Jenson Button
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| Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (b. January 19 1980) is an English Formula One driver currently in the employ of the Honda Racing F1 team.
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Early lifeJenson Button was born on January 19, 1980, in Frome, Somerset. 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 his easily bored child 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.Formula OneEarly years at Williams and BenettonMcLaren 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,though Button had drove the wheels off his Renault in 2002. 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.” Breakthrough at BAR2003-2004
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. Contract disputesOn 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.2005A 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
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. More Contract DisputesIn 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 F12006For 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. The 2006 season has proved to be a season with many highs and lows, 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, purposefully stopping approximately 20m from the finish line, to avoid an engine penalty - which many considered to be an excellent tactical move. Races since have consisted of poor qualifying and poor races. He has secured a few more points, but a very low point was the Monaco Grand Prix where he qualified 14th, being knocked out in the 2nd qualifying session, and only managing to finish 11th. The qualifying of the British Grand Prix was also a disaster - especially - in front of his home crowd. In the first session, after one flying lap, he got pulled into the Weighbridge and was released with very little time left to complete a lap adequate to get him into 16th, to qualify for the 2nd session. He failed this and started the 2006 British Grand Prix from 19th. After a blinding few opening laps and overtaking moves - Jenson suffered an oil leak and spun off on lap 8. 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 occured at the 2006 United States Grand Prix when Jenson was spun by Montoya (in an expensive wreck that took out 7 cars) and was forced to retire due to accident damage. At the 2006 French Grand Prix, Jenson Button retired once more due to an engine failure. The next race in Germany could stop the bad luck (with a possible win) since Button had always performed well at that circuit.More can be found about Jenson by visiting www.summerofspeed.com PersonalButton 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. Hobbies include mountain biking and body boarding. Complete Formula One results([key])
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