Jenson Button biography
Birthplace: Frome, United Kingdom
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Teams
Williams: 2000
Benetton: 2001
Renault: 2002
BAR: 2003-2005
Honda: 2006-2008
Brawn: 2009
McLaren: 2010-2017
Backed by his father (and former rallycross racer) John, Jenson Button charted a rapid rise through the ranks of karting, beginning with a flawless performance in the 1991 British Cadet Karting Championship in which he won all 34 races.
Further karting successes followed: he was British Open Karting Champion on three occasions and later became the youngest ever winner of the European Super A category. He also won the Ayrton Senna Memorial Cup in 1997.
The following year he made the step from karts to cars at the age of 18. He won the British Formula Ford championship with nine wins for Haywood racing and also triumphed in the prestigious Formula Ford Festival ahead of Dan Wheldon and Nicolas Kiesa. He also raced Formula Fords in Europe and finished second in the European championship.
After such a successful transition to racing cars he won the 1998 McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award.
At 19 he entered the British Formula Three championship with Promatecme and won three, finishing the year as the top rookie, third overall behind Marc Hynes and Luciano Burti.
He finished fifth in the F3 Masters at Zandvoort, but fared better at the Macau Formula Three Grand Prix. He chased reigning Japanese Formula Three champion to the flag, finishing just 0.035s behind the winner.
As the racing season drew to a close Button had his first taste of F1 machinery in a McLaren as reward for his Autosport award win the previous season. He also tested for the Prost Grand Prix team.
Williams
2000
Then a rare opportunity presented itself at one of Britain’s most famous racing teams – Williams, where incumbent racer Alessandro Zanardi had cut short his two-year contract after an unsuccessful season.Frank Williams elected to promote either Button or Formula 3000 racer Bruno Junquiera to the race team. After comparing both in a ‘shoot-out’ test, Williams chose Button.
The media quickly picked up upon Button’s popularity and he largely impressed in his debut season. Despite qualifying only 21st for his first race after a series of car problems and bad luck he drove a composed first race. Then he picked up a point in his second outing, becoming the youngest ever points-scorer.
Despite further impressive performances at Hockenheim and Spa-Francorchamps he could do nothing to hang on to his Williams seat, which was destined for Juan Pablo Montoya.
Benetton
2001
Button moved to Benetton for 2001, but with the team in transition to Renault he struggled against long-term driver Giancarlo Fisichella. All he had to show for the season was a single points finish at the Hockenheimring.
But with Renault taking over the team Button could look forward to a more competitive 2002.
Renault
2002
Jarno Trulli arrived in Fisichella’s place for 2002 and he and Button proved quite closely matched. Button was on target for a podium finish in the second round at Sepang until a tie-rod broke in his suspension, slowing him down and letting Michael Schumacher by for third on the final lap.
When the car was reliable Button usually brought it home in the points, allowing him to beat Trulli to seventh at the end of the season. But team boss Flavio Briatore promoted Fernando Alonso (whom Briatore managed) in Button’s place for 2003.
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BAR
2003
Fortunately Button found a strong supporter in BAR’s David Richards, and he showed well alongside Jacques Villeneuve, whom Richards dropped at the end of the year.
2004
In 2004 Button became a regular visitor to the podium. The team were the closest thing Ferrari had to rivals.
A row over Button’s contract developed as he tried – and failed – to make a return to Williams.
2005
Honda
2006
Button’s reward came the following year at Hungary. After a difficult season where the team (now taken over by Honda) had failed to deliver on their strong off-season promise, Button put in a cool performance to win from 14th in slippery conditions.
The team ended the year on a high, Button scoring more points than any other driver in the final six rounds
2007
But the next season was a disaster. The Shuhei Nakamoto-designed RA107 was shockingly uncompetitive, the team even languishing behind Super Aguri (who used the 2006 Honda chassis) in the opening rounds.
Button carved out a meagre six points that year, mainly thanks to a strong fifth in the rain at Shanghai. This was at least better than team mate Rubens Barrichello, who failed to score at all.
2008
Somehow it got even worse the following year. The latest Honda proved well off the pace again, and this time Barrichello had the beating of him. All year long the team’s focus had been on readying itself for the 2009 season – but at the beginning of December Honda announced it was quitting the sport, and Button was left wondering if he’d ever get back into an F1 car.
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Brawn
2009
Button stayed on board and was rewarded for his loyalty. The new car – now dubbed the BGP 001 and Mercedes-powered – was a sensation from the moment it first turned a wheel in practice. Button won from pole position at the opening round of 2009 in Melbourne and added five more wins over the next six races.
Things started to go wrong for Button at his home race, where he struggled to qualifying among the leaders. But he continued to deliver the goods on race day and consistent points-scoring meant none of his three major rivals were able to keep him from the title.
He won the championship at Brazil with a race to spare. It was a drive worthy of a champion – Button started 14th after a rain-hit qualifying session but raced to fifth, passing several rivals on the way despite needing to exercise caution to defend his championship lead.
