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Published: Saturday October 17, 2009 MYT 9:49:00 AM

F1 leader Button "relaxed" despite poor practice

SAO PAULO (AP): Jenson Button remains confident and upbeat about his chances of winning his first Formula One title despite a poor showing on the first day of practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix on Friday.

Button was only seventh in the first session at Interlagos and fifth in the second, and acknowledged there was still a lot to improve ahead of qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday.

He was still smiling, though, and said there was no added pressure. "I'm a lot more relaxed than I have been in the last few races," Button said. "I'm very relaxed."

The Briton enters the Brazilian GP with a 14-point lead over Brawn GP teammate Rubens Barrichello and a 16-point advantage over Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel. A third-place finish will be enough to give him the world championship with one race to go. The season finale is in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 1. "It is a different situation because Rubens and Sebastian have to beat me by a certain amount of points to stay in the championship," the 29-year-old Button said. "I should be relaxed."

Indeed, he can lift the trophy even with a fifth-place finish in Brazil if Barrichello fails to win in front of his home crowd, and Button will also secure the title if he crosses the finish line in front of his opponents, regardless of where they are. A victory is worth 10 points, and second through eighth are 8-6-5-4-3-2-1.

"A podium would be great, but obviously I'm not going to come here to finish third," Button said. "I want to do the best I can, which is challenge for a win."

He is trying to give Britain back-to-back F1 titles for the first time since Graham Hill won in 1968 and Jackie Stewart in 1969.

Button made his F1 debut in 2000 touted as the next British star, but his only highlight season until now had been in 2004 with BAR-Honda. He finished third in the standings behind Ferrari drivers Michael Schumacher and Barrichello thanks to one pole position and 10 podium finishes.

His first F1 win came at the Hungarian GP with Honda in 2006, and his other six career victories came in the first seven races of this season. He struggled to maintain the same dominance in the final part of the year as Brawn GP's superiority diminished, but was consistent enough to arrive at the final two races with a comfortable lead in the drivers' standings.

"I scored points in almost every single race," Button said. "But you have highs and lows and this is the way a championship normally is. It's been a very exciting year, a really interesting season."

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