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Button puts recent success down to 'trust' in MP4-26

Jenson Button has praised the handling of the MP4-26 © Getty Images

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• 'The DRS zone should definitely make for exciting racing'
  

• Race:
• Korean Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Jenson Button
• |
• Lewis Hamilton

• Teams:
• McLaren

After winning the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday, Jenson Button has revealed he feels much more comfortable with the handling of the 2011 McLaren than he ever did with its predecessor, and he is hoping for another strong result in Korea this weekend.

In the build-up to Suzuka, Button said "I feel that I'm driving better than ever", and he has recorded his best string of results since the start of the 2009 season, when he won six out of seven races in the all-conquering Brawn - another car he had complete confidence in.

Looking ahead to this weekend's Korean Grand Prix, a race he finished 12th at last year, Button said he was hoping to continue in his current rich vein of form.

"Winning in Japan was one of the most satisfying and emotional victories of my career, and I'm really looking forward to carrying that momentum into this weekend, too," he said. "Although last year's Korean Grand Prix wasn't one of my greatest performances - we just couldn't get the car hooked up properly - I think that, given the current pace of the car and the form the team has at the moment, I'm going into this year's race feeling much more positive.

"The most important difference is that I have a car beneath me that I can really trust - for me, that wasn't really the case here last season: but, this year, our car just feels positive in every type of corner, and I feel comfortable pushing hard, because you can really feel the limit. I think you could really see that at Suzuka.

"So I'm feeling much more optimistic about this year's race. It's an interesting circuit, there's a good range of corners - Turn 11 is pretty unique, it's a double-apex, heavily cambered left-hander, and the back-end of the track is quite interesting, too - there's only really one line through that sequence of bends, and, if you get one wrong, you can risk losing out through the whole sequence. I'm quite confident that we should be able to hook the car up quite well through that sequence this year."

His team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who is currently struggling for form, said he was also hoping to win in Korea, on a circuit that he believes has huge potential for overtaking.

"I had a pretty good race here last year, finishing second - it was a long, tough afternoon, but I'm glad we got the chance to put on a race for all the fans who'd come for the first-ever grand prix in Korea," Hamilton said.

"I think the DRS zone into Turn Three should definitely make for some exciting racing: last year, the back straight didn't really produce too much overtaking because it was so wet and there was so much spray by the time we reached that downhill braking area, that it wasn't an easy place to pull off a pass. The weather's supposed to be good next weekend, so I think we'll really begin to see how this circuit works in the dry.

"You can tell that this track has been designed to be a good place for racing - Turns Four, Five and Six are a bit like the end of the lap at Istanbul Park, where you can attack on the inside and the outside and try and fight your way past.

"So, yeah, second was a good place to start last year, but I want to go one better in 2011."

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