McLaren can be fourth quickest in Brazil - Button

Jenson Button says McLaren is targeting being the fourth quickest team at this weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix after a poor race in Mexico.

McLaren was off the pace at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, with both cars finishing outside the top ten having dropped out in Q2. However, Button expects Interlagos to suit the MP4-31 and Honda power unit more, allowing him to target being best of the rest behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.

"The last race wasn’t that great for us, but this race, I think we go into every race thinking that we should be fighting for being the fourth best team," Button said. "I think that should be possible here. It should be a good little fight between us, Force India, Toro Rosso and Williams.

"It is a circuit that suits us pretty well and that is in the dry. If it is wet, who knows and there is a good chance we are going to have some rain showers. Hopefully that will mix it up and we will have Austria all over again."

And Button says wet weather will also make for a more dramatic title battle, with Nico Rosberg able to win the championship with victory in Brazil.

"If you win a World Championship you are a worthy champion. I think this weekend is going to be an interesting one. If it is dry I think it is very easy for him to clinch the title here, but if it is wet I think it really does mix things up.

"It puts a lot of pressure on both of them if it is wet because Lewis knows he is very strong in the wet and he can get a big points’ haul here and Nico knows he has got more to lose if it is wet. It is tricky in the wet and everything is to play for and one tiny mistake can end in disaster.

"In the dry if you lock up a wheel you run wide and you come back on. In the wet it is completely different. I hope it is wet. It is good for Formula 1 if there is a good fight in the wet. I am sure Nico wants it to be dry, but everybody else that watches Formula 1 and is in Formula 1 wants it to be wet.

"I still think Red Bull is very strong and they will be good in the wet conditions. It will definitely mix it up a little bit and who knows who else will be quick. Force India at times in the wet are very competitive, for example. I think for us all watching and being part of it, it will be great if it does rain this weekend. It mixes it up."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.