Jenson Button may be in the midst of another trying season with the
Honda F1 team, but he insists that he is prepared to suffer the downside of the sport in the belief that he will soon be back in a winning position.
Eight years in the top flight appear to have flown by since Button made his debut as a fresh-faced youngster with
Williams but, one season with BAR aside, he has rarely been in a position to challenge at the front of the field. Recent campaigns with Honda have seen the Briton struggle to score points, but he maintains that there is better to come from the Brackley
equipe.
"I'm in
Formula One and that is every driver's primary goal," Button told the official F1 website when asked to assess his current status in the sport, "Beyond that, it's a question of where you are in
F1, whether you're in a good team and whether you have the experience to challenge for the world championship.
"I'm only 28 years old, yet this is already my ninth year in F1, so I have the necessary experience to win the title. I haven't got the car underneath me to do that at the moment, but that will come."
It's not just Ross Brawn's arrival at Honda that has encouraged Button, who also feels that he is having more input into the development of the current car as the team pushes forward.
"I'm working much harder now than I did in 2004, when I finished third in the world championship, because that's what you have to do to get back to the front," he explained, "I make sure that the team are making the changes that need to be made.
"I love what I do, so I have no problems with motivation. It isn't nice knowing that I'm going into the British Grand Prix without a realistic chance of battling at the front but, when I'm in the car, I push 110 per cent. That's what I do every time I get in the car; it's what I have to do to drive the team forward and ahead of what will be a better year in 2009."
