Why Flavio Is Wrong About Jenson Button

I read on the BBC Sport website today that, among others, Renault boss Flavio Briatore, has stated that Jenson Button's success this year is down to nothing more than the speed of his Brawn.  

The outspoken Italian said that “Button is an indifferent driver unworthy of comparison to his double world champion Fernando Alonso.”  

Until now I have agreed largely with Briatore’s often comical outbursts, but I feel as a Brawn fanatic a huge Jenson fan that the Italian needs to be answered! I will answer Mr Briatore by briefly analysing Jen’s F1 career and considering his performance relative to the car he was in and his team mate.

Year: 2000

Team: Williams

Team mate: Ralf Schumaker

Jenson finished season: 8

Team mate finished season: 5

Jenson finishes a very decent 8th in his maiden season, despite rookie errors (the most embarrassing of which involved him crashing whilst under a safety car period in Monza), he put in good performances and qualified as high as 3rd in Belgium.  Ralf scored three podiums and finished fifth overall.  

It was the German’s third year in F1 and although he did finish higher than Jens, a lot more was expected of him (with a new BMW engine in the car).  Obviously the likes of Lewis Hamilton did better in their rookie season’s…but Hamilton drove a World Championship winning car.  As good as the 2000 Williams was supposed to be, it didn’t come up with the goods.   

Year: 2001

Team: Benetton

Team mate: Giancarlo Fisichella

Jenson finished season: 17

Team mate finished season: 10

A dreadful season, in a dreadful car.  After finishing 8th the previous year Jens could only manage 17th in 2001.

Giancarlo did outperform Jenson at practically every race, but again it was a case of experience. I think it is important to remember Jenson has only recently become 100% focused on his racing.  In the early stages of his F1 career he was greatly criticised for his ‘playboy lifestyle choices’.  

Year: 2002

Team: Renault

Team mate: Jarno Trulli

Jenson finished season: 7

Team mate finished season: 8

A pretty good season, narrowly missed his first podium.  I don’t think Flavio was ever particularly keen on Jens and sure enough shipped him out for 2003.

Nevertheless, although Jenson was outperformed in qualifying by his team mate, he often out-performed Trulli on the Sunday.  Jenson even managed to finish higher than his more experienced co-driver in only his third season. 

Year: 2003

Team: British American Racing

Team mate: Jacques Villeneuve

Jenson finished season: 9

Team mate finished season: 16

Jenson begins to show that raw skill we know has been there all along.  He leads his first lap in the USA Grand Prix and massively out-performs his world champ team mate Jacques Villeneuve.  I think from 2003 onwards it is only the cars that let Jenson down and delay that first win in 2006. 

Year: 2004

Team: British American Racing

Team mate: Takuma Sato

Jenson finished season: 3

Team mate finished season: 8

Arguably Jenson’s best F1 season (so far) in which he scored his first ever podium in Malaysia and his first pole position in San Marino.  BAR came second in the constructor’s championship and the only drivers to beat Jenson in the drivers standings, carried a prancing horse on their cars!  

Love or Hate Takuma, he did manage to finish eighth, but for the second year running Jenson had been far better than his team mate.  Jenson was outstanding in 2004 and I truly believe that if he had been given a similarly decent car for 2005, he would have been able to mount a serious title challenge.

Year: 2005

Team: British American Racing

Team mate: Takuma Sato

Jenson finished season: 9

Team mate finished season: 23

Contract controversies aside not a great year for Jens or BAR. Disqualification due to the BAR’s fuel system and a poor first half of the season meant that by the time the team had picked itself back up again it was too late for a significant challenge, still 9th wasn’t bad considering the start.  

Jenson drove as best he could in a car that showed promise, but was too slow in development.  2005 was the first year in which we saw a Jenson that could maturely deal with the fact that his car wasn’t fast enough, but he kept working as hard as he could. 

Year: 2006

Team: Honda Racing F1

Team mate: Rubens Barrichello

Jenson finished season: 6

Team mate finished season: 7

A mixed bag really; the win in Hungry outweighed the poor start, but by the end of 2006 Honda were very much a top 4 team and Jenson scored more points than any other driver in the last six races.  For me 2006 looked as if all the waiting had paid off and 2007 would bring with it Jenson’s best chance to push for the Driver’s title.  

The Brit was arguably one of the top three drivers in 2006 and he proved a lot of the critics wrong (namely Jeramy ‘know it all’ Clarkson) with his first win.

Year: 2007

Team: Honda Racing F1

Team mate: Rubens Barrichello

Jenson finished season: 15

Team mate finished season: 20

An absolute catastrophe!  Honda and Jenson go from top four to back.

Blame who you like, the drivers struggled with the dismal RA107 and the only positive came from the signing of Ross Brawn at the end of the year.  Jenson showed real class in his handling of the situation, proving that he was a diplomat as well as a decent driver.  

He never criticised the team, constantly provided support, and drove exceptionally considering the RA107’s hopelessness. 

Year: 2008

Team: Honda Racing F1

Team mate: Rubens Barrichello

Jenson finished season: 18

Team mate finished season: 14

Rubens, more often than not outperformed Jenson.  The car was scrapped mid season and I believe Jenson also scrapped 2008.  

Poor old Rubens I believe was driving for his career as at the time Honda were making it pretty clear the Brazilian’s seat was open for a younger model!  Again Jenson handled himself fantastically.  

For 2009, Jenson has won three out of four races.  In Malaysia and Bahrain the victories were down to Jenson’s performance.  In Bahrain he put a phenomenal move on Hamilton and pushed his car to the max (whilst preserving his engine I might add!).  

Button’s smooth driving style has been complemented by the likes of David Coulthard, Martin Brundel and many more. He has been able to look after his tyres better than many other drivers through his calming presence in the car.  

Rubens this year stated that having driven with Schumaker, he believed that Button possessed the same raw talent, he was simply less consistent than the German ace. 

I think I would say, having re-visited Button’s career, that if Flavio had said what he did before Jenson joined BAR, I may well have agreed with him.  However, since joining Honda in 2003 Jens has steadily improved as a racing driver in every sense.  

He has honed his skills, reached an extremely high level of fitness and matured into a thoroughly nice and thoughtful guy. Yes the BGP001 has greatly helped Jens with his title challenge this year…but isn’t that the same for everyone?

Look at Fernando Alonso, he is arguably the best driver in F1 at the moment and whilst he does occasionally punch above the Renaults weight, he is all too often shot back to the back of the grid by his poor car.  I think Jens performed extremely well in the dark days of Honda and the bright.

As I say, the BGP001 is a beast, but I also think had Jenson been in the Renault R25, R26 or the Ferraris from those years he would have been a force to reckon with. 

Before I start simply rambling on, I’ll give you an answer Flavio: Yes the car is important…but so is the bloke in the drivers seat.  The BGP001 is great but can you see Nelson Piquet as a 2009 three time winner in the same car?

No, Jenson may not be in Schumaker’s league (in some people’s eyes), but he is an immensely talented driver.