LEGENDS: Jenson Button’s first F1 win

20 years ago, Jensen Button joined an Elite Club. They said he might never win a Grand Prix. He started Jensen Button with the Guardian. Grand Prix, getting there! I remember the laps before the finish. You know, before you win your first race, the last few laps go on forever, that's what they say. For me, I didn't want it to end. It was the best feeling, you know, leading a race by, I think it was 30 seconds. I loved every moment I remember those laps vividly, because it meant so much, you know, just about to achieve something that set out to do 80s old. Hello and welcome to F1 Beyond the Grid. I'm Tom Clarkson and my guest this week is the 2009 World Champion Jensen Button. We're speaking 20 years on from his first F1 race win, in Hungary with Honda in 2006. Jensen recalls his memories before, during and after the race, describing the emotions, the celebrations, and how that first win changed him as a racer. That last point leads us on to a very interesting chat about when Jensen was the best in Formula One and the insecurities that all drivers feel. JB, how's it going? How are you? Good, thank you. It's been a few years, isn't it? It has. Now talking of years, we all love an anniversary, right? It's 20 years, would you believe it, since that first win, Hungary 2006. When you think of that weekend, let's start with this. What is the overriding memory? Oh, they're emotions, yeah. I mean, it went from qualifying for, skinny a 10-place grid penalty, because we had an engine failure, starting near the back, so in 14th with Fernando, with Michael, because they both got penalties and qualifying, for overtaking Andrea Laflag. So we're all at the back and fighting our way through, so did I think it was going to end up with a victory? No, definitely not from where we were, but it had everything that race. A lot of actions started wet, it dried out. I made a move on Michael into turn one, which kind of was a win for me anyway, before I actually got the victory. Any time you could put one over on Michael Schumacher was impressive, and I enjoyed it very much. And yeah, so much emotion and relief also, because it'd been 113 races, but I've had informal one and. I didn't want yet. Can we start with the background? On the subjects of not winning, you'd come close, you had a stack of podiums, 10 in 2004 alone. Had you got to the point where you think, is this ever going to happen? Yeah, definitely I was at that point. 2004 was an amazing year, as you said, 10 podiums. The first one came and then it's like, I couldn't do anything wrong that year. It was always in the podium. Paul position and Imola in front of Michael in the Ferrari, which is pretty special. But yeah, I lose to win, just wasn't there. 2005 obviously we had our own issues with missing a few races. But yeah, it was getting a little bit painful, because the team were great. But the challenge for Rari at that time was really difficult. And then Renault appeared from nowhere, competitive with Fernando Alonso, and those two were fighting. We were like the team behind. We were the team in third in the constructives, and it was getting a little bit frustrating. So that win kind of opened up a little bit for the whole team. From that point onwards, until the end of the season, I scored more points than any other driver. 35, I was going to say that. On the topic of Ferrari, Rubens Barrakello had come to B.A.O. Honda as it was that year. Just what did Rubens bring the team that it hadn't had before? Had it felt like a one car team before and suddenly it became two? It's funny, I've been asked this question many times in terms of who's the driver that you feel was the best engineering. And by far it was Rubens. It's working with the team, developing a car, understanding what a car is doing out on track, and feeding that information back, but also just understanding what to do with the car, not just letting the engineer get on with it. And that's what he was really impressive at. And I understand why Michael wanted him as a teammate for so many years. And I was lucky enough to have that when we started racing together and I could really see the skill set that he had that I never knew existed. And a winner's mentality? I mean, did he explain why Ferrari had been so successful? Were you able to make changes within the team? I wouldn't say so much in winning mentality. I mean, we all want to win. We're all doing as much as we can to win. You know, it's these aren't how much your team's going up against Ferrari. You know, this is hundreds of people with a lot of experience in the sport. So I think the mentality was always there to be winning. It's just we didn't quite have the package to do that. But I think having feedback from two drivers with experience was really important. And obviously, you know, they're going to listen to Rubens quite a lot because he's come from Ferrari and these worked alongside Michael. Okay, so that's the background. Let's talk about the track now, the Hungar Rowing. You actually won their twice in your career. Quarky little track feels like a sort of overgrown car track. Was it a track you liked racing on? It was a tough track to race on. If the conditions were dry, overtaking was quite difficult. It was like a monoco without the barriers. You know, so you could take more risks. You could make mistakes and get away with it, unlike Monaco. But I really enjoyed it. You know, it was a fun track to drive. In mixed conditions, it was awesome. You know, because