Button finished sixth in the drivers' standings last year

Button, who is back in action after breaking two ribs in a karting accident in November, tested Honda's new RA107 for the first time on Thursday.

Last year Honda started and finished the season well but were off the pace during the middle of the year.

"If we are going to be at the front, then you have to be competitive from the first race to the last," he said.

"Then there's a possibility of challenging for the championship."

The most important thing going into this season is the atmosphere and the confidence within the team Honda driver Jenson Button

Honda gave the RA107 its debut at the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona on Wednesday, with Button taking it out for the first time on Thursday and immediately having problems.

The unbranded black car - Honda will launch the new livery next month - stopped after just three corners of Button's first lap.

However, after the car was taken back to the pits on the back of a truck it did not take long to discover that the problem was a loose wire in the gearbox and Button was soon back on the track.

Last year Button, who turned 27 last week, impressed during the first four races before suffering a mid-season slump.

He then bounced back in the final half of the campaign, scoring the most points over the final six races, and claiming his maiden F1 victory on his way to finishing sixth in the championship.

Button's team-mate Rubens Barrichello in the new Honda

"For me, the most important thing going into this season is the atmosphere and the confidence within the team, which is something that has been building since last season," said Button.

"Personally, I want to be winning races. That's always a driver's aim, but we will have to see if it's reality when we arrive in Melbourne for the season opener (Australian Grand Prix)."

Honda boss Nick Fry is well aware they need to improve their mid-season performance if they are to compete over the course of the year with Ferrari, McLaren and Renault.

"Last year we got off to a reasonable start and were pretty good by the end of the year, but in the middle we were weak in a number of races, which was very disappointing," said Fry.

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"Even in our best year of 2004 we had a slump in the middle, so our objective is to start competitive, be competitive in the middle of the season and finish strongly as well.

"If we can do that then it will be a strong step in the right direction towards winning a championship, which is the ultimate objective."