Suzuka: Jenson Button hopes McLaren can take a leaf out of Red Bull's book by chalking up a string of season-ending victories to start next year on a high.
Red Bull ended the 2009 Formula One season with three wins in a row and they closed out 2010 with two successive triumphs - and victory in three of the last four races - as well.
The team took both the drivers' and constructors' titles in 2010 and are on the brink of repeating the feat after Sebastian Vettel made sure of his second successive crown at Suzuka on Sunday.
"Our aim is to fight for victory in all the four races left and I think we will be able to," Japanese Grand Prix winner Button told British reporters after his third win of the season.
"If we can do that, it is a fantastic base for next year. We've got to hit the ground running in 2012 and this is the best way to do it, I think, ending on a high. Red Bull have done it the last couple of years. We need to do the same thing."
The regulations are relatively stable next year, with the cars likely to be evolutionary rather than revolutionary.
Button's victory in what he considers a second 'home' race, given his past ties to Honda and his Japanese girlfriend, denied Vettel his third Japanese Grand Prix win in a row at a track the German had been expected to dominate again.
TITLE HOPE
McLaren's pace gave Button real hope for the final four rounds, starting in South Korea this week and ending with India, Abu Dhabi and Brazil.
"One of the key things for us this year is that we are getting the car working at a circuit like Suzuka and Spa, places where basically you should paint Red Bull all over the circuit," he said.
"It is a Red Bull circuit. They are so fast here. The high-speed corners and changes of direction. But we have improved our car so much that we can take the fight to them at a place like this. That is a massive step forward for us."
The sight of 24-year-old Vettel celebrating a second title also strengthened Button's unshaken belief that he could yet add another to his own single crown.
When Button joined McLaren from Brawn at the end of his championship year in 2009, there were many in the paddock who felt he would end up as a solid number two to 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton.
The reality has been very different, with Button second in the championship and 32 points clear of Hamilton. The 31-year-old Briton has also looked a far safer pair of hands.
"I think Jenson is driving better than we have ever seen him drive. He's in good shape, incredibly motivated," said team boss Martin Whitmarsh.
"Jenson is proving to be a formidable teammate," he said when asked whether that form had unsettled Hamilton.
"I remember the point at which we signed Jenson everybody said 'He must be mad, he will get destroyed by Lewis'. I think Jenson has kept his head. He realised straightaway the natural talent and speed of Lewis, but he kept his head and decided 'I'll do what I do best'.
"That's thinking it through. He is an incredibly quick driver as well, and he's swung up."
Asked if he felt McLaren could take him to a second title, Button did not hesitate: "Definitely. That is one of the reasons why I moved to this team."
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