you could put it around the outside, it turned to other places like turn five, you could drive around the outside in the wet of people. So it was a real mixed up race if it rained and lots of opportunities in those conditions. We were also on Michelin tyres at the time. And the Ferrari's were on bridge stones, which definitely helped us in those wet conditions. What did you need from your car to be quick? Because actually the RA106 have been a little bit inconsistent at the opening of the 2006 season. Was it good in Titan twisty or did it prefer quicker corners? Quicker corners. Yeah. And you needed a car that was good in quicker corners in Hungary. I mean, it sounds strange, right? It looks so slow, but it's not. You're still unbelievably quick in most corners in Budapest. And you know, the last sector especially, you know, you needed a good front end. It was never my strong point to have a car that had too much of a pointy front end, because I didn't like oversteer that much. But it was a car that you could, as you added steering lock, it was like the dream you got more front grip, whereas a lot of racing cars, you get to a point and it washes out. So it was a really nice car to drive. The last corner I just remember being frustrating in that car, because it wasn't quite quick enough for the arrow to be working well. So you'd always just go in there and throw in on loads of steering lock and understeers. So that's where we lost time. But most of the track we were pretty strong. What you hit the ground running actually, Anthony Davidson, the third driver, reserve driver, I can't even remember, but we had the Friday drivers in those days. He was what P2 on Friday morning in first practice, and then you and Rubens lock out the second row of the grid in qualifying before the grid penalty that you mentioned. So the car felt good from the moment you put it on track that weekend. Yeah, and when you look back now, it's hilarious, because it was just the norm, the way the cars looked sounded. But that V10, when I watch videos back, just blows my mind, those scream of it. How does an engine produce that noise? It was pretty phenomenal. To have raced in that era, I feel very lucky, very privileged. But yeah, from the world go, it felt good. And then it didn't, because we had an engine failure, I remember. It was after turn four. The quick left hander, I had to pull over to the left and smoke, building out the back of the car, and that was it. I was like, "Oh, 10 grid place penalty done." But tell us what you were thinking on race morning. You rip open the curtains. Is the first wet Hungarian Grand Prix ever? Did you start to believe at that point? No. No, not starting 14th. It never happened. I'd never want to race before, and I'd started on pole. No, definitely not. You didn't even start it on pole earlier in the year in Australia as well. Yeah, and then stop just before the line with the same issue as we had in testing it. I can go, "Yeah." But no, I definitely didn't. But I knew it was going to be more interesting. And the exciting thing for me was that we had the two championship rivals starting behind me or around me at that time. So I knew it was going to be a big fight through the field, and it definitely, definitely was that. You know, when I watch it back, and I see the fight between Michael and Fernando as well, it was an awesome race. Talk about the decision about what tyres to start on. Because you started on Inter's from P-40. And your teammate Rubens is on full wets from third on the grid. The briefing before the race. Why so different? I don't remember why Rubens was on wet. I mean, most of the time in F1, as we've experienced, you don't ever want to be on a wet tyre. The only reason why you've been on wet tyres is because it's too wet to drive on the track. So you'd be behind the safety car. As soon as the safety car comes in, you want to be on an Inter. Because they get each. it's an up so quickly a wet tire and it can have the blocks move around so much. Whereas the entire just it just worked in those conditions. It wasn't a lot of standing water enough to be wet but not rivers where you needed a wet tire. Quick word on the tire wall. You already mentioned that it with that race weekend was you wanted to be on the missions and not the bridge stones. But did you enjoy the tire wall era of Formula One? I did. I did. I experienced that later on in my career in Super GT as well. It's such a, for me it's such an exciting part of racing because it's tire manufacturers going at it as well and they're obviously trying to produce not just a safe tire like we have in Formula One now but also they were pushing the boundaries a lot more with trying to be better than the other tire supplier. What we have now is great because we have the different levels of softness that we have and we can play around with them all around the world for different types of tracks. But back then it was like they would bring whatever they thought would work for that track and the lap times were extraordinary. Then 2005 happened and we, sorry the year before 2005, we used one tire for the whole race and we did it. It was a problem if you locked up. They were grooved and they were grooved and they worked. It was just amazing but yeah so I really enjoyed the tire wall. But all good things come to an end. I respect the way that we have it now in Formula One as well. What about refueling? It was a refueling era as well, wasn't it? I loved that part of it because you could have different