Button wants wins over championship runner-up spot

Jenson Button says it would be "nice" to finish second in the drivers' championship this season, but that another race win "would mean so much more".

Since Sebastian Vettel confirmed back-to-back titles at the Japanese Grand Prix in early October attention has turned to the battle for second place in the championship. Button, Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber are separated by just 19 points, while Lewis Hamilton also has a mathematical chance of finishing second, and having been Vettel's closest challenger throughout the second half of the season Button said he would like to secure the runner-up spot.

"It's nice to know that if I do finish second I will have beaten a Red Bull (Webber), which is good," Button told the Press Association."Sebastian has done an unbelievable job this year, but he still has a team-mate, and to beat a guy in a Red Bull is great every time.

"And when Fernando is in tune with his car, it's great to beat him because he is super fast, and then there is also my team-mate who is unbelievably quick. So yeah, it would be nice to finish in front of them in the championship."

Button did admit, however, that he would prefer to win another grand prix, having finished second to Vettel in Italy, Singapore and India in recent races.

"As I've said before, if I could get another win then that would mean so much more to me this year. I've three already, and I'd like another in Abu Dhabi, Brazil, or maybe even both. Quite a few times this year, especially over the last few races, I have been the closest guy to Sebastian when he has won.

"We're certainly closer now than we were this time last year at the end of the season. We're much stronger at the moment, we're in a good place right now, which is a positive. We're still not quite as good as the Red Bulls, but they're not a big chunk ahead of us. It's very, very close. But when they get into the lead they don't make any mistakes, so it's tricky."

ESPNF1