There is a little discussion going on in another thread about Jenson Button. Does he have an ego greater than his driving skills?
Well, as for his driving skills, Button is fairly quick, but usually unspectacular. He has the ability to impress sometimes though. His performances at Hungary and China this year are beginning to mark him out as a wet weather specialist, which is good going.
But his ego? The entire Honda team is well known for talking up its chances. When you think back to the roots, with BAR’s first season, they were telling everybody how they were going to win a race in their first season and all of that shit. They were actually one of the worst teams on the grid, mixing it with the Minardis.
Thing got even worse when it looked like the team had the potential to win a race, but could never quite do it. They had to go around convincing everybody that they were bound to win a race sooner or later. Nick Fry even pretty much said just before the start of the Japanese Grand Prix that he thought they were going to win that very race! Of course they came nowhere near to winning.
For a while, Jenson Button held the dubious honor of being the most experienced F1 driver not to have won a race. He was taunted about it during interviews for years. The media got a bit pissed off at him because British fans aren’t interested unless a Brit is winning a race — never mind the ‘plucky Brit’ image. F1 isn’t for plucky Brits, it’s for people with fucking humongous balls.
So Button had to always say he was capable of winning a race sooner or later, even when it seemed about as likely as Nick Heidfeld winning a race. It’s not a good thing to be really; patently lying about your talent. Let’s face it, a bit of skill was involved in his belated victory, but a great deal was down to luck.
So yes, Button maybe does have a bit of an ego. But here is the real reason why I think Button is an insuffrably smug scrotum.
Those BBCi adverts!
Oh man! How awful were they? Unfortunately (fortunately) I can’t find a video of it on the internet, but I have found the press release. It gives just a hint of what the advert contained:
As Britain’s youngest Grand Prix driver, Button travels at more than 200 mph mastering racing circuits around the world, so he knows the value of control.
In the latest BBCi television trails he will be using a different kind of control, the remote control, to navigate the BBC’s digital version of CEEFAX, gaining access to the latest news, travel, weather and sport on demand.
“I enjoy being up to date but I’m always on the go. When I’m racing I need to be completely focused, but when I’m out of the car I enjoy getting the latest news, sport and entertainment news, whenever I want it. BBCi on TV is the perfect solution,” said Button.
…
The BBC expects Jenson to push all the right Buttons for BBCi.
AAaaarghghgh! And we haven’t even got on to the advert yet. Button’s performance is truly wooden and stilted. But he was probably just embarassed by the horrendous script. If you thought it was bad enough that Gillette persist on trying to convince you that their new Mach Eine Million razor is just like a fighter jet, wait until you see what the BBC thinks BBCi is like.
Yes, BBCi is just like a Formula 1 car! So there sits Jenson Button, with a seedy grin on his face, pretending he’s having the time of his life on BBCi. “I always like to be in control… Great gear changes,” Button whimpers. Except he’s not holding a gear lever. Jenson, it’s a bloody remote control you tool! People trust this guy to race around circuits at 200mph yet he is confusing a remote control for a gearstick.
Button is easy to dislike, same could be said of Mansel…………but I can tolerate a whiner that wins
I feel as though you’re being a little harsh; although, I can’t point to anything to say why exactly. I am clearly biased.
Those adverts were absolute tosh thought and no mistake.
I would say, being a fan, that Jenson made a mistake that hopefully he has learned from. He was seduced by some cash and gave in, many of us would.
The worst thing about it all thought was that Jenson lives in Monaco, and even then spends more than half the year in other countries around the world. What muppet at the BBC thought that it would be a good idea to suggest he actually used BBCi?
That’s like getting Al Unser Jnr to say “Whenever I’m in a accident I like to use the NHS”.
I live here and I don’t use it.
So in conclusion it isn’t Jenson’s fault, he is blameless and you should all support him unreservedly.
Apart from the fact he is English he is now, and other drivers, congesting the seats available to the real talents such as Bourdais, Grosjean, Senna, Buemi, Pantano… Well I guess he is where he belongs but the fact is Vettel does great in an underated car shows it is a combination of things. And I mean there is a hell lot of other drivers who should be thinking: ‘hell I am just not belonging to this and should go elsewhere in sports cars for instance’. Pure honesty, not grabbing as much money as possible. And then you have people like Briatore who places his protegee.
That’s why I watch Indycar, because when I am out of the office I need to stay up to date with the real racers…