strategies. You could run different strategies on fuel. You could even start the race on half tanks if you wanted to. So have a lightning first in and you'd never be at full tanks because you could do a three stop race, two stop race and you're never at full tanks. So if your car didn't work as a heavy car with the fuel moving, you'd just run a lower fuel level and just do more stops. Also in qualifying them we had fuel on board. Remember? So it was declared after qualifying how much fuel we had on board for the race. Start guessing. Oh how much? Yeah. Yeah. So it was fun. I enjoyed that and it left more opportunity for people that weren't in the best car I think. Right, back to the race, okay? We get underway. You're immediately start flying actually. That first in was great. I think you overtook Massa Physicela Schumacher in the space of two laps. Yeah, it was good. So you immediately got a tune out of the car. I've asked you this before. I'm going to ask you again. What point in the race did you start to think something special might be on? Definitely. I would say towards the end of that stint, I think we went to dry tyres on the first stop. It was around that time because the pace was really good on the wets on the intas and I could see myself coming through the field and they were giving me lap times of Fernando as well. And as I were quicker, we're quicker. This is great and then when we put the dry tyres on the pace was really strong. At that moment I thought, yeah, this is. I actually thought it was on before it was on. You know what I mean? At that moment I was like, we're going to win this. I didn't realise the offset that we had with Fernando with pit stops. I thought it was a walk in the park and then I was like, oh no, actually Fernando's in front and then he had his will not fall off in turn two and life was made a lot easier for me. I didn't have to challenge him. I was up, but I knew a lot. So he's up. The World Championship leader has stopped and Jensen Button not only leads, but he leads by 22 seconds. Is it too soon to start talking about the first girl free victory of Jensen Button? Do you think you had the pace to pass him if he kept going? Passing him, I don't know, but we had the pace to catch him, but passing is another thing always and then a fun and with the way the track was, you know, drying track, it's always difficult to put it on the wet patches to overtake. So you got a force and error from the go in front. How did you race engineer Andrew Shovlin, break the news that Fernando was out? Was he very calm or was it like, hey, babe, you're not going to believe that? It wouldn't have been calm. It would have been unbelievably exciting. When you've never achieved something and you think you might be able to, everything changes, you know. And even though we're British and we don't like showing too much emotion, Shovlin did. I really love that about him and that's why we worked so well together. Yeah, I mean, it would have been proper excited, definitely. I didn't even know that I was racing Fernando at that point. So I thought I was in the lead anyway. Let's hope the floodgates now open for Jensen Button as they did for Nigel Mansell and for Damon Hill before him because here in his 113th, Crawford, he's proved the critics wrong. They said he might never win a Crawford. He's done it. Jensen Button wins. The Iguarian Crawford, get it there. You cross the line. You've won your first race. 20 years on. How vividly do you remember the emotions? Before you win your first race, the last few laps go on forever. That's what they say. You hear different things and worried that you're going to have a failure. It was the best feeling, leading a race by, I think it was 30 seconds. I asked the team, is everything okay? A couple of times with the car. They're like, yep, just keep doing what you're doing. I loved every moment. I remember those laps vividly because it meant so much. I was just about to achieve something that set out to do 80s old. Then I caught the Honda Junior Team, which was super gory. I remember that. On the last lap I called up to them, I was like, this would be nice. We can cross the line together when they're a lap down or two laps down. By the way, it would be nice for Honda, but you couldn't keep up. You weren't slowing down. I wasn't slowing down. At that moment, you start backing off. Your concentration goes. You don't want to be messing with that. You've got to keep focused. You might not be 100%, but it's 99%. JB, it was an incredible podium of first, actually. Your first win, it was the team's first win. It was Dilla Rose's first podium, Heidfeld, a given BMW Salva, their first podium as well. Can you remember what was said or in that moment, is it just all about you? No, there was a lot of emotion on the podium. I noticed it more from Pedro. There's a lot of photos of us hugging. A lot of staring into each other's eyes. It was his first podium and it was his last informal one. It was his one and only. I spoke to him yesterday about it, actually. As it's the anniversary, he was like, you don't understand how emotional it was for me, as well, being up there, given this opportunity to go and race from McLaren after Pum Pumlo was moved aside. It was a lot of emotion up there. I think for the first win to be hangarering with that beautiful trophy, I think that means a little bit more. I think, I know it's the first win, but I think because of the trophy and the effort and dedication that goes into designing that trophy and building