made his top flight debut as a fresh-faced British F3 graduate with
Williams eight years ago, but only nine of those points have come over the course of an overwhelmingly disheartening past couple of campaigns.
Having outwardly pledged his future to Honda for the years to come, however, Button is convinced the time for him to fight for the top step of the rostrum will come around again.
