Team orders would lead to Button quitting Formula 1

Sunday's controversy in the German Grand Prix, in which Felipe Massa was forced to give up the victory in favour of Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso, has blown the sport apart.

Opinions have been divided on whether the rule, introduced after the tumult that followed the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix when Rubens Barrichello allowed Michael Schumacher by on the final corner for the German to claim the win, should return.

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone played on the team element surrounding the sport and insisted team principals should be allowed to make the decisions.

But the likes of Red Bull chief Christian Horner believe the sport is far healthier if drivers are allowed to compete and race against one another.

That is the kind of F1 Button wants to be involved with, not the shams that unfolded in Austria and Germany in which the fans made their voices heard by claiming they felt cheated by an engineered outcome.

"I wouldn't be interested in racing in F1 if, from the first race, you know there was the possibility of being a No 1 or No 2 driver. What's the point?" said Button.

"You're here to win, to be the best, and you should have equal opportunity to the next guy that's driving the same car. He should also get every opportunity otherwise it's not a drivers' sport any more, it would be a complete and utter team sport.

"Formula 1 is a team sport, but when you cross the finishing line you are the person who wins the drivers' championship.

"We have the constructors' and we have the drivers', and that's the way Formula 1 is.

"So for me, if it wasn't down to the individual, I wouldn't be interested in racing any more.

"One of the biggest buzzes in F1 is fighting your team-mate, and for me, fighting a world champion is such a buzz. If I suddenly realised he didn't have the same equipment as me, or I was being favoured, then I wouldn't be happy about that because I would think we'd all been cheated."

Button appreciates a team that has a policy of playing fair can lose out, as McLaren did in 2007 when Lewis Hamilton and Alonso missed out on the championship by a point to Kimi Raikkonen.

Following yesterday's two practice sessions ahead of tomorrow's Hungarian Grand Prix, Button was forced to settle for the ninth best time, over 1.5secs adrift of Sebastian Vettel.

Chasing his seventh pole of the season and fourth in a row, Vettel was half-a-second quicker than Alonso and Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber, with Massa in fourth and Hamilton in sixth.

Virgin Racing's two cars enjoyed a progressive day, with Timo Glock and Lucas Di Grassi classified as 20th and 21st respectively.