Button: French GP BAR is best of the season.

Jenson Button says he has the best race car he's had all season this weekend at Magny-Cours, despite only qualifying back on row four for the French Grand Prix.

The Brit will start seventh, having gained a place from Kimi Raikkonen's penalty, and says he is confident of a good run on Sunday to erase the memory of one of his most disappointing outings of 2004, at the same event.

"I was happy with the lap," Button said, "It was very clean, a good lap, and the important thing is that I don't think I could have got anything else out of the car. That was the limit for me.

"I think we're in a good position for tomorrow, we're P7, and our car was very good on the long runs in practice yesterday. In fact, I'm positive that I've got the best car beneath me, in terms of race pace, that I've had this year."

Although lap times varied greatly in qualifying, it could be that the race witnesses a lot more three-stoppers than has been usual this season, although nobody will know for sure until the cars start pitting on Sunday.

"There are lot of possibilities in terms of strategy, but we'll have to wait and see," Button conceded, "We don't really know how quick people are. I'm sure the Renaults and McLarens are very quick but, apart from that, you can't tell. I'm sure the Ferraris will be quick, but it's just a matter of what lap they're going to stop on really.

"It's difficult to tell what people are on, because I expected Juan Pablo to be quicker than he is. But I'm happy that we've got a good strategy, and our team has always been good at strategies.

"It's very important to stop later than other people's first stop, but you also need a good qualifying effort. I'm sure there are people doing two and three stops in the top ten. It is going to very important to get a good start, and have a clean run. We struggled a little bit in Montreal, but we've made a few changes that should help us."

Conditions are expected to improve on Sunday and, in fact, it could be hot for the race. That will play into the hands of cars which are more gentle than others on their tyres, such as the BAR.

"It is supposed to be quite hot tomorrow, which is going to help us," Button confirmed, "If it's hot or cold, it's not really going to make a big difference, but hot conditions are what I'm hoping for. It's just nice that we actually race tomorrow! Hopefully, it's going to be a good one."