A final test takes place in Barcelona next week before the first race in Bahrain on March 14.

A good crowd turned out to support home favourite Fernando Alonso, sixth fastest in his Ferrari, and the general feeling in the paddock is that Ferrari, Red Bull and Button’s new team McLaren are ahead of the rest.

Button said: ‘I think the Ferrari is a very strong car. They have better consistency than anyone at the moment. Our pace is good but there are still areas we need to work on for me to be happy.’

Jenson – who was 100-1 to win the title in January – had won only one grand prix before this season but is now the 10th Formula 1 world champion Britain has produced.

Button’s racing career began at the age of eight in karting, which is where he says he learnt to be a smooth driver.

Three years later, the racer from Somerset won all 34 races he competed in to clinch the British Cadet Kart Championship.

Success in British Formula Ford Championship followed before he was awarded his first Formula 1 drive, for Williams.

Button eventually moved to BAR-Honda where he finished third overall in the drivers’ championship in 2004 and two years later he raced to his first F1 victory, in Hungary, for Honda.

Team-mates: Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button can dominate F1 Photo: GETTY IMAGES

McLaren have announced the signing of reigning Formula One world champion Jenson Button on a “multi-year deal” that will see the Briton paired with Lewis Hamilton from the start of the 2010 season.

Button will line-up alongside Hamilton after parting company with reigning constructors champions Brawn GP, who were the subject of a takeover by Mercedes-Benz earlier this week.

“Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is delighted to announce the signing of the reigning World Champion Jenson Button to a multi-year deal,” the McLaren team said in a statement.

He will be partnered by 2008 World Champion Lewis Hamilton, who will be embarking on his fourth consecutive season as a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver.”

The deal marks the first time in Formula One history that a team has started the new season with a line-up featuring the most recent two successive world champions, and is the first pairing of two British world champions since Graham Hill partnered Jim Clark at Lotus in 1968.

Button, who has reportedly agreed a three-year deal worth £6 million a season, moves to the Woking-based team after a hugely successful campaign with Brawn which delivered six grand prix wins and his maiden world title.

“It’s always a difficult decision to leave a team when you’ve been there for so long,” said Button. “But life is all about challenges – and, most important of all, it’s about challenging yourself.

“So, although I won the World Championship with Brawn GP last year, and I’ll never forget that, I was always adamant that I wanted to continue to set myself fresh challenges.

“So that’s why I’ve decided to join Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. You can’t help but be affected by this team’s phenomenal history.

“McLaren is one of the greats of world sport, and its achievements and list of past champions read like a Who’s Who of Formula One – Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt, Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Mika Hakkinen and of course my new team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

“I’ve followed the McLaren team ever since I was a small boy, and it feels unbelievable to finally be a part of it.”

Hamilton, who won the world title with McLaren in 2008 in only his second season in F1, welcomed the arrival of his fellow Englishman, and reserved special praise for the outgoing Heikki Kovalainen, his team-mate of the last two seasons who must now find a drive elsewhere.

He said: “It’s fantastic news that Jenson has decided to join Vodafone McLaren Mercedes – and I’m looking forward to working with him and our engineers to make sure we kick off the 2010 season with a car that’s competitive enough to win the World Championship – but I want to send my best wishes for the future to my 2008-09 team-mate and now good friend Heikki Kovalainen, who is one of the nicest human beings I’ve ever met.

“I already know Jenson, and we get on very well together. We both really want our team to succeed.

“Although we’ll be pushing each other hard, I’m sure we’ll very quickly establish a great working relationship.

“He’s an exceptional driver: very controlled and very smooth, and he has a real depth of knowledge and experience. I think we’ll complement each other very well.”

Graham Hill said he had been at BRM for so long that in the winter, the team would spray him dark geen and store him in a corner at the factory. At the end of 1966 he switched camps to join Jim Clark at Lotus (then still British owned as opposed to now Malaysian owned). In todays terms its Lewis Hamilton quiting Mac Laren and joining Ferari. It would create realignment of how we worshipped our heroes.

In the end of 2009 we prepare for the juggling that will lead us to the new drivers and the new teams. If we accept accept that Nico Rosber is off to Brawn alongside Jenson Button, then Barichello could be just the man for the job. He won at Valencia and Monza, his chasis set up skills and years of experience will make him a great asset to any F1 team. Out of his 11 wins 9 were beside the mighty Schumacher. Just 12 months ago Barichello probably though his career was over, now he find himself re inventing one of the most famous teams in F1 history that is F1. I guess this what makes F1 so interesting. It is good to know that Jenson Button will be staying on in Brawn for the 2010 seasson. Whether he can keep the title will left to be seen.

