Button leads a group of four drivers fighting for the runner-up spot with two races remaining, with the McLaren driver holding a 13-point lead over Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. Red Bull’s Mark Webber is 19 points back and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton 38 points adrift.

While Button would rather be challenging for the championship, he said finishing ahead of several other former champions would still be “good end to a positive” season.

“When you have won a world championship, nothing else will do except for winning,” said Button, who won the 2009 title. “But also to finish in front of Red Bull and Fernado in a Ferrari … and also Lewis, it would be something you would fight for, definitely, rather than settling and not really giving it your all. I’m still concentrating on winning races and I’m not going to back off if I can think I can secure second place easier.” The 31-year-old Briton has won three races this year, compared to two for Hamilton and one for Alonso — the only drivers other than Vettel to finish first this season.

He has also been more consistent than his teammate Hamilton, who was often undermined by penalties and crashes.

He said much of his success came down to the improving the reliability of his car and the fact he was much more involved in the development of his car than he was the previous season.

“I feel a lot of time we’ve done the best we possibly could have,” Button said. “I’ve done a good job in terms driving car and working with engineers. Suzaka (Japan) was a great victory for us. We were quick, consistent. The pit stops were fantastic. Everything just fell into place.” Alonso, a two-time champion, is also gunning for second but said he mainly wants to finish strong for the sake of his team, not himself. Last year, Alonso came into Abu Dhabi as the points leader and with a chance to clinch the title, but lost the championship to Vettel after he finished seventh.

“It’s better second than fourth or fifth. But we are competitive people. We like to win and when we cannot arrive first it’s not the same,” Alonso said. “At the same point, I see all the guys, the mechanics, the engineers really pushing to help me to reach second place. We know the tough year we had, the problems we faced in parts of the year so the team is really motivated to help me get second in drivers championship. For them, I will try and do my best for sure.”