Button aims to challenge Lotus

Jenson Button says he hopes to be able to take the fight to Lotus in Korea after a solid start to the weekend in Yeongam.

The McLaren driver was ninth quickest during Friday practice but was under a tenth of a second down on Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus.

While it means the Woking-based team still isn't in contention at the sharp end of the field, Button said he was optimistic about the weekend ahead as he seeks to try and end a disappointing season on something of a high.

"I think our afternoon session was a little more representative of our overall pace," he said. "We got some reasonable mileage under our belts and, even though I didn't get the best from the Supersoft tyre on my fastest lap, I think we've begun to understand the characteristics of each tyre pretty well.

"In terms of performance, I think we might be a little bit closer to the Lotuses than we've been for the last couple of races - but let's see what tomorrow brings."

Team-mate Sergio Perez meanwhile said it would be a 'good result' if he was able to bring home a points finish from the weekend.

"We completed everything that was on our list for today - including getting some useful laps on high fuel, which was very important," he said. "We still have quite a lot of work to do to optimise the car's set-up when running the Prime on high fuel, and work to make the Option perform to its maximum on low fuel, so it's going to be a tricky balancing act - but we're looking forward to it.

"Overall, I think we're in a similar position to where we were at the last race in Singapore: if we can get into the points, it'll be a good result for us.

"The anticipated wet weather might help us out, too."