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Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January, 1980) is an English Formula One driver currently racing 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 on 19 January, 1980, in Frome, Somerset, England. He is the son of former 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. His parents are divorced, and he has 3 sisters. Button junior began karting at age eight, after his father bought him his first kart, and he generally dominated 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. Early years at Williams, Benetton and Renault 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 (after having qualifed third). 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 Button. 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. Despite a "huge outcry"• Seasons 2003–2004 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 (a 180mph shunt into a wall) during Saturday 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. 2004 also saw Button come close to winning a race, at the Monaco Grand Prix, although he eventually 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. Contract disputes On 5 August, 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 . Season 2005
More contract disputes 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 . Honda F1 For the start of the 2006 F1 season, BAR Honda were fully purchased by Honda and became a full works team, changing the name to Honda Racing F1 Team . Season 2006
Complete Formula One results () (Races in bold indicate pole position) Race of Champions On September 19 2006, it was announced that Button will represent England in the 2006 Race of Champions. Trivia | |||||||||||
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