Jenson Button on life with Lewis Hamilton: We get on, but want to beat each other. I'm up for that...
EXCLUSIVE By SIMON CASS
Let's get one thing straight. Jenson Button wants to win a second world championship just as much as Lewis Hamilton.
Button may have more experience than his team-mate, a smoother driving style and a more level - headed personality. But he still wants to win a second world title just as much as Hamilton.
Say I¿m your No 1: Jenson Button is fired up after his stunning drive to win the Montreal Grand Prix
As for his life away from the track, from the outside, Button does not appear to want for anything.
He is super-fit, has a stunning model for a partner, an idyllic lifestyle on Guernsey and millions in the bank. Despite all that, he still wants to win a second world title just as much as Hamilton.
Button is universally recognised as one of the most planted, jovial and balanced drivers in Formula One. Of course, such contentment is helped by the fact that every aspect of his life appears to be in perfect harmony.
It also stems from experience and the fact that, against the odds with Brawn, a team that came perilously close to going bust, he became world champion.
Perfect fit: Button and partner Jessica Michibata finish a triathlon
But those who would suggest such achievements, personal and professional, have dulled Button's motivation would be very wide of the mark. One glance into his wild, staring eyes following his remarkable win in the Canadian Grand Prix should tell you as much.
'I don't know if we are all the same but I think we will always want more than we have got,' reasoned Button. 'For someone to be content with what they have is very unusual and, if they have that, it is a quality. I am not there yet.
'If I didn't win another championship I wouldn't leave Formula One and feel I had missed out, that I hadn't achieved what I wanted to. But, at this moment in time, I would love to fight for another championship. I am not going to give up until I either get bored of racing around in circles in Formula One cars or I am not quick enough.'
The determination is there all right, it is just that Button, 31, has learned to appreciate what he has. Whether the same can be said of Hamilton is a moot point. But the way Button's team-mate is thrashing around race tracks and flying off the handle in interviews certainly suggests that the younger man is struggling to find some inner peace.
Hamilton, 26, could do worse than listen to his team-mate discuss the important things in life as he ponders whether his future remains at McLaren and wrestles with the nightmare scenario that he may never win a second world title.
'I realise that I am doing something that I absolutely love,' said Button. 'I feel very happy about what I have achieved and I also feel very lucky to be in the position I am, to be in a great team and also to be good at what I love doing.'
The McLaren duo's coming together in the pouring rain of Montreal may also put some strain on the relationship between the two British drivers. Despite predictions that such a pairing would be a disaster, they seem to get along just fine, however.
Disaster: Hamilton and Button crash in Montreal at the weekend
Button's apology after squeezing Hamilton into the pit-wall was a smart move on two counts. Not only did it serve to defuse any tension in the McLaren garage, it also helped make up the stewards' minds that the collision was purely accidental. Even with Sunday's remarkable drive fresh in Button's memory, the minute details of his victory in such a chaotic race, understandably, remain something of a blur to him.
Button's report goes like this: 'Five stops, a drive-through penalty, different sets of tyres, all over the place, a collision with Alonso, and then I found myself in 21st trying to chase down the field behind a safety car, and they restarted it without me, and then I won the race.
Rivalry: Hamilton and Button may be team-mates, but they aren't great friends
'It was very different from my normal driving style. I was ragged, a few times I almost put it in the wall. It was a lot of fun because it was all or nothing. I didn't want to finish second, I wanted to win.'
Button continued: 'Fighting through from the back, from 21st and last to winning in a few laps, not a lot of people have done that.'
Not a lot of drivers would manage to smooth matters over in such swift fashion after ploughing into their team-mate during a race.
'Obviously I'm very sorry I collided with Lewis,' Button said. 'We spoke about it and it's one of those things. I didn't know he was there. He was one of the first people to congratulate me after the race.'
So what is the secret to maintaining harmony with two such fierce competitors under the same roof?
'We don't spend any time together,' said Button. 'It is the easiest way, really.'
That is not a snotty attitude. It is just that Button's only real common denominator with Hamilton is their passion for motor sport.
'We get on,' said Button. 'But we still want to beat each other and that is always going to be the way. We are very competitive people.
'For me, coming to this team, it was exciting to work with Lewis because he is one of the fastest drivers Formula One has ever seen.
'That is a challenge and I am strong enough to take that challenge. If I didn't feel comfortable with my ability I wouldn't have made the move to McLaren.'
Button has no doubt he is with a team that can consistently offer him the chance of securing a second world crown.
Fingers in ears: But Hamilton might do well to listen to his more experienced team-mate
That said, he has managed to extract some mental serenity from the fact that he has already won the title, while all it seems to have brought Hamilton is mental torment.
'I don't think it will ever feel long ago,' said Button reflecting on his 2009 triumph. 'Even when I am old and grey it will still feel like yesterday. Those memories will always be there.
'But I am still young and I still want to fight for more championships.
'You do not see Rafa Nadal or Roger Federer giving up when they win a grand slam.'
Given that, when the time comes to hang up the helmet and gloves, would he not feel unfulfilled without another world title to his name?
'There wouldn't be a nagging doubt,' he insists. 'I am a world champion.'
It is precisely due to such a healthy sense of satisfaction that Button stands every chance of being a world champion once more.
Credit: The Daily Mail (www.dailymail.co.uk)
No comments:
Post a Comment