auto
 

Jenson Button

From The Formula 1 Wiki

This article requires dramatic editing
This article requires dramatic editing as it is not to the required standard.

Jenson Alexander Lyons Button, often called Jense, (born 19 January, 1980) is a British Formula One racing driver from England. He currently competes for the Honda Racing F1 team. He won his first Grand Prix in Hungary, on August 6 2006 after 113 races.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Button was born in Frome, Somerset, and went to Selwood Middle School. He is the son of Simone Lyons and Rallycross ace John Button from London (during the 1970s well-known in the UK for his so-called Colorado beetle Volkswagen and his VW-Audi dealership with Autoconti Tuning garage at Trowbridge, Wiltshire), whose best overall results was to become the runner-up in both the Embassy/RAC-MSA British Rallycross and TEAC/Lydden Rallycross championships of the year 1976. Jenson Button’s parents are divorced, and he has three older sisters, Tanya, Samantha and Natasha.

[edit] Racing career

[edit] Karting

Button began karting at age eight after his father bought him his first kart, and he made an extraordinarily successful start. He won all 34 races of the 1991 British Cadet Kart Championship along with the title.

Further successes followed, including three triumphs in the British Open Kart Championship. In 1997 he became the youngest driver ever to win the European Super A Championship and won the Ayrton Senna Memorial Cup as well, precipitating a move into car racing.

[edit] Formula Ford

Aged 18, he contested the British Formula Ford Championship with Haywood Racing and won the title with nine race wins. He also triumphed in the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch, ahead of future Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon.

At the end of 1998 he won the annual McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award. His prize included a test in a McLaren Formula One car, which he received at the end of the following year.

[edit] Formula Three

Button entered Formula Three in 1999 with the Promatecme team. He won three times - at Thruxton, Pembrey and Silverstone - and finished the season as top rookie driver.

He was third overall in the championship, behind Marc Hynes and Luciano Burti, and finished fifth and second respectively in the Marlboro Masters and Macau Grand Prix (0.035s behind winner Darren Manning in the latter).

[edit] Formula One

[edit] 2000: Williams 

In this year, Button managed to secure his F1 drive at the Williams team replacing Alex Zanardi in the team. Button had tested for both McLaren and Prost the previous year and his quick lap times secured the interest of Frank Williams. Button was partenered with Ralf Schumacher in the Williams team. Zanardi came as a disappointment to the team in 1999 but Button proved to be a strong choice for the team in 2000. Button nearly scured points in his 1st race at Australia but retired due to engine problems. But the following race at Brazil saw him score a 6th place finish and after a retirement at Imola, he finished 5th at his home Grand Prix at Silverstone. Buttons highest place finish in the year was a 4th place finish in Germany but  he managed to score in Austria, Belgium and Japan. At seasons end Button finished a solid 8th in the champoionship with 12 points. Button could have got more points in the season but reliability issues let him down.

[edit] 2001: Benetton

 Despite Buttons strong performance in 2000, Jenson was dropped by Williams for another new rookie Juan Pablo Montoya. Button had to look for opportunities elsewhere that being at the Benetton team. Benetton had been struggling in recent years and Jenson and his teammate Giancarlo Fisichella where determined to change that and bring it back to their former success. However Button had a dreadful season and only finished in the points once at the German Grand Prix where he finished 5th. In the championship he finished a dismal 17th with 2 points.

[edit] 2002: Renault

For 2002, Button remained at the team which had been renamed Renault after buying out Benetton. Button was partnered by new teammate Jarno Trulli.  Things improved dramtically this season and took several points positions, his highest being a 4th placed finish in Malaysia and Brazil. Button also cropped up several more points positions throughout the season. Button nearly got his 1st podium in Malaysia but due to suspension failure, he was passed by Michael Schumacher on the last corner of the last lap. However ultimately it was his best season so far with 14 points and finishing 7th in the championaship.

[edit] 2003-2005: BAR

[edit] 2003

 Button was dropped by Renault at the end of the year in favour of Fernando Alonso, despite his performances. Button looked for more opportunity at the BAR team where he partnered Jacques Villeneuve. 2003 proved to be Buttons strongest season yet however once again he fell short of a podium with his highest finish being a 4th in Austria. Button took many points finishes throughout the season despite a major crash while qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix which knocked him unconscious and kept him out of the race. At seasons end, Button finished 9th in the championship with 17 points.

[edit] 2004

In 2004, Button and BAR-Honda made significant progress and BAR finished the season second in the Constructors' Championship. Button scored his first ever podium finish with a third place in the Malaysian Grand Prix, and added more throughout the season.

