Yesterday James Allen, writing on his blog, asked a very pertinent question: does Jenson Button have a future in Formula One?
It’s something we’d all like to know the answer to – but Allen’s got a slightly more informed view than the rest of us about how Button is viewed in the paddock and what his real chances are.
The piece, therefore, makes fascinating reading although not always comfortable for those people who wish he’d been able to realise the same kind of top-flight career as Lewis Hamilton.
Allen’s view seems to be that, while no-one will be biting Jense’s hand off in the way that they would if, say, Fernando Alonso found himself out of work, he’s still a major asset to Formula One and to British motorsport.
Here’s an excerpt:
It is another setback in a career, which has not fulfilled the immense promise he showed when he made his debut in 2000, aged 20, with the Williams team.
Button has been in Formula 1 for nine seasons and although not considered by paddock pundits to be a member of the elite group of drivers in the top echelon, he is right at the top of division two and the experts all says that has one of the purest driving techniques in the field. He drives with great smoothness, very rarely getting the car out of shape.
The same could not be said of the management of his career. Button has had three different managers, David Robertson, John Byfield and Richard Goddard during his nine years in F1 and has made some rather chaotic decisions, although things have been more stable since Goddard has been in charge.
The timing of this situation is bad in every respect, not least because Button’s form tailed off towards the end of last season and team mate Rubens Barrichello often outperformed him. This is the memory of him which is fresh in the mind at this critical phase of his career. It wasn’t really like Jenson, who the year before had performed well in a poor car, especially on days when there was a sniff of some points. Read full piece here…