Jenson Button down but not out after Singapore struggle

Formula One world champion Jenson Button is refusing to relinquish his title just yet despite slipping to fifth in the standings following a frustrating Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday. 

Button started and finished fourth at the floodlit Marina Bay circuit but was unable to make any ground on any of his title rivals other than McLaren team mate Lewis Hamilton, who retired after colliding with championship leader Mark Webber.                     

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso led from pole-to-flag in Singapore, chased home by the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Webber with Button unable to match the pace of the three cars ahead of him.

The Briton lies 25 points, the amount on offer for a win, behind Red Bull's Webber (202 points) with four races remaining but believes McLaren can continue to improve in the closing stages of the season to mount an assault on both titles.                                           

"This one did hurt a little bit with Webber finishing in front of me but it's still only a race victory between us," Button told reporters. 

"We all race until the last race and I won the title by a fairly small margin last year. It shows that there is everything to play for. 

"Lewis's misfortune today with Webber proves that one bad race can cost you a lot of points. Consistency is important, you need to be on the podium.  

"At this point of the season you have to remain positive and I am still in a good position. Our car wasn't as quick around here as we hoped and it's a really tough circuit."

Button is now looking forward to the Japan Grand Prix in two weeks to reignite his title defence with a better car than the one he had this week.

"We go to Japan happy. We have a good upgrade for that race and it was something we tried to put on the car for this weekend but we couldn''t for reliability reasons," he added.  

"Hopefully that will be with us for Suzuka, a circuit where we go better than here, so that will be a double whammy and we will have a competitive car. 

"This one was always going to be our toughest so it was not too bad to come away with fourth place and hopefully we can do a lot better next time."