Jenson Button will be inspired by baseball's most successful team, the New York Yankees, when he attempts to rescue his season in this weekend's United States Grand Prix.

The Englishman put another trying weekend at the track behind him by taking time out in New York between the Canadian and US Grands Prix, sampling the American national sport.

He finished ninth in Montreal but got to taste victory in the Big Apple when he watched the 26-time World Series winners beat the Atlanta Braves, picking up a souvenir or two in the process.

"I've been in New York which was quite nice," he said at Indianapolis. "I relaxed for a couple of days and went to see the New York Yankees which was good fun I got a cap and a T-shirt.

"I went with a mate and they won which was good."

However, even a top-line Formula One driver, familiar as he is with complex engineering theory, found statistics-obsessed baseball a challenge.

He added: "Trying to understand American sport is so difficult. When you watch it, it's okay but listening to the commentary it is just impossible."

The 26-year-old may have been half the world away from home and the pressures of being Britain's great hope in Formula One, but he got an unexpected taste of Blighty at his £600-a-night hotel.

"I met up with a couple of friends and had a short break," he said. "The weirdest thing was it was British week in the hotel, so we arrived and it was fish and chips while watching the footy it was great."

That is likely to be the most fun Button has in the US, with the Honda driver expecting another tough weekend.

He has scored just three points in the last five races and with no time to improve his troubled car since Montreal, he expects another hard slog.

"We've just got to grit our teeth a bit and see what we can do," he said. "The good thing is we are not under a lot of pressure after last weekend's performance.

"It is not going to be an easy weekend, we know it's not but we definitely can have a better weekend than we had in Canada.

"The car will work better on this kind of circuit. We just have to work on the set-up and see what we can get out of it.

"We realised after the race some of the things we could have done to help the balance so we'll have to wait and see. But nothing has changed with the car so we are not going to set the world alight."

Button started the season aiming to end his six-year quest for a grand prix victory but, after seeing his dreams dashed in the first half of 2006, he has radically reduced ambitions this weekend.

He added: "We are going to give everything and it would be nice to get some points. Hopefully a point or two - that's really the aim."

Perhaps of greater significance this weekend is Formula One's ability to atone for the six-car parade last year at Indianapolis, when Michelin runners pulled out after the warm-up lap.

Button has been surprised by the warmth of the reception at the Brickyard after leaving last season with boos and cat calls echoing around the 400,000-seat venue.

"It was difficult for everyone," he said. "It was a very tough atmosphere - there was a lot of adrenaline within the paddock and also outside.

"It was a very difficult weekend for everyone involved but it seems the crowd here have been fantastic. I am positive it hasn't really damaged the sport, everyone is putting it behind them."