• Hungarian Grand Prix - FP2

Button expecting 'fierce battle' at the front

Jenson Button was only sixth quickest in FP2, which was affected by a heavy rain shower mid-way through the session © Press Association

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• Report:
• Hamilton fastest in mixed conditions
  

• Race:
• Hungarian Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Jenson Button

• Teams:
• McLaren

Jenson Button is expecting "a fierce battle" at the Hungarian Grand Prix due to the closely-matched grid.

Off the back of his second place in Germany, Button was second quickest in FP1 on Friday morning before being sixth in the second session. While pleased with how quick the car was during the first session, Button said he hadn't been able to make much progress in the afternoon and was wary of the close competition.

"The first session was reasonably good - it's good to see that we're competitive straight out of the box," Button said. "This afternoon's session we tried some different things to help the balance; I don't think it was the right thing to do so we've gone back on most of them. But I'm pretty happy with the car and I think we're reasonably competitive around here, but the second session proved that a lot of people are quite competitive around here so it's going to be a fierce battle this weekend and from what we've heard it should be dry most of the weekend."

With the MP4-27 having received a major upgrade in Germany, Button said there were some more new parts that had been tested on Friday.

"We have a few little things that we're using this weekend and we feel that we have a good car - we have had since Hockenheim - so we should be competitive but we don't know how competitive yet. That's what practice is all about really, getting a feel for the car and getting it ready for qualy and the race."

Button added that another poor qualifying performance would not ruin his race hopes, despite the Hungaroring being notoriously tough to overtake on.

"I don't think it's that bad; there are worse circuits for overtaking. We'll see. I think we will still see people overtaking, especially in the DRS zone down the pit straight. Elsewhere it is pretty tricky to make a move stick, but it's a fun circuit to drive. Qualifying is important, yes, but it's not the end of it."