MOTOR SPORT: Jenson Button was relieved to get back behind the wheel in practice for the Brazilian Grand Prix yesterday after the storm over his future eventually subsided.

Button has made peace with BAR boss David Richards after being told to stay with the team next season by Formula One chiefs despite attempting to move to Williams.

Off-track distractions have dominated his build-up to Sunday's final race of the season at Interlagos in Sao Paulo and he was happy to get back to work in practice yesterday.

Button ended the second practice session in fourth place after a strong showing and says he is firmly focused on working with BAR now the protracted dispute over his future has been ended.

He said: "It's great to get back in the car and we've had a great day today, it's been very positive.

"I am very focused on working with the team as well as I can this weekend and then we'll sit down with the team about next year. We do have to look forward to the future and that's my aim anyway. The good thing is we've done all our comparisons, which is very important."

Button was still over half a second down on Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello, who topped the timing sheets in front of his home crowd.

Barrichello received a standing ovation from his hometown fans on returning to the Ferrari pits after his fastest lap of one minute 11.166 seconds.

World champion Michael Schumacher was 0.168 of a second slower to complete a Ferrari one-two, with Kimi Raikkonen their leading competitor for McLaren.