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I want to look at why only Champions and winners are considered to be legends—do you really have to win everything available in your respective sport to be classed as a legend? In fact, ...

Jenson Button—Formula One Legend Or Flop ?

by mark andrew (Columnist)

45

1073 reads

Opinion

August 05, 2008


 

I want to look at why only Champions and winners are considered to be legends—do you really have to win everything available in your respective sport to be classed as a legend? In fact, do you have to win anything at all?

For me, legends come in many different forms. I don't believe that you have to be a champion to become a legend.

The word legend has been used all too often to describe champions and winners. There are examples of people who I think are legends in their own right who have'nt won a thing. Then there are people who have won things that I consider a legend but person x wouldn't.

Jenson Button—the Legend Who Never Won a Title

I look upon Button as a legend. I may get some stick for this one, but here goes.

When Jenson entered the Formula One circus in the year 2000, everyone was prepared to see the best British F1 driver since Damon Hill and Nigel Mansell. That, however, never materialised, and Button still only has that one career win at the rain-soaked hungarian GP 2006 under his belt after eight years of racing

He has 1 career win.

15 podium finishes.

Three pole positions.

No fastest laps.

And a not-all-that-impressive 232 career points all from 148 F1 races.

That surely is enough to deem him not a legend, right? Wrong!

Button, for me, is a legend because if it would have been me, I'd probably have retired by now and hung my head in shame. But he still turns up, week-in and week-out in a happy, optimistic frame of mind, and is dedicated to taking the Honda F1 team back to the top end of the field where they were two years ago .

We regularly see him in an upbeat mood talking to Louise Goodman after some failure or another thats occured to his car—he is never in a negative frame of mind.

He had offers to drive for other teams that may have given him a chance of a title fight. Rumour had it that it was Mclaren-Mercedes who wanted him before signing Heikki Kovalainen, but he stayed put and is hell-bent on making Honda a force to be reckoned with again .

He could have jumped ship and gone straight to a better performing car and team. Some will wonder why he is so dedicated to his team, because Honda seem to be underachieving massivley. By the time they are back up the top end again, it will be not far off retirement time for Button and his dream of being Formula 1 WDC could all be over.

Some thought that when Traction Control was removed from the cars for the 2008 season that we would see Button shine, that he may have an advantage over other drivers as his right foot is like traction control in itself—he is so smooth on the throttle when exiting corners. That has'nt realy happened either, so it's just a poor car that he has to contend with.

Many people would say that his playboy lifestyle has affected his on-track performances. That cant be true because the "playboy" lifestyle would surely make a human more confident and more eager to impress—I think the case is more a mixture of rotten luck and poor performing cars .

So for his grit , determination, and will to fight even when he knows he probably won't win another race again—let alone a title—is why I consider Jenson Button to be a legend. It can't be easy to accept the position he is in.

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41 comments Last one added 6 months ago — Leave a Comment

  1. ...

    I love Jenson Button. He arrived and performed for Williams in an improving but not perfect car. When he switched to Renault he displayed the sort of "get your head down and work" ethic there too which is why I deemed his shunting out of the team a cruel move by Flavio.

    He is, like David Coulthard a man whose loyalty and honour just dont get rewarded in todays world of back stabbing and personal gain. The Honda team of the moment seems to be developing into a good team dedicated to helping themselves and Honda acheive great things.

    To underline Jenson's quality I think the fact that he turned up at BAR in 2003 with Jacques Villeneuve WORLD CHAMPION of 1997 blowing smoke in his face and left (a very talented French Canadian) in his wake. Good one Jens. If there's any justice Honda have a stonking '09 car.

    Some spelling issues Mark but I'm not gonna fiddle with your work, it's a great read and a passionate work. Enjoyed it mate!

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      Hey steven , thanks for the POTD , i didnt think many people would understand where i as coming from with this article . so to get 2 POTD's for it already means a lot .

