Jenson Button
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Official Website: Jenson Button Official Website
Place of Birth: Frome
Resides: Bicester (England)
Status: Single
Height: 1.82m
Weight: 74kg
Career previous to F1: 1998: British F-Ford Champion
1997: European Super-A Kart Champion
Races: 52
Wins: 0 (0.0%)
Podiums: 0 (0.0%)
Pole Positions: 0 (0.0%)
Retirements: 18 (34.6%)
Points Accumulated: 28.000
Debut: 12 Mar 2000
Last Race: 09 Mar 2003 |
View a complete listing of Jenson Button's Formula 1 results
Driver History
It's hard to remember when a driver's debut caused quite so much
controversy, but when Frank Williams announced that a 20 year old
was to line up alongside Ralf Schumacher for the 2000 season, the
media went in to overdrive. Jenson Button managed to silence his
critics by a series of impressive track performances however.
A nightmare qualifying hour in Australia saw him start his first
race from 21st on the grid, but things got noticeably better as
the season progressed.
Button claimed his first world champion point in Brazil as a result
of David Coulthard's disqualification, and the youngster went on
to finish eighth in the 2000 Drivers' Championship with 12 points.
One of the highlights of the year was definitely Belgium, where
a third placed Button lined up on the grid slightly ahead of hero
Michael Schumacher. This was one occasion when his inexperience
let him down however; an over ambitious passing maneuver dropped
him back early in the race, spinning an unimpressed Jarno Trulli
in to retirement at the same time.
Despite a strong debut season, Jenson was dropped in favour of
ChampCar star Montoya, and the Englishman found himself on loan
to Benetton (soon to become Renault) for the next two seasons.
2001 was a disaster for the team as they struggled with an overly
flexing chassis and a radical new engine, believed to have a V-angle
of 111 degrees. Jenson and team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella's pace
was slow, but Fisi got more out of the car than his more inexperienced
team-mate.
There was criticism that Jenson was too keen on the trappings of
being an F1 driver and his focus on the job had diminished. Things
came to a head when the Monaco harbour master gave Jenson's yacht
a better position than his team boss, Flavio Briatore, during the
grand prix weekend.
Jenson's subsequent split with managers Steve and David Robertson,
who'd landed him his Williams contract, led to a more stable period
during 2002 when he frequently out-raced and outscored new team-mate
Jarno Trulli, even if he wasn't able to outqualify him.
Button was about to claim his first ever podium position in the
Malaysian GP, but a suspension failure an agonising two laps before
the end of the race meant he had to limp home in fourth place.
Just before the French GP the Renault team announced they would
be replacing Jenson in 2003 with a driver - like Trulli - also managed
by Flavio Briatore. Fernando Alonso is seen by many at the Renault
team as the next serious challenger to Michael Schumacher.
As soon as he knew he was available, BAR boss David Richards moved
swiftly to get Jenson's signature on a contract and within a matter
of days, Jenson had a four-year deal with the Honda-engined team.
Jenson ended 2002 7th in the drivers' championship, his best result
to date
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