In the wake of a disastrous San Marino Grand Prix last year, Jenson Button visited the Honda F1's Brackley HQ in an attempt to motivate his team and raise morale. Listening to the Englishman ahead of this weekend's season opener one cannot help but feel that the local branch of The Samaritans should be taking on extra staff, with the 2006 Hungary GP winner likely to be one of the first callers.

"It's not a nice way to start a season," he told reporters in Melbourne. "Arriving with a car that isn't challenging for victory hurts.

"I can't see us qualifying in the top 10," he admitted, just a year after securing pole position at the Melbourne track. "I think if we have a good race, because we are very reliable and some of the teams aren't, I can see us finishing in the top 10. But we're not going to get on the podium, we're not going to win the race.

"You're always hoping you're going to have a car that's capable of winning races," he continued. "After last year's performance towards the end of the year, we didn't have the best car but we were in the top three teams, I'd say."

However, although he doesn't expect miracles this weekend, Button refuses to accept that the season is over before it has even begun.

"It's an important race," he admitted, "but it's not about the end result. We've got to look at the areas where we're lacking and the areas where we need to work on compared to the top teams. It's more of a big test session for us, to learn why we're so far off."