      Flavio was cruel to oust Jenson From Renault , i think he and Fernando coul;d of been more of a force than Fernando and Fisichella was together , if only he had been given a real chance to shine there .

      when Honda moved to a full works team i thought " this is it " Jensons time to shine and they did well , but they didnt improve the car enough to challenge the big boys fully , i was gutted , And since then Honda have Moved backwards at a huge rate of knots .

      He did indeed show his talent against Jacques at BAR ,

      he has had loads of rotten luck , I think it was Monza He was leading on the final lap and his Engine blew about 50 yards from the line , thats the sort of bad luck that make most people forget about him , but they dont look at how amazing his drive was until that final lap .

      I hope Honda are Competetive next year because i like Rubens Too and they both deserve some outings on the Podium at least for their continuing efforts .

      Sorry about spelling mistakes , at 26 years old there are still words i cant get right , shame on me ha ha , feel free to edit it mate , i dont mind at all .

      Michal :

      I remember that on top gear and you have a point , Maybe we should get Top Gear to give JB a call before every race , although i do want hamilton to be top with him .

      If they can get his car up to the BMW's , McMerc's and Ferrareeeees then that would be fantastic for Britain and JB .

      Thanks boys .

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      No, I totally got where you were coming from mate, and to be honest, this needed to be written in my opinion.

      Just because its in the news so to speak I'm gonna go ahead and be shamelessly proud of our British boys. Cos I think each of them at the moment represents Britain in a perfect light. Jenson is a shining example of our never say die attitude, our willingness to just get on with it. DC is proof that even if it doesnt do you any favours in a cut throat world, we can still have our even temper and honour and ethics. And Lewis, well, you know what he represents.

      Hehe can you hear that national anthem?

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    He should go on Top Gear again. Clarkson said you'll win now you've been on the best show ever, and guess what, he won a week later. Just go on every week and he'll have the title no problem!

    We can only hope Honda wake up for a nanosecond and make a good car, then we might have him standing next to the ferrari, bmw's and macca's.

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    i feel so sorry for button... right man, right place, wrong time... renault for instance... he could have done what alonso did in the same package.
    i really hope honda can make a big step in 2009 and leapfrog the likes of renualt and toyota... they really deserve it... jenson deserves it

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    He certainly does deserve it billy , i am fearing that it is getting way too late for him , if they get a great package next year then hopefully he can challenge for podiums or decent points at least .

    I dont want him to go down as a flop once his career is over , he does not deserve that .

    Thanks for your comments Billy .

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      anytime mate

      i think if he gets another couple of wins it'll take the insult from the injury.

      i hate the way my dad talks about him he always says "If you know your useless then give up."

      jenson deserved more and he will get more hopefully

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    5 Stars matey ... Would give you a POTD but its already gone ... Sorry ... What I will say is ... I love Jensen ... RULE BRITANNIA !

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    Ben thanks for the 5 stars . and dont worry about using your POTD already its cool .

    We all gotta love JB he is a cool guy , with all that Face Fungus as Jeremy Clarkson says, and he is homegrown so he gets my support every race weekend .

    And Billy tell your dad his view on Jenson is Corrupted ha ha .

    Your right a couple more wins will ease the pain of his quite Unlucky Career .

    Cheers lads .

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    Jensy my dear Mark, for me is a mere race car driver. Sorry to deviate from your viewpoint though you do have valid contentions. Cheers for a very good effort.

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    Ah but Sara , Would he be Merely a race car driver had he left Honda for Mclaren ?

    I feel not , i think he could of been a real Star given the right package every year .

    He is in a team that have not had the best time in F1 as of late , they enjoyed a decent time in 2006 but it went downhill .

    If Honda can recreate that Magic in 2009 then i think we will see what JB is really made of .

    Thanks for the view anyway .

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      hi markey

      good one

      i think i see your point, we had the same discussion when you called DC legend, because you are very patriotic and passionate

      JB is a very good driver at that ... we would have to agree to disagree on this one mate, you use the word legends very lavishly

      take care - good read

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    Jenson Button - woh. He probably wouldn't have gone to McLaren if asked because Lewis would have shown him up BIG TIME and he knows it.