it, it means extra bit more. How did you celebrate? Yeah, I had to go straight to China because I had a sponsor event in China. So yeah, I had a couple of ears at the track, jumped on a private plane which took us to a bigger airport, which then I flew to China and did an event on a like a, it's not a gondola, but it was like a gondola on the water and I was like, this is so random. Yeah. And then obviously got the call from Big Boss at Honda. You've just won our first race in 40 years. Can you come to Japan? I'm like, all right. Well, you're in the region. Yeah, here it goes. But I arrived in Japan and went to the R&D Honda R&D Centre. I'm overwalking in and the corridor, it's a completely open plan office and the corridor is, it feels like it's half a kilometre long. It feels like it's 500 metres long. I'm sure it's not. But every single worker there came and stood by the middle corridor to clap me down and it lasted like 20 minutes walking down there and it was pretty awesome. You know, there's so much emotion. They'd put so much into the team and it'd been a long time since Honda won as a manufacturer. So a lot of tears and that added to my emotion as well. So it was actually the best way to kind of celebrate. And that cemented your relationship with Honda who you're still working with today, right? Exactly. I've raced for Honda, obviously 2003 through 2008, 15 and 16 and then 17, 18, 19 in Super GT and then I raced for them in the Daytona 24 where we got a podium. Did you approach Turkey the next race? Any differently. You know they talk about the confidence you get from your first win. Did you feel any of that? I think I was more relaxed. I was less tense. Monkey off your back. Yeah, I think that's the feeling that you have. It's less tense. I'm not going to win the World Championship. So let's go out and do as well as we can. I've won that race. I can take a few more risks now. And it was probably some of the best races of my career. One because I was so relaxed. You know, people talk about the broad season being my best year in the Nefah and it wasn't, I don't think. And I put you at your best, JB. I think 2006 was a really good year for me, the second part of the season. And 2011, I would say, in McLaren. The two years you won in Hungary. The other two years I won in Hungary, yes. My 114th Grand Prix and my 200th Grand Prix, I remember. 2007 and 2008 were quite quiet years. Difficult years. Difficult really difficult. Remember the Earth colour and things like that? When did the foundations for 2009 start getting laid? When you look back, did it start in 2006 with that winning Hungary? I would say maybe with Honda, but in terms of the UK-based, no. I mean, we expected so much out of 2007. And it just was a disaster. It really was. You know, our junior team, SuperGurie, had our 2006 car. So they were beating us. That car won a race. And we were driving something that couldn't even get into the points with. So that was a tough year. And then it was more when Ross turned up at the end of 2007. That was the moment that, you know, it was like, oh, this is going to turn around. And that you felt the mood shift. A team that had won a race suddenly was so bad in 2007, I think it. It needed that kickstart again. What's someone like Ross Paulkin? What did Ross bring? I think just his presence, first of all, just him walking into the room. It was enough. You know, I remember it was like assembly. We had the whole factory in one room. And nobody really knew that Ross was coming. And that's when it was announced. And he walked down the middle aisle. And there he was at the front. And he was our savior. He was the person that was going to come in and save us from the disaster of the year 2000. Javier, I'd love to know, like, can we explore this a bit more? What did Ross bring other than his presence? Was it a confidence? Was it a direction? What, yeah, I hadn't got to that before. I wasn't just his presence. That was already a kickstart. You know, that was a good kickstart for the team. But yeah, his leadership, his understanding of how a team needs to work together, getting rid of blame culture within a team, letting people be a bit more free within a team. And, you know, come up with crazy ideas. And sometimes they don't work, but they've got to take risks otherwise you're never going to get to the front. So it was a really good atmosphere when Ross was there. 2008 was made very difficult because we knew we were just concentrating on 2009. So 2008 was kind of like, there you go. There you go. Have that. And it wasn't great. It was pretty bad. And I'd caught of sort of mentally switched off at that point. Because I knew this year was going to be a disaster. I feel that Rubens probably did a better job in that situation than I did in 2008. I was more already looking at 2009 and I was just going through the motions on race weekends. Because once you'd won, it felt, what am I doing here? You know, fighting for 13th, 14th on the grid. And it's not what I set out to do. So it was tough. And I think I gave up a bit too early that season when I look back now. Did Ross make you a better racing driver? I think his calm attitude was great. You know, on tough days, I don't think that anyone can make you a better racing driver. It's down to yourself to sort out your demons. You know, I think people can listen. I think that's what you need to do as a leader. Listen to your drivers problems. But don't be too opinionated. You know, as drivers we're flawed. We are insecure. And