Jenson Button was left lamenting a difficult free practice session as light rain hampered his preparations for Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix.

The Honda driver, who won his first grand prix in Hungary in August, completed four laps in today's morning practice session at the Shanghai International Circuit before notching up another ten in the afternoon, when a rain shower hit the track.

Button finished 11th overall in the second session, in which Grove-based Williams F1 test driver Alexander Wurz logged the fastest time.

Honda test driver Anthony Davidson was the third quickest of the afternoon to provide a silver lining for the Japanese team.

"It's been a difficult day because it's been spitting but, strangely enough, you can still do reasonable times in the conditions," said Button.

"But it does damage the tyres because you've got a little less grip and a little more sliding, so for me it's been a pretty useless day.

"For us as a team, it's been pretty good because Anthony has been able to run both tyres in the first session and in the second session and we have a good understanding of where we are.

"We're lucky we've got the third car here because otherwise we really wouldn't know where we are."

While the majority of the focus has been on the battle between Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso to determine the destination of the 2006 drivers' title, Button believes Honda can compete on Sunday as they prepare for the team's home race at Suzuka next week.

He said: "If it's dry, we're going to be reasonably competitive but if it's wet then nobody knows where anyone is going to be, so it makes it a bit more exciting.

"So we have to see what happens. I don't think it's going to rain too severely over the weekend and, if it does, it's going to pretty similar to this. We'll have to wait and see. We're ready for both conditions."

Despite his problems, Button is in a significantly better position than Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, who will start the race with a ten-place penalty on the grid after being forced into an engine change following the second qualifying session.

Massa posted the afternoon's fourth fastest time, the quickest among those who will be racing on Sunday, but the best position he can now hope for on the starting grid will be 11th.

"It's a shame as the car seemed to be well-balanced right from the start and I had been able to do some good times," said Massa, who won his first grand prix in Turkey last month.

"Of course, dropping 10 places on the grid will make my race much tougher but I believe I can still put on a good performance."

Meanwhile, Honda team boss Nick Fry has dismissed speculation linking Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn with a move to the Japanese team.

"We are absolutely intrigued by that one and I can categorically say that, apart from chatting with Ross on social pleasantries, there's been no contact whatsoever on a professional basis," Fry said today.

"I think you can firmly put that one to bed."

Brawn, who has played a key role in Ferrari's dominance of Formula One over much of the last decade, is believed to be planning to take a sabbatical at the end of the season.