Button feeling the pressure

Jenson Button is determined to seize his world championship opportunity this season but admits his rivals are closing fast.

The Brawn driver holds a healthy 18.5-point lead in the championship thanks to an outstanding start to the year but three races without a podium finish has given others hope.

The Red Bull pair of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel are proving his closest challengers and Button admits it will take hard work to stay ahead.

'When you have the opportunity you have to take it,' Button told BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek programme.

'This opportunity is the best I have had in Formula One by far and you have to take it. There might not be an opportunity again.

'It's got be head down focusing on getting the best out of the car every race we go to.

'At the moment I am leading the world championship, which is a great position to be in, but the last three races for us have been a little bit more difficult than we expected.

'We can put it all down to the cooler climates. Even in Hungary the circuit was a lot cooler on Sunday than it was earlier in the week.

'But it is down to us to make the car work in those cold conditions, that is what we need to work out and solve.

'If we don't solve those issues we are going to be gobbled up by the Red Bulls because they seem to be working in hot and cold weather.'

The Brawn team, formed earlier this year after Honda pulled out of the sport, inherited a strong infrastructure from the Japanese manufacturer.

There have been suggestions, however, that the funding from the Honda-backed developments is now running out and that is the reason why Brawn are being caught.

But Button said: 'We have the money and resources to achieve great things but everyone is moving so quickly we need to keep up.

'We've been through more difficult times so we can solve these problems for sure.

'We have just got to stay relaxed and make sure we get back to the front, which we will in Valencia.

'We need to beat the Red Bulls. We can't sit around and collect points, it is not enough.'

The European Grand Prix in Valencia in three weeks' will see the return to the sport of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher.

The legendary German has agreed to drive for Ferrari as a short-term measure after Felipe Massa was seriously injured in a freak qualifying accident at last weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix.

Button said: 'It's good for the sport but it's difficult to know how to feel about it because of Massa's situation.

'He is coming back because Felipe Massa has had a big accident so that is where the sadness comes from.

'But for Ferrari to still have Michael on the books is fantastic for them.

'Michael will be straight on the pace, he is going to be there for sure. Don't expect him to be sitting around at the back.'