    He appears chirpy despite setback after setback after crappy performance because I don't think he really cares about winning. He appears to me to be a bit dim and as long as he gets his fat, undeserved pay cheque (apparently he's the 4th highest paid F1 driver (why?) which is such bad value), he will just bob along knowing being British and white, he will NEVER be criticised the way Lewis is.

    Lewis just has to sneeze and he gets a world of criticism bearing down on him, whereas JB is such a piss-poor driver and people still go on about his "potential", his "bad luck" and his "smooth driving style". I think the way the F1 media and forums write about JB as opposed to LH shows what a joke it all is. As far as I am concerned LH is the best driver on the grid and yet the antipathy towards him is nuclear strength and would be better directed towards JB.

    Legend? More like useless waste of space!

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    Jenson Button is not a legend in any shape or form. A legend inspires people to marvel at their brilliance. In this case Jenson has not done anything to be called a legend. Yes he is a good driver and who knows if he went to a better team he could have been a great driver. But he didnt so you cant predict he would have been good. A person's decision making can make them a legend. In this case Button has decided to stay at Honda where he is being drained of his abilities. He has to fight it out with Force India for scraps. That doesnt make a legend!

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      you see boys you dont read properly .

      im saying that he is legendary for plugging away week n week out .

      there are many different forms of legends , Jenson hasnt won anything but he has the heart of a lion . he knows each week he is going to be in for disappointment , yet he still shows up and races ,

      i stated that he isnt a legend in terms of winning , obviously . but for me he is still a legend for his Grit and Determination and will to fight .

      as for your comment saying Jenson is only in it for a big fat paycheck shows how little you know about him , he would drive for free if they made him , so i wouldnt start calling him a money grabber , its not his fault he entered a sport driven by bilions of pounds lifestyles is it ?

      be careful what you say there are a fair few passionate JB fans and followers on here , including myself .

      the only reson my response is half hearted is because i need ssome sleep so prepare for my backlash tomorrow .

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    Hey mark, the entire universe could be JB fans - it doesn't alter my opinion and my right to express it. JB is a waste of space, he hasn't got the winning streak, and legend is the LAST word I'd use to describe him, unless you use it in the context of "Legend amongst Slackers".

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      Fine you can have your opinion . Albeit a wrong one in my view .

      He is definatly not a waste of space , thats a strong word , rats and pigeons are a waste of space , not a human , thats harsh on anybody .

      He hasnt Got the Winning streak because Honda dont have the winning streak .If they did then so would he . Thats the car developers Faults not the drivers

      And no i dont use it in context of Legend amongst slackers because that is disrespectful as he tries god damn hard .

      I mean it in the context of he is a legend for his Attitude , his Determination and Grit as a human being to move forward , even tho he knows he doesnt have the package to succeed , thats Honda's fault not Jensons.

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    B, only a Lewis fan could feel so strongly about JB. Is it that you see him as a threat to your boy?

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    Swoopy, no I don't think so somehow. Do you?

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    for me a champion means ..a driver helping a team wen his team is in crisis
    BY HELPING it means PERFORMING ...

    eg MSC .. he has always performed wen ferrari faced criticism ...
    HUNGARY was example ... ferrari were dying for a win .. n MASSA was al set to SHUT those barking mouths bfore tragedy struck ...

    these ppl are champions ...

    cant really comment on BUTTON as i have never followed him so much wic makes me illegible to comment...

    but ur article has impressed n forced me to say YES BUTTON IS A LEGEND

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    Arshad , thanks for your comment .

    I have been very critical of Michael Schumacher , some things he did i didnt like , However it is very true that when Ferrari had problems he was the man to iron out those problems , people questioned his abilities and he came out and won was it 16 races in a season ? i think it was . thats what he could do . he was too good for the drivers in the field in his domination . even though he cheated a few times , i can still say , yes he was a true champion .

