, often called '''Jense''', (born
19 January ,
1980 ) is an
English Formula One racing driver. He currently competes for the
Honda Racing F1 team. He won his first Grand Prix in
Hungary , on
August 6 2006 after 113 races.
BBC Sport news reports that Jenson won in 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, 6 August, 2006
Jenson Button was born on
19 January ,
1980 , in
Frome, Somerset ,
England . He is the son of former
Rallycross ace John Button (well-known in the UK for his so-called ''Colorado beetle''
Volkswagen and his ''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 1976.Rallycross Yearbook 1979, by Eddi Laumanns (page 93, John Button portrait) Jenson’s parents are divorced, and he has 3 older sisters.
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 and the title as well.
1
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.
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.
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).
At the end of 1999 Button had his McLaren test prize at
Silverstone , and also tested for the
Prost team. A vacant race seat became available at Williams following the departure of
Alessandro Zanardi , and team boss
Frank Williams arranged a 'shoot-out' between Button and
Formula 3000 racer
Bruno Junqueira . Button won the seat.
He finished eighth in the
2000 Drivers' Championship, and proved his speed most notably with an impressive performance at the challenging
Spa Francorchamps circuit, where he qualified 3rd and finished 4th. However, he made a number of rookie mistakes during the season, including crashing while under safety car conditions at
Monza . Overall he showed great potential, but was outscored by his more experienced teammate,
Ralf Schumacher .
in the
2001 Season ]]
In
2001 , although still under contract with Williams, Button drove for
Benetton which had just been purchased by
Renault . He had a dismal season; the car, which was constantly under development that year, was never fast, nor was Button. He did, however, place fifth at the
German Grand Prix , but finished a disappointing seventeenth in the drivers championship.
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, and ultimately finished the race in fourth. The
Brazilian Grand Prix gave him another fourth place, and he finished seventh in that year's drivers championship.
For the
2003 Season Renault team principal
Flavio Briatore replaced Button with
Fernando Alonso , previously test driver for the team. Despite a "huge outcry"
2 Briatore 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 '' quoted Briatore as saying "Jenson is a fine driver but there were too many contracts, too many things in the background."
After his replacement at Renault, in early 2003 Button joined the Button led a lap for the first time. He finished ninth in the Drivers' Championship that year with 17 points.
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.
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 Jenson's 2005 status, concluding that he was contracted to BAR-Honda for the 2005 season.
BBC reports on how BAR retained Button's services for 2005 20 October, 2004,
A poor start to the
2005 Formula One Season included disqualification at the
San Marino Grand Prix . Scrutinners 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 ajudged 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
at the 2004
US Grand Prix at
Indianapolis ]]
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 had a right to remain at BAR.
On
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 .
BBC reporting on Honda taking complete ownership of BAR 10 January, 2005
(left) and
Nick Heidfeld (right)]]
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 ]]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 Jenson 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 - Jenson managed to get onto the second row of the grid with P4. After running for a while during the race in a strong P3, Jenson eventually finished back in P4.
Button took the first win of his career in 2006 at a chaotic 's 1989 win from 12th on the grid at the Hungaroring. Jenson 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 .
The
Turkish Grand Prix held many expectations due to the previous race, and Jenson ended a strong 4th. The next three races, in
Italy ,
China , and
Japan all gave Jenson strong points positions with 4ths and 5ths. Over the last six races of the season, Button scored more point (35) than any other driver.
3
In 2007, Jenson again competed with the
Honda Racing F1 team alongside
Rubens Barrichello .
In late 2006, Jenson sustained two hairline fractures to his ribs, following a
Karting incident. This resulted in his not been able to take part in winter testing, prior to the 2007 season.
ITVF1.COM reporting on Jenson sustaining karting injuries which ruled him out of winter testing.
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."
4
Alan Henry writing in 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 he will remain with Honda for .
5
As Button's place as the pre-eminent British driver in F1 was usurped by 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."
6
Jenson Button has been confirmed to stay with Honda for .
7
() (Races in indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
On
2006 that he would not be competing as he recovers from a karting injury. His replacement was touring car driver
James Thompson .
At the
British Academy Television Awards 2007 Jenson's first win at the
2006 Hungarian Grand Prix earnt
ITV1 a BAFTA under the category of 'Best Sport'.
ITVF1 reporting on ITV1's BAFTA
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 .http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,3-2007300284,00.html
Like most
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 . He is also a keen fan of
Bristol City who were recently promoted from League One.
