Jenson Button entered F1, beating Stirling Moss’ record of being the youngest F1 driver from Britain. Then Lando Norris broke in 2019 at the mere age of 19. However, this shows that Button came in with massive hype under his name as he stuck to that record for 19 years.
To further solidify his initial hype, he got a direct call from Frank Williams to join his team after impressing the Williams’ doyen so much. In 2000, Button entered F1 with the Grove-based team and had one of the most impressive careers.
However, Button’s happiness was short-lived. After a dip in form, the sensational Juan Pablo Montoya replaced him midway through his rookie season. For the next year, Button signed for Benetton, where he saw another setback.
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Jenson Button was told to leave for Fernando Alonso
After Williams, Button raced for the Enstone-based team, which in 2001 was called Benetton, and in the next season, was rebranded as Renault. The Briton was not having an easy time with the French team. His boss Flavio Briatore even called him a playboy, claims Button.
Thus for him, it was best to leave. Button reveals that it got easier as his team informed him to leave as they wanted to make space for Fernando Alonso, with whom they won two world championships.
“I was told to leave the team because Fernando [Alonso] was coming in anyway,” claims Button in the High-Performance podcast. But he was clueless about what to do ahead. Fortunately, he got a call from BAR, which eventually changed his career.
The move that changed Button’s career
Button claimed in the podcast that he was performing badly, but a huge part was because he wasn’t being nurtured well. But the team he joined after Renault was the Brackley-based team that became Brawn GP.
With them Button saw his career getting an all-time peak when he won his maiden championship. That cemented his name in the illustrious list of F1. This championship win also gave him a move to Mclaren, which was at a high at that time.
Though, Ross Brawn was disappointed with his decision to leave. In 2010, Brawn GP was rebranded as Mercedes, and the team boss wanted him to pair with Nico Rosberg.
There’s no need to state what became of Mercedes after that. Had Button remained with them, things could have been different and maybe had more championships in his name.
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