Button and BAR's first pole position came in April at the 2004 San Marino Grand Prix, in which he finished second. He ended the season third overall, behind the two dominant Ferrari drivers, with 85 points.

[edit] 2005

Despite his success with BAR, on 5 August 2004 Button revealed he had signed for Williams for the next two years, sparking a controversial contract dispute. An apparent loophole in his BAR contract permitted him to leave if Honda's commitment to the team was in any doubt.

BAR boss David Richards fought to keep his driver, though Frank Williams maintained that the switch was entirely legal. The FIA Contract Recognition Board (CRB) held a hearing on October 16 in Milan, Italy, to determine Button's 2005 status, concluding that he was contracted to BAR-Honda for the 2005 season

A poor start to the 2005 Formula One season included disqualification at the San Marino Grand Prix. Scrutineers found that the fuel system of the car 'hid' fuel, allowing the car to finish above minimum weight despite potentially being able to run lighter during the race. The adjudged contravention of the rules resulted in a two-race ban for the team, allowing him to make his television commentary debut, for ITV Sport in Monaco.

Button took the second pole position of his career at Montreal. However he started the race poorly, and crashed on lap 46 while in third place. Despite having to wait until the halfway point of the season to score his first World Championship point, things improved considerably towards the end of the year. After a fourth place finish at the 2005 French Grand Prix, Button placed himself second on the grid for his home grand prix at Silverstone. Unfortunately, another slow start saw him lose position, and poor race pace dropped him through the field to finish fifth.

Button has always gone well at the Hockenheim circuit, and 2005 was no exception. He qualified his BAR-Honda in second place for the 2005 German Grand Prix, and then went on to finish third, his first podium finish of the season.

In 2005 Button again found himself the subject of contractual controversy. Despite having signed a contract to drive for the Williams team for 2006 he judged the likely prospects for that team to have declined, as their engine suppliers BMW had purchased the Sauber team and were to stop supplying engines to Williams. Frank Williams was adamant that the contract must be honored despite Button claiming that circumstances had changed and he had a right to remain at BAR.

On 21 September 2005, BAR confirmed that Button would once again drive for them in 2006 (having bought out his contract from Williams for a reported $30m), where he would partner ex-Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello.

[edit] 2006-2008: Honda F1

[edit] 2006

At the start of the 2006 Formula One season, BAR Honda were fully purchased by Honda and became a full works team, changing its name to the Honda Racing F1 Team

The 2006 season had both highs and lows - Button had a dismal race at home but took his first ever Grand Prix win in Hungary.

At the first round he scored five points with 4th place and finished on the podium in Malaysia. But in Australia his engine blew while running third, having started from pole position. He purposefully stopped short of the finish line to avoid an engine penalty.

The early part of the season proved difficult. At Monaco he qualified 14th and finished 11th. At his home race at Silverstone he qualified 19th after he lost time being weighed and his team failed to get him on track quickly enough. He spun off on lap eight due to an engine failure.

At the French Grand Prix, Button retired once more due to an engine failure. Qualifying for the German Grand Prix, however, brought a ray of sunshine into the bleak performance of qualifying this season. After a slightly shaky Q1, where he, once again, got pulled into the weighbridge - Button managed to get onto the second row of the grid with P4. After running for a while during the race in a strong P3, Button eventually finished back in P4.

Button took the first win of his career in 2006 at a chaotic Hungarian Grand Prix - the 113th Grand Prix start of his career. In doing so he overcame a 10-grid slot penalty for changing his engine (the second driver after Räikkönen to win a race despite this penalty), which meant he started 14th. The race was badly affected by heavy rain. Button passed a number of drivers in the early laps - including championship contender Michael Schumacher - and was up to fourth by lap 10. Following the retirement of leading drivers Kimi Räikkönen (accident) and Fernando Alonso (driveshaft failure) he went on to win the race by over 40 seconds from Pedro de la Rosa and Nick Heidfeld. Alonso was behind Button on the racetrack when he retired, although Button still had one pitstop to make. Button's win beats Nigel Mansell's 1989 win from 12th on the grid at the Hungaroring. Button was the first British driver to win since David Coulthard in March 2003 and the first English F1 driver to win since Johnny Herbert won the European Grand Prix in 1999. His victory came 13 years after Damon Hill won his first F1 race at the same circuit. At the British Academy Television Awards 2007 Button's first win at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix earned ITV1 a BAFTA under the category of 'Best Sport'.

The Turkish Grand Prix held many expectations due to the previous race, and Button ended a strong 4th. The next three races, in Italy, China, and Japan all gave Button strong points positions with 4ths and 5ths. Over the last six races of the season, Button scored more points (35) than any other driver.

