Button: We need more speed

Jenson Button has admitted he is concerned that his team Honda Racing will not be in contention for Grand Prix victories this season, as the new RA107 car requires more development time.

With only three weeks to go before the season opener in Melbourne, Australia on March 18th Button admits he expects the car will not be as quick as his rivals'.

Read more:

• Button turns up the heat in Bahrain

• Brawn eyes Ferrari's top post

• Alonso: Driving for McLaren is like playing for Real Madrid

• Gronholm takes lead in title battle

• It's my life, my career, I'll do my own thing'

“Will we be there at the first race with a car that's as quick as the Renault, Ferrari and McLaren? I don't know," Button said.

“I would rather the car was quicker - that's everyone's opinion because we're not on the pace of the top teams, which is disappointing. But we've got a balance for the car. The positive thing is that we've moved forward a lot with the car and there's a lot more coming in Bahrain."

Honda and Button will head to the Persian Gulf this week for the final winter test session, where the team is expected to introduce their Melbourne specification package, that they will use in the first race, giving a true indication of how quick they are.

The 27-year-old Briton who claimed his maiden victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix last year was the highest points scorer in the championship over the last six races of the season.

This led to expectations that he could challenge for the title in 2007. However, the lack of performance from the car has left Button despondent.

"It's a step forward from last year's car, which is positive,” Button added. “But when we arrived at the Valencia test we weren't quite where we thought we would be. The biggest problem was that we couldn't find a balance at all and were quite a long way off the pace."