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Jenson Button: "Racing drivers aren’t cool. We"re just not…"
Written by Jason Barlow
Jenson Button radiates self-belief, positivity and good vibes. It would actually be rather annoying if he wasn"t such a thoroughly decent bloke.JB will start his 285th GP and his 17th season in F1 by the time the Australian GP rolls round on March 20 next year, and he"s confident of an upturn in team fortunes.Having come close to retiring from F1, he opted to continue with McLaren in 2016, as the team rewards his vast experience in preference to mega-fast GP2 star and reserve driver, Stoffel Vandoorne. No-one in F1 would begrudge Jenson a couple more victories if 2016 turns out to be his final season.Top Gear sits beside him as he hurls a 650S around one of the car parks alongside Wembley Stadium. Button, you sense, must have a number of other things he could be doing, but the 2009 F1 world champion still plays the game like a true pro.His media skills are now as silky as his driving, and in a sport constrained by omni-present PR wranglers, JB walks the line perfectly. He does a nice line in self-deprecatory humour, and doesn"t take himself too seriously. But the desire to win burns as fiercely as everTG: So, that was 2015 Need we ask how it was?JB: This season has been very testing. I have the experience of winning a world championship and have won races for McLaren, so I"ve been through good times with the team.[Now] I"ve got a team-mate who has been regarded as the best driver in F1 for many years, and that"s a challenge. It doesn"t matter where we are on the grid, I"ve got him to race if we"re both racing. That"s kept me going through the year, and seeing the improvements with the power unit.I spend a lot of time at the factory with the aerodynamicists and the engineers, and they really listen. A lot of the progress we"re making is because of our feedback.It"s great to have that impact, it"s why we"re in the team and why the team wants us there. With two inexperienced drivers they wouldn"t have moved forward.TG: Are you not just massively relieved to see the back of that season?JB: I"m upset it"s over, I really am. I had a great race in Abu Dhabi, I only finished 12th, but I really enjoyed it.
Date: 16 Dec 2015
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 699
Written by Jason Barlow
Jenson Button radiates self-belief, positivity and good vibes. It would actually be rather annoying if he wasn"t such a thoroughly decent bloke.JB will start his 285th GP and his 17th season in F1 by the time the Australian GP rolls round on March 20 next year, and he"s confident of an upturn in team fortunes.Having come close to retiring from F1, he opted to continue with McLaren in 2016, as the team rewards his vast experience in preference to mega-fast GP2 star and reserve driver, Stoffel Vandoorne. No-one in F1 would begrudge Jenson a couple more victories if 2016 turns out to be his final season.Top Gear sits beside him as he hurls a 650S around one of the car parks alongside Wembley Stadium. Button, you sense, must have a number of other things he could be doing, but the 2009 F1 world champion still plays the game like a true pro.His media skills are now as silky as his driving, and in a sport constrained by omni-present PR wranglers, JB walks the line perfectly. He does a nice line in self-deprecatory humour, and doesn"t take himself too seriously. But the desire to win burns as fiercely as everTG: So, that was 2015 Need we ask how it was?JB: This season has been very testing. I have the experience of winning a world championship and have won races for McLaren, so I"ve been through good times with the team.[Now] I"ve got a team-mate who has been regarded as the best driver in F1 for many years, and that"s a challenge. It doesn"t matter where we are on the grid, I"ve got him to race if we"re both racing. That"s kept me going through the year, and seeing the improvements with the power unit.I spend a lot of time at the factory with the aerodynamicists and the engineers, and they really listen. A lot of the progress we"re making is because of our feedback.It"s great to have that impact, it"s why we"re in the team and why the team wants us there. With two inexperienced drivers they wouldn"t have moved forward.TG: Are you not just massively relieved to see the back of that season?JB: I"m upset it"s over, I really am. I had a great race in Abu Dhabi, I only finished 12th, but I really enjoyed it.
Date: 16 Dec 2015
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 699
