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'We'll fight right to the very end' - Button

Jenson Button is determined to stay in the title fight © Getty Images

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Jenson Button is preparing himself for a championship fight that lasts until the very last race of the season in Abu Dhabi.

After coming second at the Italian Grand Prix, Button closed the gap to the top of the championship to 22 points with a potential 125 points still up for grabs. He said the perception of who is the favourite had changed between the Belgian Grand Prix and the Italian and sees no reason why it should not change again.

"Now, you can't help but look at the drivers' championship table and just think, 'wow, how can it be so close?' It's funny after Spa, everyone was saying it was a two-horse race between Lewis and Mark, but I can easily see this championship going right down to the last race. I think we've seen that no one driver's going to walk away with the world title, there's going to be a fight right to the very end."

Asked what his approach would be, Button said he would evaluate each race on its own merits but would not drive as conservatively as he did in 2009 when he entered the final five races leading the title chase by 16 points.

"I think you have to take each race as it comes," he said. "I think that driving just to score a certain number of points isn't in a racing driver's psyche: I felt that a little bit last year, I knew I only had to keep scoring consistently to take the title, but that was probably more mentally taxing than just putting your head down and going for it.

"For instance, at Interlagos last year, I had nothing to really lose. I was 14th on the grid and my team-mate was on pole. What did I have to gain by driving steadily and taking home a handful of points? I just went for it, and that was a really liberating race for me, and an experience that will be useful this year too.

"I think consistency is important in some ways though: obviously, you need a car that will get you to the finish of every grand prix, and you don't want to start making knee-jerk, or radical, decisions on set-up or strategy because you think it might give you an advantage. We're racers, so we'll always be racing but the pressure is now on all of us, because none of us can afford another non-finish or a mistake. And the guy who cracks least will be world champion."

After the Italian Grand Prix, Button suggested he had missed out on a win because his team called him in a lap earlier than his closest rival Fernando Alonso, meaning that he then lost time warming up his hard tyres while the Ferrari was pumping in laps on up-to-temperature softs.

Jenson Button came out of the pits behind Fernando Alonso © Getty Images

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"I had mixed emotions on Sunday," Button admitted. "Obviously, I wanted to win the race and, having led most of it, that was probably an achievable ambition; but I also managed to score some very useful points over the guys ahead of me in the championship. And that gave me a great feeling.

"What was also interesting was the damage to the rear of my car. Fernando [Alonso] had hit me on the first lap, and it caused some damage to the floor but I didn't realise quite how much damage it had caused until I saw the car after the race. I was quite surprised that we were able to have such good race pace given the damage to the floor.

"So, did we get the strategy wrong? People have said it was a case of who blinked first but, really, the fact was that we didn't have the fastest car in the race, and, while it would have been possible to have kept the lead, Fernando's pace meant that, at best, that was still quite a long-shot.

"So I think the team played its card properly, it's just that there were a number of factors that were always going to work hard against us to ensure that a victory was difficult."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.