NAGOYA, Japan – As the Formula One circus travels to Japan for the Japanese Grand Prix this coming weekend, the McLaren Mercedes team has announced that Jenson Button has signed a new multi-year contract with the team.
Button is the last driver still capable of winning the drivers’ title this year. Of course, he won’t, but that’s beside the point. Since Button has to win all five remaining races and hope that Sebastian Vettel does not score a single point, the contract extension for the British driver obviously is not designed to make him put in an extra effort to win a title he will not win.
In fact, Button has had a much better season than his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, and he is clearly at the top of his racing game, even if he won the title two years ago when driving with Brawn. He has reached a maturity as a driver and a person after first starting in the series more than a decade ago as a great British hope that for many years looked like it would not work out.
”I’ve never felt more at home at a team than I do at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes,” Button said in a team statement, “I’ve won four of the greatest races of my life here, I’m currently lying second in the drivers’ world championship, and I feel that I’m driving better than ever.
“You can only achieve that with the right level of support,” he added. “And I truly believe that the passion and determination to win are stronger here at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes than anywhere else. As a Grand Prix driver, those are incredibly powerful feelings to share and be part of, and they’ve only reinforced my desire to commit my long-term future to this team.”
For some reason the team has decided not to disclose whether a multi-year contract means two years or 10. But I am certain the question will be raised several times in the paddock in Japan starting on Thursday. Button has won four races with the team since he joined last year.
The only Formula One person I saw in the airport in Tokyo when I arrived Wednesday, as it turned out, was Button’s dad, John, who, it seems, has attended just about every race Button has entered in Formula One. Had I known this announcement was about to be made, I might have tried to squeeze the extra detail out of him!