Jenson Button, 31 Years Old, 31 Fun Facts
To celebrate Jenson Button's 31st birthday, McLaren have compiled 31 fun facts about the 2009 world champion...
1. In his home town of Frome, Somerset, there’s a pub named in his honour – The Frome Flyer, which is on Jenson Avenue, a street named after him.
2. Earlier this month, Jenson trained in Hawaii with one of the sportsmen he reveres most – seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.
3. A few centimetres taller than team-mate Lewis, Jenson stands at a height of 1.82 metres.
4. A miniature scrambler bike became the apple of his eye after he received it as a present on his seventh birthday, however his affections switched a year later to a 60cc go-kart which he received as a Christmas present.
5. He actually failed his first attempt at getting his driving licence after scaring his examiner by nipping through a narrow gap in traffic.
6. Although the first car he drove was a Mk2 Volkswagen Golf, the first car he bought was a Vauxhall Cavalier.
7. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes has a supremely rich racing heritage, which was not lost on Jenson, who said it was one of the major influencing factors in him moving to the team following his 2009 world title win.
8. British Formula 1 viewers got to sample Jenson’s vocal talents when he yelled a rendition of Queen’s “We Are the Champions” down the team radio on the slowing down lap of his world title-winning race.
9. Four-time world champion Alain Prost is the driver he idolised as a kid and tries to emulate in his style of driving.
10. “I still throw like a girl”, Jenson once said of his passing skills when being asked in an interview about his abilities in other sports.
11. Pop star Robbie Williams was once Jenson’s team-mate in the Johnny Herbert Karting Challenge.
12. Two of Jenson’s favourite films, Pulp Fiction and Swordfish, star his favourite actor John Travolta.
13. While being interviewed just a week prior to his maiden grand prix victory at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, he said he’d trade his lifestyle and all his prized possessions for a victory if he could.
14. The Freedom of Frome award was awarded to Jenson after he won his world title. It didn’t mean Jenson could herd sheep through his home town’s high street as he initially thought though!
15. Broccoli and Stilton soup is one of the few things he’s really good at cooking.
16. Molly, an avid Formula 1 fan from Sandwich, Kent, got the surprise of her life early last year when Jenson delivered a package to her in a black Hackney cab as part of filming a television commercial.
17. The first-ever Formula 1 car Jenson tested was a McLaren – he got to test it at the end of 1999, aged just 19, after he won the 1998 McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award.
18. Jenson’s 2009 world title victory marked the first time in 40 years that two drivers of British nationality had taken back-to-back world titles following Lewis’ 2008 victory. The last duo to do it was Graham Hill, who won in 1968, and Jackie Stewart, who won in 1969.
19. Prior to last year’s Australian Grand Prix, he swapped cars with Australian V8 Supercar driver, Jamie Whincup. “On the way in (to a corner) it was great, and I carried a lot of corner speed, and I thought ‘I’m getting the hang of this’,’’ he said, “but there’s not a lot of downforce on this car.”
20. GQ Magazine awarded Jenson their Sportsman of the Year prize in 2009.
21. Jenson and Lewis headed over to the Santander British Grand Prix in a VW Camper Van last year, but Jenson has actually owned two – a 1956 model and a 1970 model.
22. Former McLaren driver David Coulthard is a good friend of Jenson’s.
23. During practice for the 2003 Monaco Grand Prix, he crashed his car coming out of the tunnel at nearly 300km/h. He was unconscious for 30 seconds before coming round again. A force of 33G was exerted on his body during the impact.
24. If he had the opportunity to turn back time, he wouldn’t take it because he feels that his past made him the person he is today.
25. To mark his 30th birthday, Jenson took 14 of his closest friends to the Ice Hotel in Sweden.
26. He always gets into his car from the right hand side before the start of a race.
27. Erling Jensen, a friend of Jenson’s father John, is who Jenson is named after.
28. Sticky toffee pudding is his favourite dessert.
29. Being a huge road car enthusiast, he loves to get his hands on the best machinery. Some of the cars he has owned, include a Mercedes C63 AMG, Mercedes CLK DTM AMG, Bugatti Veyron, Audi RS6 Avant, BMW M5, Ford GT and Porsche Carrera GT.
30. Come Around Sundown, the latest album from American rock band Kings of Leon, is Jenson’s current favourite music.
31. A tattoo which reads Team Ichiban, or Japanese for Number 1 Team, adorns his left ankle. He got it at the beginning of his world championship-winning year after his triathlon team, made up of mates, won a race.
Credit: PlanetF1.com (www.planetf1.com)
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