• Australian Grand Prix

Tyres 'should help me' - Button

Jenson Button: "I think you'll see so much overtaking in the last stint that it will shock everyone" © Getty Images

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• Race:
• Australian Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Jenson Button

• Teams:
• McLaren

Jenson Button is hoping to capitalise on the high levels of tyre degradation at this weekend's Australian Grand Prix, which he thinks will lead to much more overtaking.

The FIA asked Pirelli to produce tyres with a high level of degradation on its return to Formula One in the hope of making races more unpredictable. The Italian firm has responded with a selection of tyre compounds that lose performance rapidly after a set number of laps, with the hard tyre typically capable of 25 laps while the soft is expected to be good for no more than 15 laps.

Button said the teams will work within those parameters to try and get an advantage in the race, but ultimately the final stint would be the most crucial as drivers attempt to preserve their tyres until the end of the race.

"It's very complicated: if we're doing a three-stop race and it's 60 laps long you're going to be stopping every 15 laps," Button was quoted by ITV. "In the real world that would be the quickest way to the end of the race, but if everyone's stopping on lap 15, you want to stop on lap 14 as you'll overtake them. The problem is everyone is going to be thinking in that same way, so they are going to be bringing it [the first pit stop] further and further forward so you could be stopping on lap nine.

"Then you've got to do the rest of the race with two stops on two sets of tyres and they're not going to last that long - it's pretty much impossible for them to last that long with the degradation. So the last few stops are going to be happening quite early and the last stint is the one where you need tyre management. It should help me."

But the McLaren driver admitted that he would not be able to show his true potential if the car is not up to scratch.

"I don't think tyre management and smooth driving style will help you win a race if you don't have a quick car, even if you look after the tyres."

On the plus side he reckons the amount of on-track action in the final stint could surprise people.

"I think you'll see so much overtaking in the last stint that it will shock everyone," Button said. "It's going to be until the last corner I think this race, which is great. I don't know if all of them will be like that because we don't understand the tyres yet."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.