    Button has not had the success he deserves and he is way better than what has happened to him , give him a Ferrari , Mclaren or BMW and i guarantee he would be fighting for titles . He is loyal thats one reason for this article coming about . he has deep determination and Grit , he is undoubtedly talented , just as talented as any of the other top runners . I just wish Honda would hurry up and make that perfect car to give himwhat he deserves , which is another decent title challenge .

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    I just love having British drivers in F1. To most racing drivers you are a legend just for smelling F1 and Jenson has done a lot more than that.

    Legend to us Brits I say.

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      Absolutly is a legend amongst brits Andrew , thanks mate .

      I was Gutted when Anthony Davidson lost his seat due to Aguri's demise .

      And Michael exactly, True mate , Sir Stirling is a prime example , the very Fact he was made a SIR says all you need to know , if he wasnt a true legend he wouldnt have that title .

      This article is going to be put on the RealHondaF1 website , someone spotted it from there and asked my permission to post it there , so it must hold some significance .

      Cheers boys .

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    Ok, I've remained relatively silent during this, but someone does not need to win a world title to be classified as a legend. Sir Stirling Moss is my case in point. Respond to that.

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      thats why Stirling Moss - is not a legend either ....

      Michael - i see your point

      but one cannot be a legend - if he does not win, i dont care if he turns up ever day with the same vigor and passion

      you are a scientist - you do good research

      you are a sportsman - you WIN ... see that, its simple, you WIN

      or else, I dont care who you are - you are not a legend

      just my personal perspective

      this article is good, but its gist is at least for me, futile

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      i know british fans - are passionate about their players and team

      but the word Legend cannot be used for every tom dick and harry

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    Michael, are you seriously comparing Sir Stirling Moss to JB?

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      Er, hold on here, at what point did I compare him to JB? Nowhere, read it before commenting. SM is referred to as a legend, and even the greatest ever by some, and all I said was that you don't have to win a title to be classed as a legend.

      read it.

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    Flop without a doubt. He comes across as someone not interested in the sport but the money and fame it brings. Certainly a playboy in his days until Lewis stole the crown. Where is the dedication, the drive to succeed? He is full of excuses when things go wrong but never once looking inward to himself.

    When he won his first race (I forget even when), the commentator was shouting at his highest decibels, Jenson has WONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN! I remember there were a few of us watching it live on telly at the time and I just remarked, it took this guy so many years to win his 1st race. How long more will it take to win a championship? Not in my lifetime I think. And till today, I don't see jenson proving me wrong.

    Give him the best car and he will still not be able to capitalise on it. Sorry but I am no fan of losers!

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    You have your opinion on the Jenson , but to say he wouldnt do well in a Better car is a bit unfair , When Honda had a good car he did ok , he finished a Season 3rd if you can remember ,

    He regularly challenged Alonso and MSC , At one point they were up there with the Mclaren's , they just took major steps backward the last 2 seasons .

    I kno James Alan Shouted like a Complete wazzock , but No one likes James Allen in here anyway , we want him to leave , he done the same with Hamiltons first win at Canada , only not as bad .

    Jenson is Definatly Interested in the Sport . He is not a money grabber .

    I think Every Male is a Playboy in some way or another arent we ? ill admit im not rich but ive certainly tried to be a playboy , we all do it .

    I still respect your opinion , i Do Disagree with you , in a polite manner . But thanks for your input .

    I knew it would get mixed reactions before i wrote it and thats why i posed the Question at the en , everyone deserves an opinion on it .

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      I totally agree with you Mark if Jenson was just a money grabber he would have left Honda 2 years ago for a more lucrative deal there were several on the table offering more than Honda wee willing to pay.But he stood his ground and stayed with the team he felt happy with and who he felt he stood the best chance of winning with.
      I have always believed that we have 4 fantastic British F1 drivers and yes I still include Ant in there even though he has lost his seat, put them all in identical cars and then lets see who's fastest.

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      I accept you disagree with me. I am sure many will. I am glad though there are people out there that can't stand James Allen. He gets on my nerve every time.