[edit] 2007

In 2007, Button again competed with the Honda Racing F1 team alongside Rubens Barrichello.

In late 2006, Button sustained two hairline fractures to his ribs, following a karting incident. This resulted in him not being able to take part in winter testing, prior to the 2007 season. Former British world champion Damon Hill aired doubts over Button's hopes to be a championship contender at Honda over the coming season, saying, "if he is serious... he has to get himself in a car that is a championship contender." He was proved to be wrong as the Honda car proved to be aerodynamically poor.

At the first race of the season in Australia Button only managed to qualify 14th after handling problems. The race was no better as he endured considerable understeer throughout, was given a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane and finished 15th. The next two races in Malaysia and Bahrain were just as unsuccessful, Button finishing 12th behind team-mate Rubens Barrichello in Malaysia, and not even completing a lap in Bahrain after colliding with Red Bull Racing driver David Coulthard at the first corner. At the French Grand Prix Button finished eighth, earning his and Honda's first point of 2007.

Following the British Grand Prix, it was announced that Button would remain with Honda for 2008.

As Button's place as the pre-eminent British driver in F1 was taken by Lewis Hamilton, former champion Nigel Mansell criticised Button, saying: "Jenson should have won more races, he has under-performed and that is down to him. He had the opportunity and he didn’t take it - there won’t be any more." Honda team boss Nick Fry defended his driver saying: "I would refute everything Nigel has said, and particularly I think his comments about Jenson’s reputation for partying are about five years out of date. People forget that Jenson made his F1 debut at the age of 20 - but he’s now 27. I’ve worked with him now for five years, and his increasing maturing and the way he changed his lifestyle is extremely noticeable."

Button made no secret of his frustration regarding his current situation. He described his 2007 season as "a total disaster", adding "I'm not going to hang around finishing 14th". He also described his car as "a complete dog". Jenson did, however, record several impressive outings towards the end of the season, especially when rain was prominent.

[edit] 2008

Jenson Button has stayed with Honda for 2008 and continues to be partnered by Rubens Barrichello. He retired at the Australian Grand Prix on the first lap, and finished 10th at Malaysia. In Bahrain he retired after running over David Coulthard's wing. He scored his first and currently only points at the Spanish Grand Prix with 6th place. He then had three 11th place finishes in a row at Turkey, Monaco, and Canada. He was the only driver to retire at the French Grand Prix, and failed to finish the British Grand Prix as well.


[edit]  2009: Brawn GP

[edit] 2009

For the 2009 Formula 1 championship season, Jenson will drive for the newly formed Brawn GP team, again partnering Rubens Barrichello


[edit] 2010- present: McLaren Mercedes

Rather than continuing on with his Brawn ambitions, now renamed Mercedes, Button moved to the McLaren team for 2010 to continue his winning ways alongside another British champion Lewis Hamilton.

[edit] Racing record

[edit] Career summary

Season Series Team Name Races Poles Wins Points Final Placing
1998 British Formula Ford Haywood Racing  ?  ? 9 133 1st
European Formula Ford  ?  ?  ?  ?  ? 2nd
Formula Ford Festival Haywood Racing 1 0 1 N/A 1st
1999 British Formula Three Promatecme UK 16 2 3 168 3rd
Macau Grand Prix Promatecme UK 1 0 0 N/A 2nd
Masters of Formula Three Promatecme UK 1 0 0 N/A 5th
Korean F3 Superprix Promatecme UK 1 0 0 N/A 2nd
2000 Formula One Williams 17 0 0 12 8th
2001 Formula One Benetton 17 0 0 2 17th
2002 Formula One Renault 17 0 0 14 7th
2003 Formula One British American Racing 16 0 0 17 9th
2004 Formula One British American Racing 18 1 0 85 3rd
2005 Formula One British American Racing 17 1 0 37 9th
2006 Formula One Honda 18 1 1 56 6th
2007 Formula One Honda 17 0 0 6 15th
2009 Formula One Brawn GP 18 0 0 72 1st

[edit] Personal life

Button was engaged to English pop singer and actress Louise Griffiths for two years. Their relationship ended in April 2005, and his socialising with friend David Coulthard became tabloid fodder. Another ex girlfriend is socialite Florence Brudenell-Bruce.

Like many Formula One drivers, Button resides in the principality of Monaco, and also has properties in the UK and Bahrain. His hobbies include mountain biking and body boarding; and his car collection includes a 1956 VW Campervan.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://f1.wikia.com/wiki/Jenson_Button"
Rate this article: