EXCLUSIVE: Button facing the end of his Formula One career at 29

Well, there are worse places to be than retiring at 29 and cashing out on a $48,000,000 contract.

 

This is true, when in perspective, however it must be a blow to go out in this manner.

 

A bitter pill to swallow no doubt.
If he wants it bad enough he has the bucks to buy a seat and prove himself.

 

Well, i can't help but think Button commited and was loyal to the wrong team.

 

Yep, I suppose so Dave......Thing is I have been a fan of JB when he entered F1 always was impressed with his smooth style of driving, and still I'm sure he could mix it with the best, but he has had a lot of bad luck, some his own making some, some not, IIRC he has dipped his hand in his pocket to drive for Honda I think.

I was hopefull Ross and co could give him a car to prove himself in, but alas no. It is a critical point in his career and IMO he is still young enough to still be an asset to a team, in some form, we shall see, I hope this is not the last in a series of unpleasant events which finally see's him hang his F1 racing boots up.

 

True Brian, I think it looked a great bet at the time though, with big Honda money.

 

Jenson was always a good driver, not the top tier with the Kimis or Fernandos, but he did well among the Webbers and Trullis.

His win at Hungary in 2006 is one of my favorite races.

 

Pure random luck. Hang around long enough... a win will fall in your lap.

Jenson was average.

 

NASCAR?

 

So how do you rate Vettel's win.

 

14th to 1st and beating the entire field by 30+ seconds in an inferior car should rank among the best drives of all time.

 

Yes. He's now also lucky to have a valid excuse. He wouldn't win races anyway.

 

A hell of a lot less random than button's... Vettel was on pole IIRC. and Vettel didn't have ~120 starts prior to his 1st win.

 

It's too bad for JB that the timing of this is during difficult economic times. I never regarded him as elite, champion material. But there's no reason why he shouldn't have a career that spans the length of a Rubens, DC or Patrese.

 

+1 I always felt like Button got it a bit too easy and was never that great, in addition, he got picked by Williams on the heels of Zanardis distastrous season and I never felt he was all that special. This season I felt RB did a better job than Button.

 

Button and team loyalty don't go together in the same sentence.

Remember this is the guy who wasted millions to get out of contracts and swap teams.

Kind of ironic that the runaway groom is now left at the altar. Alone.

I was a big Button fan when he came onto the scene, but have lost all respect and interest. He blew so many chances, this serves him well.

 

I nominate Button for the "Worst Career Choices of an F1 Driver" award.

He started out well enough, but just completely blew it with the Williams/Honda saga. To think he wrote Frank Williams a huge check for the privilege of getting into that God awful Honda. It's too bad we're losing another Brit from the Grid. I hope he gets another shot, but I'm not optimistic.

 

And no luck was involved in getting pole then., Hamilton started from 15th, Kimi 14th both drivers failed to compete in the second session because of the rain.

Also Hamilton lost crucial time at the start of the second qualifying session when his car was called to be weighed in a random check by F1's governing body after his first lap, another helping of random luck, don't you think!

By the time he went back out on full rain tires, he had glazed his brakes and found he could not get the necessary temperature into them or the tires.....another helping of random luck, don't you think!

It fell right for Vettel, it also fell right for JB, albeit he didn't start from pole, yet you take away Buttons win by stating he received more than his fair share of luck, and it wasn't deserved ok..

IMO Both driver's more than deserved there win's and both drove excellent race's in horrendus, but as I like it conditions.

I don't rate drivers by the amount of luck they have.

 

Just curious... please rank :

Button / Barrichello / Ralf Schumacher / Coulthard / Trulli

Here's Mine:

Barrichello > Coulthard > Trulli > Ralf > Button

I don't think Button's a bad F1 driver, just an average driver who had average equipment. Average. Average among excellence is nothing to be ashamed of...

 

Button is by FAR the best of that group.

The reason he isn't always in our faces is because he is smooth and doesn't make a ton of mistakes... unlike Coulthard who is always crashing into everyone, or Ralf who just is short on talent.

I say Button > Trulli > Ralf > Coulthard > Barrichello

Button has done a great job compared to his teammates, this year being the exception. As for Vettel, his win this year was every bit as much luck as Buttons was. The STR car just "magically" got quick half way through the season. A few races before Monza, nobody cared about Vettel. His car gets quick, he gets a win and some good finishes, and suddnly he is Senna in training? No way.

 

Mike, do you really rate Barrichello so poorly compared to those other guys, especially Ralf and Trulli.

I personally think RB in his Prime was better than those guys with Coulthard next, followed by Button, Trulli and Ralf.

I also agree that Vettel is getting overblown by the hype.

 

That's kinda hard to do, because I think it all depends on what year.

DC of 1998 was very hard to beat as was Ralf in his best year at Williams.

Barrichello was only good during his time at Ferrari.

Trulli and Button never really shined, but had occasional moments of great glory followed by very dark moments.

 

Couldn't disagree more.

 

Agreed. But that's part of the reason I asked about thoses 5. In know way do I think there would be a concensus... especially with Ralf / Yarno / Jenson.

I really think Ruebens > David > the other 3 is pretty clear