      Ok I might have over dramatised on Jenson. Yes he can drive as fast as lewis on the same car, but I look at Heikki and ask, why this talented guy (and he is) isn't able to match his team-mates pace. Same car after all so I must conclude that if Jenson was in a mclaren today, he may not match the pace of his team-mate.

      I never rated Barrichello much when he was in Ferrari. Today Jenson is racing him most of the time. It isn't a good showing for jenson. What we need to see is Jenson consistently pulling a 0.5sec to 1sec advantage over his older team-mate. Then I would conclude Jenson has the fight in him.

      for me at least, Jenson doesn't have the hunger to make world champion. Yes he will give the talk but can he walk it? I am not convinced. How well did he do when he came into the sport?

      Every time he never finishes a race he has this very laid-back approach to answering questions when interviewed. It puts me off. I want to see the hunger and passion in him to not just win a race but go out and win a championship. He already has Brawn in his camp. Work with Brawn and excel I say. Prove me wrong,.. and Flavio also. (remember who flavio replaced jenson with). Anyone can win a race but to win a championship, its a different ball game. Can you remember what Sterling Moss said about Coultard if he really wants to win a championship. It applies to all other drivers.

      To summarise for me, I predict Jenson will slowly fade away in F1 much like how Coultard has. Many races but low rating in terms of wins, etc. We may all be in disagreement and thats fine. In the end we still can enjoy the sport, the teams and the drivers despite our differences and respect each other's opinions. Thanks.

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    Thanks Karen .

    I agree , I Know for a fact Jenson would pull Just as fast a lap as Lewis Hamilton in the Same Package .

    He has shown his true pace many a time .

    Unfortunatly people only Remember the Wins ( or win in JB's case ) , If you delve a bit deeper you will see he has done pretty decently in an underperforming car .

    When Lewis Was asked If he would Drive Jensons Honda , he Replied " No Way " , and that must show how Low Honda have Slumped .

    But JB is no money Grabber , he has all he needs in Life , He is Rich , Smart , Beautiful Girlfriend Dream Cars , so he could Retire Tomorrow , and the financials would not be an issue . And like you said he could have earned a mega bucks move to Mclaren ,or another big team .

    He loves racing and is loyal , BAR Honda got him out of his Nightmare at Renault , they saved his career and he is repaying them .

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      Mark, reading some of replies, I think you are not seeing JB with unbiased eyes. For one you say, BAR Honda took him out of Nightmare Renault, saved his career and is replaying them back.

      I recall Renault dumped JB which even took JB by surprise. Then BAR hired JB much to the disappointment of bernie Eccelstone, I suspect. One Contract issue came, Williams lost. And then JB goes and signs with williams for 2006 after BAR did pretty well in points for 2004 and so-so for 2005. However JB realised Williams was losing their engine supplier and he tried to back-paddle to remain with BAR. Shows lack of judgment on JB towards BAR when he signed to move to Williams. I think 'loyal' and 'repaying' isn't appropriate in your last sentence. Doesn't add up in my view.

      Just thought I would point this out. Its fine with me though cause are all have our favourites.

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    Jensen Button may be a Legend... if Legend is in the context for drivers who race week in week out no matter what. He's an average driver i think and may never have won a championship or ever will but he is an inspiration to young aspiring F1 drivers around the world

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    He is gerard .

    And its in the Context that he turns up , even though he knows the whole weekend will be a disaster , and puts his all into it .

    I dont mean it in the context of Winner of Titles etc...........

    Maybe LEGEND is the wrong wording . maybe it should Be LEGENDARY instead as it covers a wider meaning of the concept .

    He is an inspiration . he has the never say die attitude , which most winners have .

    I think he wa born to win , but Fate Dealt him a cruel blow somewhere along the line .

    Thanks for your input Gerard .

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    sadly an article not worthy of a comment! mclaren wanted button, yah right!!!

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      Nice article , well written ,

      I agree that the way Button fights , is the spirit that you would normally associate with a legend , unfortunatley he has no titles , crying shame , i think he deserves one . .

