Button brightened by Silverstone dampener

Jenson Button is hoping bad weather will help him end his podium drought at Silverstone this weekend.

The 2009 world champion has not only never won his home British grand prix, he has not even stood on the podium after any of his eleven previous races at the famous Northamptonshire venue.

31-year-old Button and his McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton left Valencia two weeks ago downbeat on their chances of matching the Red Bulls on the circuit’s high speed curves.

But a weekend weather forecast predicting likely rain has brightened his spirits.

"If you look at the pace in Valencia you’d say we were nowhere near close enough to the Red Bulls," said Button.

"Our car seems to work well in the wet so if it rains it’s not so good for fans sitting out there but for us, in terms of our pace and a result, wet weather could be good."

Red Bull’s rivals also have their fingers crossed that Adrian Newey is right, as the dominant RB7’s designer on Tuesday admitted the blown exhaust clampdown will affect the car "quite heavily".

"Our car was designed around the exhaust," the Briton is quoted by the BBC.

"So it might be that it’s going to be more of a hit for us, but it’s very difficult to forecast," added Newey.