(b.
January 19 1980 ) is a
Formula One driver currently in the employ of the
Honda Racing F1 team.
Button was born on
January 19 ,
1980 , in
Frome ,
Somerset ,
England ,
United Kingdom . Jenson is the son of former British
Rallycross ace John Button (well-known for his so-called ''Colorado beetle''
Volkswagen ), whose best overall result was to become the runner-up in the RAC British Rallycross Championship of
1976 . Button junior began
Karting at age eight, generally dominating every race in which he took part. In
1991 , he won the British Cadet Kart Championship, taking first place in all 34 races. In
1997 , he became the youngest driver ever to win the European Super A Championship. He switched from karts to cars in
1998 , winning the British
Formula Ford Championship that same year for Haywood Racing. Button entered
Formula Three in
1999 , winning two races and placing third in the British Championship.
McLaren awarded Button their Young Driver Award in
1999 . He began testing in F1 in
2000 , switching between teams, often outpacing
Prost's regular driver
Jean Alesi in testing at
Barcelona . This auspicious debut caught the attention of Sir
Frank Williams of
WilliamsF1 , who wanted Button as his test driver. However, Button quickly began outpacing Williams' second driver,
Bruno Junqueira , so Button was
Contracted as the team's second race driver. He finished eighth in the
2000 Drivers' Championship, proving that he was genuinely fast by outscoring his teammate (the more experienced
Ralf Schumacher ) on many occasions. His best races of the season were a fourth place finish at the
German Grand Prix and a fifth place showing in
Belgium .
In
2001 , although still under contract with Williams, Button drove for
Benetton which had just been purchased by
Renault . He had quite a dismal season; the car, which was constantly under development that year, was never fast, nor was Jenson. He did, however, place fifth at the
German Grand Prix , but finished a disappointing seventeenth in the drivers championship that year.
In
2002 Renault renamed Benetton as
Renault F1 . Though his teammate
Jarno Trulli routinely outpaced him in qualifying, Button had the superior race pace. He narrowly missed third place (and his first podium) at the
Malaysian Grand Prix , being passed by Michael Schumacher in the last lap due to a suspension failure in his Renault, instead finishing the race fourth. The
Brazilian Grand Prix gave him another fourth place; he would finish seventh in that year's drivers championship.
For the 2003 season team principal
Flavio Briatore replaced Button with
Fernando Alonso , previously test driver for the team. To cries of derison Briatore confidently stated ''"Time will tell if I am 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 '' quotes Briatore as saying ''“Jenson is a fine driver but there were too many contracts, too many things in the background.”''
in 2004]]
In
2003 , Button joined the
BAR team alongside former World Champion
Jacques Villeneuve . Their relationship was not good — bad blood arose between them when Villeneuve spoilt a points-finish for Button in the first race of the year (at the
Australian Grand Prix ) by coming into the pits when it was Button's turn to pit. This resulted in a season-long "war of words" in the press between the two BAR teammates. However, as the season progressed, Button's times were consistently better than Villeneuve's, his best result being a fourth place in
Austria . Unfortunately, Button crashed heavily during Friday practice at
Monaco , 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
United States Grand Prix Button led a lap for the first time. He finished ninth in the Drivers' Championship that year with 17 points, with teammate Villeneuve scoring just 6.
In
2004 , Button and BAR-Honda made a surprise jump almost to the top of the heap (beneath only the ubiquitous
Michael Schumacher and
Ferrari ). He finished the first race (
Australian Grand Prix ) in sixth place after a brilliant qualifying session, and in
Malaysia Button landed his first ever podium finish with a third place, which he reprised at the inaugural
Bahrain Grand Prix . His (and BAR's) first pole position came in April at the
San Marino Grand Prix , in which he finished second. By clinching third place in the 2004 season with a total of 85 points, Button confirmed his position as a significant challenger to the F1 crown.
A poor start to the
2005 Formula One Season , which included a disqualification at the
San Marino Grand Prix , and hence a further two-race ban, appeared to have picked up after he took his second pole of his career at
Montreal . However he started that 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 of the year, things improved considerably towards the end of the year. After a fourth place finish at
Magny-Cours Button placed himself second on the grid for his home grand prix at
Silverstone but another slow start saw him lose position and poor race pace dropped him through the field to finish fifth.
at the 2004
US Grand Prix at
Indianapolis ]]
Button has always gone well at the
Hockenheim circuit, and 2005 was to be no exception. Putting his BAR-Honda on P2 in qualifying for the
2005 German Grand Prix , he then went on to finish third, his first podium finish of the season.
The 2006 season has proved more fruitful however, the
Bahrain Grand Prix securing him 5 points in 4th place, and the
Malaysian Grand Prix landing himself an early podium with 3rd. However, at the Australian Grand Prix, after setting a stunning pole position lap time, Jenson blew an engine on the last lap in the race, stopping approximately 20m from the finish line.
On
August 5 ,
2004 Button announced that he had signed a two-year contract to return to
Williams from the start of the
2005 season; 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 promptly vowed to fight to keep his driver, though Sir
Frank Williams maintained that the switch was entirely legal. The
FIA Contract Recognition Board (CRB) held a hearing to determine Jenson's
2005 status on
October 16 in
Milan, Italy , concluding that he was contracted to BAR-Honda for the 2005 season.
In 2005 Button again found himself in 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 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 .
Button was engaged to ''
Fame Academy '''s
Louise Griffiths for two years. Their relationship ended in April 2005.
Like most
Formula One Drivers , Button resides in the
Principality of
Monaco , and also has a property in the
UK , and in
Bahrain in the
Gulf .
Jenson Button also has his own website
Jenson's website , and an army of both male and female followers -
Jenson's forum
(Note: grands prix in denote '''points scoring''' races.)
