Button 'happy' with achievements

Jenson Button said that he is "happy" with what he has achieved in 2011, saying it is been "a pretty strong year".

Button has won three races and emerged as the most consistent challenger to Sebastian Vettel in the second half of the season, with eight other podium finishes leaving him on the verge of securing second place in the drivers' championship. However, Button said that his finishing position in the standings was not as important of race wins, although acknowledged it would still be an achievement to be proud of.

"[Being runner-up] is not so important I suppose," Button said. "I think it's nice to know over a season you can finish in front of obviously some very good drivers but also some teams. To finish in front of a Red Bull would be great, considering that Sebastian's won the championship in a Red Bull. And Fernando has obviously been very strong in the Ferrari so, if I get the chance to beat them at the end of the season in terms of points, yeah, of course I'll be happy but as we all say, we'd rather come away from here with a victory, that means more to us than finishing second in the Championship - but it's still nice, I suppose, if you can come away with second.

"Looking back on 2011, yeah, I'm pretty happy with what I've achieved. We haven't been quite good enough to win the Championship but I think we've had a pretty strong year and hopefully we can build on what we've achieved this year, next year and really take the fight to Red Bull."

When asked if it had been satisfying for him to beat team-mate Lewis Hamilton over the season, Button said it was the individual race results like his victory in Japan which were more important to him.

"I think if we're fighting for the World Championship and one of us came out on top it would be a very special feeling but we're not in that position right now but for me, I'm happy with what I've achieved this year in terms of getting the best out of the car and getting some reasonably good performance. For me, Japan really stands out as being a great race, but also some other races that we haven't been able to win, so I take more comfort from just the results I've got out of…on a race weekend, and also how I've felt that I've done over a race weekend."

ESPNF1