Button: More to come from me
Saturday 30th July 2011
Jenson Button says he wants to be in Formula One for many years to come, having experienced "the good, the bad and the ugly" in his 12 seasons in the sport.
The 2009 world champion contests his 200th grand prix in Hungary this weekend but at the age of 31, there is every chance he could match F1's most experienced driver Rubens Barrichello and reach the 300 mark.
Barrichello will be joined by Michael Schumacher next season, assuming the seven-time world champion sees out his contract with Mercedes GP.
Jarno Trulli is also on his way, but is 53 grands prix shy, which means at the age of 37 the Italian will have to continue until he is 40 to hit the 300 mark.
Button, who made his debut in 2000 aged 20, is by far the youngest to take up residence of the exclusive '200 club', in which there are only 10 members at present.
Barrichello, Schumacher, Riccardo Patrese, David Coulthard, Trulli, Giancarlo Fisichella, Gerhard Berger, Andrea de Cesaris, Nelson Piquet and Jean Alesi are the others to have reached the milestone.
Button might now be considered a veteran, then, but his appetite is far from waning.
"I could do 300, then I'd be second on the list, potentially. Jeez, that's scary," the McLaren driver said.
"I'm not so good at looking too far ahead because it's nice to be in control of my future.
"So tying myself down to say I'll be around in another five years is the wrong thing to do.
"But I'm sure there will be many more years when I'm enjoying the sport, enjoying the racing.
"I don't know if I'll make 300. It's not an aim of mine, but there is always the possibility.
"That could be the second highest in F1 possibly, which is crazy, and I'm only 31 at the moment."
Speaking at this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, which was his first victory back in 2006, Button reflected on his time in the sport, which brought its fair share of disappointments prior to his title success with Brawn GP.
"I've already said 200 for me as a driver is just a number, but the great thing is it is a milestone in most people's eyes," he said.
"It means we get asked questions about our past, and you remember the good, the bad and the ugly of what you've been through, and I don't think we do that enough.
"We're always living in the moment, looking forward a little too much, and especially in the world of Formula One where every year just rolls into the next.
"So it's nice to take a step back and look on what I've achieved."
Recalling memories of his career to date, Button added: "There have been a few good ones, but a lot of bad ones as well.
"The good ones are obvious. They're the ones when I've got a smile on my face and I'm lifting a trophy above my head.
"There have also been many races in my career when I've been in a car not capable of winning, but I've still had a great race, a lot of fun doing it.
"So I've enjoyed most of my career in F1, even when I've not been in a car that's quick.
"But then there have been bad times when you've had incidents, or you've hurt yourself and you've reliability issues, and those ones are not so much fun.
"The ugly was probably Monaco in 2003, when I went into the wall in qualifying wondering what the hell was going on. That was not great at all."
Button ended Friday practice third quickest behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, with the Red Bulls of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel fourth and fifth.
Credit: ESPN STAR (www.espnstar.com)
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