The problem for the best drivers in the world was whether they could outshine the most spectacular F1 venue on the planet.

The £800 million venue won the contest as Red Bull took the one-two with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, as Button finished third in the Brawn.

That was apt, as those two teams have battled at the front from day one in Australia. Yet it was all a bit of an anti-climax – and not just because Button and Brawn had won the titles two weeks earlier in Brazil.

Surely it is possible in days of computerised planning and fluid dynamics, particularly when money is no object in this desert kingdom, for designer Hermann Tilke to scientifically create a circuit with half-a-dozen real overtaking areas.

Button had been concerned about overtaking from his first drive round and said turn 11 was about it before the race.

He was right. In the magnificent setting of the Yas Island, the cars were strung out like necklace beads.

It is a pity, because it is an interesting 3.4-mile track – thanks to the marina, the traditional feel of the sand-coloured circuit buildings and the centrepiece – in layout and adverse camber corners which move the cars around the spectacular Yas Hotel, draped in a lighting curtain which flashed the biggest-ever chequered flag at the end.

But, in truth, little happened in 55 laps.

There was a comedy moment from Jaime Alguersuari, whose car had a gearbox problem. He missed the Toro Rosso pitbox, stopped at Red Bull and was briskly told to drive on as one of their cars was just behind.

The world champion, who finished third in the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, said it was inevitable that the two powerhouses of Formula One would be back after slow starts killed their respective seasons this year.

McLaren prised third in the constructors’ championship from Ferrari by a single point, despite Lewis Hamilton’s early retirement and have looked very strong in the latter part of the season.

“They have the resources, they have the experience and they have competitive drivers,” said Button, whose future at Brawn remains uncertain pending Mercedes’ anticipated takeover.

Button’s camp are demanding a huge rise in their man’s wages after he took a voluntary cut this year to stay on at the team in the wake of Honda’s departure.

The world champion has been linked with a move to McLaren, whose sponsors have already made it clear they would be delighted with his acquisition.

However, former driver-turned pundit Martin Brundle said on Sunday he thought Button would prefer to stay at the Brackley-based team.

And Button repeated his assertion that Brawn will be competitive next year, despite the uncertainty surrounding the team’s finances and Mercedes’ involvement.

Jenson Button has been given a hero’s welcome at his first appearance in Britain since winning the Formula One world championship.

The 29-year-old was greeted by fans at the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, where he was attending a promotional event.

Around 200 fans queued from early in the morning for a chance to meet the new king of the track.

Among them was Martin Kemp from Ashford, Kent, who said: “The first ten laps on Sunday were awesome. He proved he’s a true champion.

A few renditions of the Queen power ballad We Are The Champions were belted out, in honour of Button’s victory yell over the team radio upon crossing the finish line at Interlagos.

Button himself was on good form, as ever. The man is clearly running on adrenalin. Although he had a bed on his Embraer Legacy jet, he claimed not to have slept a wink and, after a quick shower to freshen up, he was answering the public’s questions with the same honesty and wide-eyed cheeriness that charmed the world in Brazil.

FORMULA ONE BRIT ON VERGE OF GLORY

Jenson Button has revealed how he boosted his ailing world title claim – with a steamy foot massage from stunning girlfriend Jessica Michibata.

The 29-year-old can achieve his lifetime’s ambition on Sunday by winning the world championship here at the Suzuka circuit in Japan.

At a venue that echoes to the feats of legendary names, including Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell, he has a chance to write his name in history.

All he has to do to join the sport’s most famous names is score five points more than his Brawn teammate Rubens Barrichello. And he can do that thanks to events in the sport’s night race in Singapore last Sunday where the Brit finally put the brakes on Barrichello’s mid-season domination – despite a disastrous qualifying session.

Two-and-half months after his last win, he finally got the better of the Brazilian and roared home in fifth thanks to some afterhours antics of his own – appropriate enough…with it being a night race.

Asked the secret to his track display in the Far East, Button replied: “My amazing girlfriend. After qualifying we got to my room. I’m not going to tell you all the details but she said lie down, so I did, and she gave me a foot massage. She said, ‘So tell me about today’. That was so cool. She really listens.”

And the following day in Singapore he did the business again.

The Guardian

Despite leading the world championship, Jenson Button finds himself in a tricky situation going into next weekend’s penultimate round in Brazil. If he fails to take the title, Button will be hammered by those who expect him to dominate every race despite this being one of the most competitive and unpredictable seasons of all time. And if he scores enough points to end the agony, others will say it was thanks to the car rather than its driver.

