Button dismisses title hopes

Jenson Button was targeting fourth place at the Nurburgring before his retirement © Getty Images

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Jenson Button says that any slim hopes he had of challenging for the world championship have disappeared after two consecutive retirements.

Button was challenging Mark Webber for what was then fourth position during the British Grand Prix when his right front wheel was not attached properly at a pit stop and he was forced to retire. His luck didn't improve in Germany either as a hydraulic problem brought his race to a premature end when closing in on Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa, meaning he has taken just eight points since winning the Canadian Grand Prix four races ago.

Ahead of his 200th grand prix in Hungary, Button toldSporting Life that his attentions had now turned to winning individual races as he felt he had no chance of competing for the driver's title.

"It's disappointing to have so many failures, I appear to be suffering a lot of bad luck," Button said. "Hopefully we'll be over this soon, we can have a bit more luck on our side and we can have some good races. But as for the championship, I don't think we're fighting for that anymore, so I'm just going to go out there and do the best at every race I'm in. My intention now is to be back on the podium for my 200th grand prix."

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