Button back on his way to bounce

Button back on his way to bounce

Jenson Button is determined to put himself back into the world championship race at Monza after his disappointment in Belgium.

The reigning champion lost ground to his main rivals, Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber, as they finished first and second in the Belgian GP while Button retired from the race after being taken out by Sebastian Vettel.

As a result, the Briton now trails his team-mate by 35 points in the drivers' championship. But, with 150 points still to race for, Button is by no means out of the running and hopes to prove that at next weekend's Italian GP.

"Obviously, my non-finish in Spa wasn't ideal for my championship aspirations, so I head to Monza next weekend determined to put myself back in the hunt for the title," he said.

"Our pace over the whole weekend in Belgium was extremely encouraging - we're developing the car at a very rapid rate, and we're learning more about it all the time, so I'm optimistic that we'll be able to maintain that form in Italy next weekend.

"We still have some work to do to make sure the package we bring to Italy is perfectly suited to the track, but I'm confident that our engineers have made some good steps forward with their understanding of our car, so we should be in good shape.

"I love racing at Monza - it's a totally unique experience; running minimal downforce at incredible speeds along the straights, and then coping with the lack of grip, and an extremely skittish car, through the low-speed stuff.

"Given the competitiveness at the front of the field, this could be an intense, thrilling grand prix."

Jenson Button is determined to put himself back into the world championship race at Monza after his disappointment in Belgium.

The reigning champion lost ground to his main rivals, Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber, as they finished first and second in the Belgian GP while Button retired from the race after being taken out by Sebastian Vettel.

As a result, the Briton now trails his team-mate by 35 points in the drivers' championship. But, with 150 points still to race for, Button is by no means out of the running and hopes to prove that at next weekend's Italian GP.

"Obviously, my non-finish in Spa wasn't ideal for my championship aspirations, so I head to Monza next weekend determined to put myself back in the hunt for the title," he said.

"Our pace over the whole weekend in Belgium was extremely encouraging - we're developing the car at a very rapid rate, and we're learning more about it all the time, so I'm optimistic that we'll be able to maintain that form in Italy next weekend.

"We still have some work to do to make sure the package we bring to Italy is perfectly suited to the track, but I'm confident that our engineers have made some good steps forward with their understanding of our car, so we should be in good shape.

"I love racing at Monza - it's a totally unique experience; running minimal downforce at incredible speeds along the straights, and then coping with the lack of grip, and an extremely skittish car, through the low-speed stuff.

"Given the competitiveness at the front of the field, this could be an intense, thrilling grand prix."