Button can take heart from an unexpected but worthy vote of confidence delivered last week by Sir Frank Williams. The boss of the eponymous team, and one of the most ruthless employers of drivers in Formula One, said he would bite off Button’s hand if he offered his services. Knowing Williams, this could be a means of winding up Button’s team-mate, Rubens Barrichello, as the Brazilian thinks about making the switch from Brawn to Williams for 2010. But even if this is a typically shrewd negotiating ploy, Sir Frank does not distribute such praise lightly. Williams is in the perfect position to judge Button’s performance over the 15 races so far and his assessment will have taken into account the consistency that has allowed his former driver to lead the championship since his surprise but perfectly executed victory at the opening round in Melbourne on 29 March.

Button’s recent struggle to match six wins in the first seven races has made the Englishman a soft target for those who say he is not worthy of winning the title. Williams and others with more a detailed knowledge and understanding would like to know precisely who is better qualified to wear the crown.

Button’s mistakes have been few and far between and usually confined to small errors of judgment during qualifying that have cost him dearly in terms of track position on race day. Barrichello, his closest rival, may have out-qualified Button in the past five races but, overall, Barrichello has fallen short at critical moments. He simply did not drive fast enough during the crucial middle stint of a race he should have won in Spain. A poor start in Melbourne led to a first-corner tangle, while slow getaways and over-aggressive driving elsewhere proved just as costly.

Sebastian Vettel, back in the hunt as the outsider following his faultless win in Japan last Sunday, opened his catalogue of misjudgments in Australia when he lost second place by tangling with Robert Kubica, and then compounded that setback by spinning off at the next race in Malaysia, crashing in Monaco and throwing away the benefit of pole position in Turkey by running wide on the first lap. In a season when a missed braking point or a wheel marginally out of line just once during a 192-mile race can prove expensive, the imperfections of Barrichello and Vettel do not match up to Button’s steady but fast pace, coupled with forceful driving when necessary.

It looked like his run of victories would come to an early end when Button qualified fourth for the third round in Bahrain, but aggressive moves took him past Vettel and Lewis Hamilton in the opening laps. Very impressive speed in the middle of the Spanish Grand Prix took Button ahead of his disgruntled team-mate; overtaking moves during the opening laps in Italy and Japan helped earn points he might not otherwise have had.

Button made a rod for his own back by dominating the first third of the season and then failing to match such an impressive succession of wins. But, unless a driver has a vastly superior car similar to Mario Andretti’s Lotus 79 in 1978 or Nigel Mansell’s Williams in 1992, it is unusual for the champion to walk off with the title long before the season is done.

Button is not unique in suffering setbacks that have been interpreted as a sign of inadequacy. How different the current assessments might be if the season was reversed and he had experienced a difficult start before enjoying a succession of podium finishes in recent months. But none of that lessens the pressure that comes from entering the final two races in the role of defender rather than attacker. Button does not need reminding that, two years ago, Hamilton had a 17-point lead with two races remaining and yet the McLaren driver managed to lose the title by a single point thanks, in part, to allowing a natural flow to be stifled by thinking too much about the bigger picture.

A failure to finish in Brazil next Sunday would intensify the stress going into the final round in Abu Dhabi on 1 November. If Button remains calm, however, he should collect the championship he deserves by the simple yardstick of having scored more points than anyone else during a season lasting 17 races.

Button’s Brawn team all but secured the constructors’ title in Japan and now need just half a point to be out of Red Bull’s reach. And Button said the team had every reason to be proud this year.

“It has been a roller-coaster throughout the season but also last winter, so if it does happen then congratulations to everyone,” he said.

“Also, after such a difficult winter, we didn’t even think we would be on the grid in Australia so to come away with a victory there, and many victories this season, then to come away with the constructors’ title will be a very special feeling.”

Button’s team-mate Rubens Barrichello struggled into seventh place as Sebastian Vettel took third to score six points and leapfrog into third in the drivers’ championship ahead of his Red Bull colleague, Mark Webber, who finished ninth and failed to score. “I lost two points of my championship lead, which is not good,” said Button. “I’ve just got to try and make sure it goes the opposite way at the next race. It could always be worse but it could also be better.

“My start was OK and I was up to 11th or 12th and that could have been a good race for me. Lewis Hamilton had a bad start in front of me but I was able to get round him. Then, at turn one, I was pushed wide; there was nowhere to go because it was three abreast. I saw [Fernando] Alonso and [Adrian] Sutil touch in front of me, but I was OK. But then I got hit at turn five by [Romain] Grosjean. I can’t believe he’s blaming me. He hit me but I don’t really care. It’s not important. I didn’t score any points – that’s what’s important. Having Rubens behind at the start and the Red Bulls not going so well was a good position [for me] to be in, so it was disappointing when I crashed. All I could do was watch the race. I saw Rubens get a couple of points but there was a problem with Webber’s pit stop and he wasn’t able to score any points – which is good for the championship from my point of view.