      Isuru , if you read the Article properly it says " Rumour had it Mclaren wanted Jenson " .

      That means the Author is not saying they was or they wasnt after him , just stating facts that there was a rumour .

      Are you an insider at F1 ? Because unless you are , your comment is silly and Mindless because how do you know if Mclaren wanted Jenson Button or not ?

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      Actually, McLaren did want Jenson in 2000 for their testing prgramme, looking to groom him into lining up with Lewis Hamilton, but Jenson saw it as a step down. God only knows why.

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    Yeah i thought they did michael , i just didnt want to state it as fact because if it had been wrong , i would of got a rocket off people like Isuru .

    I think he should of took it personally , in the last 8 years he could of been a champ at Mclaren , or very close to it anyway .

    Then these last two seasons we would of had 2 brits on board , and i doubt the Spy scandal would of been as bad as it was because fernando alonso was part to nblame too , swappin secret e mails on bridgestone tyres and the rest of it .

    By the way Isuru , you say its an article not worth commenting on , but you did comment , why not just keep it to yourself if you felt that way .

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    pardon me if i am wrong here, the author said
    QUOTE
    Rumour had it that it was Mclaren-Mercedes who wanted him before signing Heikki Kovalainen, but he stayed put and is hell-bent on making Honda a force to be reckoned with again .
    UNQUOTE
    that clearly does not talk about wanting button in 2000 but wanting button for 2008. to me that sounds silly according to what i know about F1. oh i am not an F1 insider, my judgement is that mclaren would not have wanted button for 2008, surely if an offer was made button has no reason to decline either.
    i personally believe an F1 legend is comprised of a full combination of following.
    1) his judgement to make the right move at the right time. (say no to williams)
    2) sheer driving skill.
    3) his ability to change the environment around him towards perceived greatness. (schui)
    4) ability to give proper feedback on car and take a leading role on car development.
    5) last but not least, almighty's wish i.e. LUCK!

    button seems to have demonstrated he only has item 2 above, again to a lessor extent than "sheer driving skill of a legend".
    so i honestly thought this article was a flop as good as the driver that it claims to be a "legend"
    the author is definitely entitled for his opinion and so am i to my critical opinion.
    @mark: yes i should not have said "not worthy of a comment" i am sorry for that. but i strongly disagree with the author.

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      Yeah Isaru , the key word in all of that is the word RUMOUR , there was a rumour floating round the paddock that Mclaren wanted Jenson Button , I heard Martin Brundle mention it last year at some point .

      I never said it was true , i never said it wasnt true either .

      My point was you said not worthy of a comment , but that was a comment in itself .

      I really dont care if you dont like my article because obviously it must of been good enough because i had someone on the RealHondaF1 website ask my permission to put it on their front page of the website , and it also got three POTD votes off people on here .

      So for one person who doesnt think Button is good enough , It doesnt bother me but thanks for taking the time .

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    i think only champions are legends. you need proven results to justify a legend. if results don't matter and you bring in various "what if?" clauses to the argument, the conclusion becomes a flop in it's own right.
    if "what if's" count, then what if your father wanted you to race since you were a kid, what if you were to win races early on and got into the right F1 team at the right time, then you'd probably also have ended up being an F1 legend... who knows, you may never know.

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      well mark, how many people are there in your F1 "legends" list? for you to even get the slightest idea to consider button as a legend? i think there should at least be 100 legends to even remotely consider button as a legend... to me a club of 100 people would not sound as a F1 legends list. but yah that's just my opinion.
      bdw i can see clearly why RealHondaF1 loves your article.
      anyway the article it self is informative and i like it. but the topic & theme ruins it.

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    he's the reason Honda pulled the plug. No ability to develop a car and paid a fortune. Good luck to Honda in the future . Glad they are putting the company future before those gravy train idiots fry and button.
    By they way they were only doing well a few years ago cos of the cheating with the fuel tank thing.

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