The inaugural winner of the GQ Car Awards Lifetime Achievement may be only 39, but he has been a motorsport superstar at the top of his profession for decades. From his early days as a go-karting wunderkind and F1 prodigy, through to winning a world championship and becoming motor racing’s elder statesman, now in 2019 he is still competing, still crossing the finish line in first (he won the Super GT championship in Japan last year) and still addicted to a sport he first fell in love with as a child. A committed petrolhead and a natural-born racer, one thing is certain: Jenson Button may be settling down, but he has no intention of slowing down…
You are fairly young to be getting a lifetime achievement award. Has your racing career felt like a long time to you?
“It does, because I have been doing the same job since I was eight years old, which, when you think about it, means I have been in the same career for 30 years.”
Looking back to your childhood, was there one moment when you decided: “I am going to be a racing driver”?
“Yeah, it was when I started racing in Europe. For the first time other people were paying for it and suddenly there was pressure there. Before that it had just been about fun: racing, winning and travelling with the old boy [Button’s father]. I would have been 14 and that’s when I thought, ‘It just got real.’”
When you got to F1 you were the youngest British racing driver to start a race. Was it everything you hoped for?
“What I remember most was that it wasn’t the glamorous life that people think it is. Monaco is very glamorous, but most of the other tracks aren’t. You do get looked after, though. They schedule everything and all you have to think about are the team’s requirements: doing interviews, talking to engineers and driving the car. It is a lovely life, though, and you are spoiled. Now I have to wash my own underwear.”
What was the best thing about competing in F1?
“For me, there were two things. Firstly, it was the competition. You will never find another sport as competitive as F1. And secondly, driving an F1 car is utterly brilliant. You are behind the wheel of a 900bhp monster and your job is to push it to the limit. And when you have got absolutely everything out of a car, that is one of the best feelings you can ever have.”
It took you a long time to land that first win in F1 (113 races). How do you stay motivated when you aren’t in a car that can win?
“If you haven’t ever won a race, it’s fine. The problem is when you start winning races and then you go back to not winning races... That really hurts. In 2013 we didn’t win a race, didn’t even get on the podium. That was probably the most difficult year for me.”
Did you stay in F1 too long?
“Probably six months too long, yes. I realised at the start of 2016 that my heart wasn’t in it. It was tough because my old man passed away in 2014 and he had always been there. When he wasn’t, the sport wasn’t the same.”
What was the overriding emotion when you did win the championship in 2009?
“It’s funny, because winning races is very much a living-in-the-moment experience – it’s awesome. But winning the championship was more of a relief, because of the pressure I had put on myself.”
But you still thrive on that pressure, don’t you?
“Yeah, I suppose I do. This year racing in Super GT, the championship came down to the last race of the season and I felt sick. That pressure is agonising, but the euphoria when you finally cross the line is just incredible. You can finally breathe again. But I totally love it.”
Any regrets in your career (so far)? Please don’t say the yacht. (Button owned a 20-metre Princess yacht in Monte Carlo when he was 21.)
“That boat cost me an absolute fortune. But, you know, I was getting paid well and on my off days I wanted to relax and that boat was the best place to do that. So mistakes, yes. Regrets, no.”
You have just turned 39... do you have any ambitions left in motorsport?
“There is just so much I still want to do. I’d love to do Le Mans again and ultimately win that race. I would like to do rallycross.”
No plans to settle down and take up gardening then?
“Well, I have settled down, I suppose. I am living in a house in L.A. now and I’m getting married this year. But in terms of four wheels, I will always be racing. I’m a big fan of Stirling Moss and he was still racing competitively into his eighties. That will definitely be me.”
Champagne moments:
The two fondest memories from the winner of GQ’s Lifetime Achievement
“The one that sticks out is in 1999 when Frank Williams called me into his office 30 minutes before the team announced the two drivers who would be racing that season and said the words: “Jenson, we’ve decided to go with you.” That was a special moment. I walked out and the old boy was waiting; he didn’t have a clue. I burst into tears and so did he. I won’t forget that.”
“One of the best laps of my career was Imola 2004. It was my first pole position in F1. I went out and blitzed it, ending up two-and-a-half tenths ahead of Michael Schumacher. He was a guy who I had watched since he started racing and I had outpaced him for pole. That was amazing and a turning point in my career.”
Hot lap: Quick-fire questions with Jenson Button
Favourite road car you have owned?
“The Ferrari F40. That was the car on my bedroom wall as a kid and I eventually got to own it.”
Favourite road car you would like to own?
“There are two... One is the McLaren F1. The other is a Ferrari 250 GTO, a snip at £45 million.”
Worst car you have ever owned?
“I have an old VW Camper van, which is brilliant... and awful.”
**If you had to be stranded on a desert island with one person, would it be: a) Flavio Briatore b) Richard Branson c) Lewis Hamilton **
“I think I’d choose Richard... If it was Necker Island, it wouldn’t be too bad.”
What is the best feeling in the world? a) Winning a grand prix b) Winning a world championship c) Sex
“Well, winning a grand prix is the best because if you win a grand prix you are almost guaranteed to have sex.”
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