Jenson Button will don the England flag at the British Grand Prix on Sunday in the hope of giving the home fans something to cheer about.

The BAR Formula One driver had intended to race in a specially designed red and white crash helmet at last week's French Grand Prix to coincide with what he had hoped would be an England appearance in the Euro 2004 soccer final.

That idea was shelved after the team lost their quarter-final on penalties to hosts Portugal.

"That didn't quite work out so I'm using it here," said Button, who previously had a helmet in the colours of the British flag, after giving the new headgear a debut in Friday's free practice for his home Grand Prix at Silverstone.

"It'll give England something to cheer for, I think," he added. "We're struggling a little bit in other sports so that was the reason really and it makes a bit of a change coming to the British Grand Prix.

"It's just for this race really and I fancied a change as well, I've been using the other helmet for six or seven years now," he added.

Button suggested he might stay with the new design however if he secured the first win of his Formula One career on Sunday.

"I don't know yet," he said. "We'll see how quick it is. See if it's quicker than the old one."

The Briton has been on the podium six times this season, including two second places, but he warned fans not to have too high expectations.

"Ferrari are the team to beat and I think it is going to be very difficult for anyone. We're obviously trying our best to achieve that in this race," he said.