Jenson Button has said it's in Formula One's interests for the current superiority of Sebastian Vettel to be challenged.
Englishman expects McLaren to be more competitive in China
Jenson Button has said it's in Formula One's interests for one of Red Bull's rivals to step up and challenge the superiority of Sebastian Vettel.
The defending world champion has won the first two races of the 2011 season - and five of the last six, stretching back to his title assault late last year - to open up a 24-point lead at the top of the drivers' championship.
Button leads the chase, as he did at Sepang last Sunday when finishing second to Vettel. His McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton stands four points further adrift ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa.
Button was himself in a similar position to Vettel two seasons ago when he went on to win six of the first seven races of the 2009 season.
The Englishman eventually took the title, but only in the penultimate race in Brazil after his pursuers - including Vettel - came on strong during the second half of the season.
In spite of Vettel's early dominance, though, Button expects McLaren to be closer to Red Bull at this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix.
Tricky
"When somebody makes a start like Sebastian has it's tricky," he said. "We've only had two races and he's already a race win in front of me, and I'm second in the championship, so it's not perfect.
"Although I'm a lot of points behind Sebastian, who is doing a magnificent job, I feel we are closing in on Red Bull.
"I still feel there is more to find with the set-up of the car, and hopefully we'll have some more upgrades for this weekend in China so we can take the fight to them.
"Formula One wants to see that, and I'm sure Red Bull want a bit of a challenge as well, not to have it all their own way.
"Although Sebastian has an advantage on myself and Lewis, it's only two races in, we've another 17 left.
"As we know, most years it goes down to the wire, so hopefully it will be the same case this year."
McLaren are planning to run an updated version of their new exhaust and floor - which boosted the team's performance to such effect in Australia after a poor winter testing period - during Friday practice in Shanghai.
Depending on how the upgrades affect performance, they could then be kept for remainder of the weekend.
Improving
For an independent team, Red Bull are themselves not short of resources. However, Button stressed McLaren's proven experience at developing a car during the season.
He added: "This team also has resources.
"You just have to look at where we came from this winter to see how quickly you can improve, and we're not stopping there.
"There are a lot of new things in the pipeline with this car, so they're not alone.
"I'm sure they're going to develop the car very well, we will as well. It's a hell of a challenge for all of us."
