JENSON BUTTON VIDEO: McLaren star on double points, his future, and why he'll be heading for the sauna before qualifying

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... McLaren improvement over the winter

We are in a much better position that this time last year. That is one thing I can say. The basic car is good and the way that if feels. There is none of this bouncing that we had last year - you arrive at a corner and you know what the car is going to do. That is so important with the way the Formula is. We have this special brake-by-wire system, so the engine and the ERS motor are controlling your rear brakes so I don't have control of the hydraulic rear brakes so you need a car that is straightforward and it feels right and that is easy for setup changes because it is getting more and more complicated. I am happy with the base work we have done over the winter but whether it is quick enough or not I don't know and we will have to wait until we get to Melbourne. We will have a new package that will be on the car that we have not tested yet so we will see then.

... Red Bull’s sluggish pre-season form

A few teams struggled over the 12 days. Red Bull were not the only team, there was Lotus as well so it is going to be a strange start to the season. If Red Bull can sort their issues out they will be quick, we know that but it is whether they can sort them out by the first race. Melbourne is going to be a race like the old days - if you finish you will get points. We just want to be at the front of that. We understand the way that we have to go racing which is very different in terms of previous years in terms of the information passed between the race engineer and the driver - because we are going to have to save fuel and it is very, very complicated but we have a great understanding of that so we go into the first race confident if the car is reasonably quick we can have a good race.

... Reliability

I think for the fans they will find it exciting, yes, but I don't think it will last for long. I think after a few races we will have a good understanding of what we can do in a race and also the issues we have. For a lot of people it is the packaging of the power unit than the power unit itself. It is getting too hot and it is overheating, so these issues will be solved pretty quickly. Melbourne is going to be an exciting race and I think it is the best chance for the smaller teams to score big points.

... Ron Dennis returning to McLaren

When you have a difficult season like we had last year, a lot of people call for change and Ron being back in charge is a great thing for this team. McLaren would not exist if Ron wasn't there. So, they have won multiple world championships and for me Ron looks hungrier than ever to get back to winning ways. I know he will do everything in his power to get us back to winning ways. For everyone in the team they are happy with him being there and this is a really good atmosphere about them team because of that. There are always going to be management changes and it is not completely over yet because there are going to be other people employed by the team on the management side but it feels like it is going in the right direction.

... And Eric Boullier’s arrival

I spent a bit of time with Eric at the tests and he has obviously done very well over the past few years with his previous team with nowhere near as much funds as the big team so he is good and I look forward to working with him this year.

... Double points being a farce

Yep, I totally agree. Drivers might have an opinion in terms of regulations but in the end it is not down to us. For us to have one race with more points than another seems strange. If there was one race that was going to have more points than another you'd think it would be somewhere like Monaco - the toughest race on the calendar - not Abu Dhabi, so it is unfair on the other circuits as well because - the 'last race, 'exciting' '50 points on offer'. It is something that we have never had before. Maybe we will get there and it will be great.

... Formula One’s new era

The sport had to change and go to a smaller engine. The new technology is very exciting. For me the most exciting years I have been in the sport were back in 2004 and 2005 with V10 engines, tyre wars, 900 horsepower, revving to 20,000 rpm, for me that was the pinnacle. But things change and you have to learn to adapt. Now we have a 1.6litre engine with a turbo and a battery pack that produces 160 horsepower so we have more power than we did in the last few years, 840 horsepower when you give it everything so that is great - aerodynamically we have obviously got a lot less downforce than we had in previous years. It is not as much fun to drive, but you learn to adapt but the important thing for me is I am racing in the best category in the world still and I am racing against unbelievably talented individuals and that for me means more than how the car feels.

... Future beyond 2014

Yes, a lot longer. If I am in the sport I will be driving so I won't be doing anything else around Formula One. We'll see where it takes me. I might get to the end of this year and think 'you know what I have had enough', but I really don't think that will be the case. It would be quite weird living without Formula One in my life.

... Leaving McLaren

(Long pause) No. As long as we are winning. I feel that we have a great team of people. I get on with everyone really well and it does feel like a big family so this is where I want to be in the future and hopefully that is the case.

... The London Grand Prix

I love the idea. I love Silverstone. I love the British Grand Prix because it is a purpose built circuit that has been there for five decades. The London Grand Prix would be great because it would attract new fans to the sport and racing in a city especially London would really mean a lot, not just to the British drivers but to every driver and every team on the grid. It would be a very, very special race.

... Azerbaijan

My opinion doesn't really matter. Whether I say yes or no we will go where Bernie wants us to go.

.... Michael Schumacher’s accident

It is horrible to hear of a fellow driver being injured whether it is within motor racing or outside. I spent a lot of good years fighting with Michael over the past 12 years of my career and yeah it is horrible to hear. It just amazes me how easy something like that can happen. You can wrap yourself in cotton wool and you will never have an incident in your life but you are not really living so for me dangerous activities are part of my life. I don't ski I must say. I injured myself karting a couple of years ago so there are a few things I don't do while I am racing n Formula One. But I still cycle my bike every day on the road which is one of the most dangerous place - up in the mountain as well - I don't limit myself to Formula One, you have to have a life outside.

... Losing weight

My weight last year was pretty low for my height. I am 6ft tall and last year I was 70 kilos. I had a month off training because I had a knee injury and immediately you put weight on. It has been difficult getting it off - even with the amount of training I do, it is still difficult - so I am not on sugar and I am not on carbs and you cut everything out of your diet that you know is going to put weight on. I will be in a sauna or steam room before qualifying on Saturday and it is silly that we have to do that. I understand jockeys have to be light, but this is Formula One and you cannot make it unfair because a driver is tall he shouldn't be penalised for being tall. It should be his talent that stands out. In whatever form but this is where we are and next year the regulations will change in terms of the weight limit - it will be 10 kilos heavier and drivers will be able to eat again. But I am not complaining, I have the best job in the world. The scary thing is even a kilo of weight can be half-a-tenth-of-a-second and I have lost pole by two hundredths so that difference can make a massive difference to your position at the start of the race.

... Qualifying 

I don't think it will mean as much to the final result in the race but to the people watching and to the drivers and teams it will still mean as much. When you have the car at its lightest and you have brand new tyres where you really push it to its limit and that is the bit we really love about qualifying because we are on the limit but hither you qualify first or second it won't make that much difference I don't think come Sunday.