I'll go for any driver. You know, when I hear Lewis Hamilton on the radio last year, in the Ferrari, when he asks the question, they don't come back to him and he's like, "Have I done something wrong?" It's like, you're a seven-time world champion. You know, the confidence you should have is out of this world, but, you know, insecurity is creeping. So I think being, you know, listening to drivers and their issues is a big thing, I think, for leaders and it's insecurity's driving you on, I suppose, as well, right? Yeah, I mean, you forget what you've achieved. And you just think about that last session. You're like, "I'm not good enough." You know, I was two tenths palm of teammate. It's crazy and the pressure you put yourself under, it's enormous. And that's why you see so many drivers fail in the sport, even though they have the talent. Mentally, they're just in a really dark place. And I've heard it from many drivers. And, you know, we think of it as a weakness, so we don't talk about it. And that's what amazed me with Lando, you know, the way he's been outspoken over the last couple of years of mental health, really, really good. And I think that gives you a lot of strength. Do you think Michael Schumacher had those insecurities? Yes. I do. Because certainly the public persona was one of great concessors. Yeah. You know, when there's certain drivers, riders in MotoGP that I've thought he comes across as a bit arrogant, but it's not. They just don't want to let anyone in. You know, they know they have insecurities and they don't want to let people in. Which is the biggest issue because then you never get over those insecurities. Yeah. So, JB, your career, you experienced every emotion under the sun. Didn't you, really? Yes. Highs and lows. So, when you look at 2026, and we just end on the current year, who do you look at this year and go, they're like me? I can relate to that driver. He drives like me. His attitude is like me. If all the ducks align, he can win the world championship, even if he hasn't already. Who's that person? It's a difficult question to ask. We're all built so differently. And I'm not inside any of the driver's heads. I think in my younger years, I would say probably Oscar. He's driving a stunt. You were chilled. I remember being at the showdown in where we were in January 2000. It was you and Bruno Jean-Kierre. Now, I know the sort of innocence of youth, what you don't know, what you don't know. But I was bold over at Barcelona. Then just thinking, how can JB be so relaxed? His entire future rests on what we're doing now. Yeah. You go from. Oscar S. I suppose. Go from being a kid that likes racing cars to an F1 driving. Your world changes. Not just your career, but everything else in your world changes. Very Oscar S. I think it's a point of view. Yeah, I think so. The racing was what I was all about. I wasn't bad at doing media and sponsor events. But it wasn't what I enjoyed. It was just the driving that I loved. And also, you know, in moments in my career, I wasn't there mentally. I wasn't strong enough at certain moments. I don't want to put that on Oscar. But when you look at last year, there were moments in time that I felt that he wasn't able to get the best out of himself. And sometimes you do tighten up. And that was a weakness of mine. And 2009, it was in plain sight. And I don't mind talking about it, because it's something that I worked on. So, yeah, I think probably Oscar. And it's lovely to see him and his dedication and his focus. And he just wants to go racing. Very like Max as well. No, I'm not like Max in terms of, I'm nowhere near as good as him. But I know also the way that he races is very different. Do you think Max has the insecurity as well? Yes, I still think there's an insecurity there. Yeah, maybe that applies to all professional sports. I think it does. And it comes down to you lose more than you win. I spoke to Roger Federer last year about sport and the mental side of it. And he said, "Yeah, you got to think I'm the most successful tennis player ever." And I lost 75% of my matches. And that's a great record. In F1, I race 300 Grand Prix, I won 15. 15, so I lost 285 races. Hang on, 50 podiums, I would never have won. Yeah, yeah. But talking about victory, so Lewis Hamilton, extraordinary what he's achieved. But he's still lost a lot more than he's won. And that is mentally why it's tough in any sport because you lose more than you win. J.B, it's been such a joy to chat to you again. And to relive that hungry race, thank you so much for your time. Cheers, Tom. That was a brilliant chat. Thank you, Jensen, for your time and for your memories. From 20 years ago, you remembered so much from your first win. And why wouldn't you? I hope everyone involved in that win, especially Andrew Shuvlin, your race engineer, will enjoy reminiscing as much as we did. Well, that's almost it for this week. Before I go, a few parish notices for you. On the latest episode of F1 Nation, I'm joined by Julian Palmer and James Hinchcliffe to talk about the greatest teammate rivalries in F1 history. And this week's F1 Explains is all about press officers with former McLaren Communications Director Sophie Ogg. That will be on the F1 Nation feed on Friday. Thanks very much for listening. I will, of course, be back next week with another iconic name from the pinnacle of Motorsport. F1, Beyond the Grid is produced by Formula One and AudioBoom Studios. Until next time, keep it flat out. 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