Everything about Jenson Button totally explained
British
| Car number = 16
| Team =
Honda Racing F1 Team
| Team for 2007 =
Honda Racing F1 Team
| Races = 143 (141 starts)
| Championships = 0
| Wins = 1
| Podiums = 15
| Poles = 3
| Fastest laps = 0
| First race =
2000 Australian Grand Prix
| First win =
2006 Hungarian Grand Prix
| Last win =
2006 Hungarian Grand Prix
| Last race =
2008 Monaco Grand Prix
| Last season = 2007
| Last position = 15th (6 points)
| Points = 232
}}
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.
Early life
Jenson Button was born in
Frome, Somerset,
England. He is the son of former
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's three older sisters.
Racing career
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. Briatore stated "Time will tell if I'm wrong." In 2005 Alonso won the Drivers' Championship with Renault, while Button had yet to win a race and was involved in his second contract dispute in two years.
The Times quoted Briatore as saying "Jenson is a fine driver but there were too many contracts, too many things in the background." causing him to miss both the race and the following testing session at Monza. By the end of the season, though, things were looking up, and at the
2003 United States Grand Prix Button led a lap for the first time. He finished ninth in the Drivers' Championship that year with 17 points.
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.
2005
Despite his success with BAR, on
5 August 2004 Button revealed he'd 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 honoured despite Button claiming that circumstances had changed and he'd 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'd partner ex-Ferrari driver
Rubens Barrichello.
2006-present: Honda F1
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 2006
Canadian Grand Prix, Button managed to out-qualify his teammate for the first time since Imola. However, after battling with
David Coulthard in 8th, Button got passed by him and lost his chance for a point. Another retirement occurred at the
2006 United States Grand Prix when Button was one of several drivers eliminated in a first lap collision.
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. 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.
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's serious... he's to get himself in a car that's a championship contender."
Alan Henry writing in
The Guardian 2007 F1 season guide, predicted: "Button will win a couple more races but isn't a title 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 .
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's under-performed and that's 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.
2008
Jenson Button has been confirmed to stay with Honda for . He will continue to be partnered by
Rubens Barrichello.
Racing record
Career summary
* Season in progress
Complete Formula One results
(Races in
bold indicate pole position) (Races in
italics indicate fastest lap)
* Season in progress
Personal life
Button was engaged to
Fame Academy's Louise Griffiths for two years. Their relationship ended in April 2005, and his socialising with friend
David Coulthard became
tabloid fodder. His current 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.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Jenson Button'.
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