McLaren
After the jubilant scenes at Interlagos there came a surprising announcement: Button revealed he was leaving the team, which had been taken over by Mercedes, and moving to McLaren. There he joined the driver he’d succeeded as champion – Lewis Hamilton.
2010
To the surprise of many, Button held the upper hand early on in 2010. A pair of opportunistic wins in wet races in Melbourne and Shanghai put him in the lead of the drivers’ championship.
But over the balance of the season Hamilton’s edge on raw pace told and he was usually up the road from Button.
At times Button’s strategic gambles paid dividends, particularly in Monza where a gamble on strategy brought him within touching distance of another win.
Qualifying remained a weakness, however, and after struggling in the rain in Korea he dropped out of contention for the championship.
2011
Formula One’s change of tyre supplier to Pirelli, and the accompanying demand for less durable and more challenging rubber to improve the quality of racing, played into Button’s hands in 2011.
More so than Hamilton, Button came to understand how to get the best out of the new tyres for longer. That much was clear as early as the second race in Malaysia, where Button was able to make one fewer pit stop than Hamilton and finish in front of him.
He scored a remarkable win in Canada thanks to his skill in mixed weather conditions. Despite an early collision with Hamilton, a puncture following contact with Alonso, and a penalty, Button bounced back to reel in Sebastian Vettel as the race drew to a close. On the final lap, as the McLaren got within range of the Red Bull, Vettel slithered wide and Button stole victory.
He won again in Hungary in another race of mixed conditions, which he read better than Hamilton. A third win came in Japan, this time a straight fight between Button, Vettel and Alonso – the three outstanding talents of the year.
The MP4-26 may not have been a championship contender, but Button ended the year runner-up to Vettel and comfortably ahead of Hamilton.
2012
That ended any realistic chances of a further championship win early on, but he followed up his victory in the opening race of the season with wins at Spa and at the final round in Brazil.
2013
Button’s hopes of a competitive showing in his fourth year with McLaren were dashed early in the season. The MP4/28 was nowhere near as competitive as its predecessor, and he and new team mate Sergio Perez failed to score a podium finish all year long.
There were several occasions when Button extracted the best the car had to offer, but that rarely amount to a finish in the top half of the points places. His best result was fourth at the season finale in Brazil.
2014
Button was dealt a terrible blow at the beginning of 2014 when his father John passed away. As a tribute, he wore a pink helmet at his home race, and continued to do so for the rest of the season.
It was a trying year for the team which was in a transitional year, using Mercedes engines for the last time and awaiting the return of Honda. Surprisingly, though Button comfortably out-scored new team mate Kevin Magnussen, he found his position at the team in doubt for 2015.
It wasn’t until long after the season had ended that McLaren elected to renew Button’s contract for a sixth season.
2015
Button’s reunion with Honda was an experience disappointingly reminiscent of his frustrating 2007 and 2008 campaigns. In the first race of the year, where just 11 cars saw the chequered flag, Button’s was the 11th. He figured among the points scorers just four times all season.
He kept a brave face on the situation despite the car’s lack of performance being aggravated by dreadful reliability. Button frequently started from the back two rows due to car failures or penalties due to engine component changes – he and new team mate Fernando Alonso set records for the latter over the course of the year.
The championship proved a greater test of Button’s diplomacy than his driving skills, but he was duly confirmed to return for the team again in 2016.
2016
Honda made a clear step forward in their second year which meant Button was able to compete for points more regularly. But only when reliability permitted: A strong opening run in Bahrain, the second race of the year, was scuppered by an engine failure. Stoffel Vandoorne, substituting for Fernando Alonso, duly delivered the team’s first point of the year.
Between their two champions and the highly-rated Vandoorne, McLaren faced a logjam of talent trying to climb into their cars for 2017. Button solved the problem ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, announcing he would not race for the team the following year, but opting to remain within the team as an option for the future.
In the meantime he had given McLaren their strongest showing yet in the new Honda era, qualifying third and running second at the Red Bull Ring. He eventually finished sixth.
That proved the high point of his final year. Aside from a few other minor points finishes his season ended on a low. Button struggled with the car’s wet set-up in Brazil and his final race in Abu Dhabi ended when a suspension component broke.
2017
It turned out Button wasn’t quite done with F1 yet. He returned to the cockpit for a final race at Monaco the following year, substituting for Alonso who had taken a weekend away from peddling another disappointing Honda-powered McLaren to race in the Indianapolis 500 instead.
Button’s return proved an unmemorable affair: He was running 19th and last when he tangled with Pascal Wehrlein, tipping the Sauber onto its side at Portier, and ending both their races.
His subsequent move into Japan’s Super GT series was much more successful: He claimed the 2018 title with team mate Naoki Yamamoto though the pair won just one of the eight rounds, at Sugo. But the pair were unable to defend their title in 2019, ending the season eighth.
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