“This was a race which we had expected Red Bull to win easily. The fact that they didn’t shows that a lot of teams are strong now. When your weekend doesn’t go perfectly, it’s difficult to win from that far back on the grid.”

With five races remaining and 50 points available, Button has 72 points, Barrichello 56, Vettel 53 and Webber 51.5. Having won six times and finished third in the first seven races to collect 61 points, Button has scored just 11 points in the last five races. Ross Brawn, Button’s team principal, said: “Yes, Jenson is under pressure, but he’s got to get used to it.”

Hamilton was eliminated at the same place after making a poor start from 12th on the grid. “When it goes bad, it goes bad,” said Hamilton. “I’d got off to a bad start and I was under attack all the way through the first corner and up the hill. When Button spun in front of me going into turn five, I had to back off and got hit from behind. That was it.”

Meanwhile, Formula One’s governing body, the FIA, is investigating “alleged incidents” from a previous race, believed to be an accident at last year’s Singapore grand prix that helped Fernando Alonso secure victory for Renault.

The Brazilian TV station Globo reported today that Nelson Piquet Jr was ordered to crash into a wall at the night race so that his team-mate Alonso could take advantage of an early pit stop. The FIA would not confirm that it was investigating that particular incident, only “alleged incidents at a previous Formula One world championship event”.

Piquet was fired by Renault last month after a season and a half and the Brazilian driver complained about unequal treatment by the team principal Flavio Briatore compared to his two-time world champion team-mate.
Jenson Button was left a frustrated onlooker at yesterday’s Belgian Grand Prix, but he still walked away smiling after failing to score a point for the first time this year.

Button’s record as the only man to finish every race, and in the points this season, was wrecked after just 40 seconds of a highly eventful race at Spa.

Button’s Brawn GP was hit from behind by Romain Grosjean in his Renault, spinning the Briton into the gravel and a barrier at Les Combes.

In attempting to avoid the incident, reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton was broadsided by Jaime Alguersuari in his Toro Rosso.

With all four out, the chaos brought the safety car into play, the departure of which saw Kimi Raikkonen pass Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella for a lead he held onto by 0.9 seconds at the finish.

Sebastian Vettel was third to close the gap to Button to 19 points, with Rubens Barrichello 16 adrift after he trailed home seventh due to a clutch problem at the start that relegated him from fourth on the grid to last by the first corner.

The 29-year-old Brawn GP driver is the second owner of the 2008 all-black Veyron which has a top speed of 253mph – which makes it 33mph faster than his F1 car.

The supercar has covered just 1,500 miles and is for sale with Suffolk-based dealer Steve Hurn’s Specialist Cars for £899,995.

Its website states: “Bugatti Veryon 16.4, black/black leather interior, car comes complete with all usual refinements for a £1,000,000 supercar, fitted with sports seats, recently serviced by Bugatti, 2 owners 2nd being a Current Formula 1 driver car, can be authenticated, in absolutely stunning condition.”

Jeremy Clarkson reviewed the car on Top Gear and took part in a challenge against fellow presenters James May and Richard Hammond when he raced it from Alba, northern Italy to London while the two other stars travelled in a Cessna 182 aeroplane with Clarkson eventually winning out.

Clarkson declared the Veyron “the greatest piece of engineering ever. This is the greatest car ever made and the greatest car we will ever see in our lifetime”.

Button’s Veyron has an 8-litre W16 engine and four turbochargers and develops 1,001bhp and 922lb/ft of pulling power. This accelerates the hypercar from 0-62mph in 2.5 seconds.

The Somerset-born star is leading this season’s F1 championship with 70 points after winning six of the first seven races for the newly-formed Brawn GP team.

At the moment Button spends his time driving a Mercedes CLK DTM AMG, Ferrari Enzo, Audi RS6 Avant, BMW M5 and a Mercedes C63 AMG.

In the past Button has also owned a Ferrari F430 Spider, Ferrari 360, Ferrari 550 Maranello, Ford GT and Porsche Carrera GT.

The Brawn GP star is currently having a break in St Tropez after completing the gruelling Olympic-level Mazda London Triathlon, raising £17,000 for Make-A-Wish Foundation.

His next race for Brawn GP is the European Grand Prix in Valencia.