Button sure Silverstone was title blip

Jenson Button's famous smile was missing on Sunday afternoon, but the championship leader insists his 2009 campaign remains on track.

The Briton's 32-point lead over Sebastian Vettel reduced by 7 points at Silverstone; an event utterly dominated by Red Bull, while Button finished just sixth.

It is suggested that one of the 29-year-old's problems on home ground was the cool temperatures and the fact that his smooth driving style could not generate enough heat for the tyres.

And the Brawn driver said: "We are stronger than the Red Bulls under braking, but there is no braking at Silverstone.

"You never hit the pedal that hard there. There were lots of reasons why we were not competitive. I've lost seven points to Vettel, which is disappointing, but then again I gained 10 points when he put it in the wall in Monaco," added Button.

He is upbeat about the next two stops in Germany, with the Nurburgring and the Hungaroring two of the harshest for braking.

Button's optimism notwithstanding, his friend David Coulthard is not so sure the Briton's astonishing start to the season is now going to be prolonged.

"I said a couple of weeks ago that Jenson had as good as wrapped up the drivers' title, but the emphatic nature of Red Bull's victory at Silverstone has forced me to revise that opinion," the Scot, a consultant to the energy drink company's main team, wrote in his Telegraph column.

Coulthard added: "I still believe Jenson will prevail ... but we could well have a chase on our hands; a few races during which Red Bull chip away at Brawn's lead."

He believes one reason for the shake-up could be former Honda squad Brawn's struggle to keep up with the development rate of better-funded rivals.

"We haven't really seen any visible modifications to their car yet - as we have with Ferrari and Red Bull say – and it will be fascinating to see how they (Brawn) respond in Germany," said Coulthard.