That day in February, when team principal Martin Whitmarsh heralded the new
MP4-28 car as “fantastic-looking”, feels half a lifetime ago.
For three months a battalion of technicians, alarmed by its underperformance,
have since been seeking desperately to coax it into some semblance of
competitiveness.
Button, trying to summon up optimism ahead of first practice at the Circuit de
Catalunya, says: “I feel we will have a package ready for Barcelona, but it
is not that easy. Other teams are going to improve, too.”
Not least reigning triple champions Red
Bull, 86 points clear and streaking over the horizon.
As if this were not chastening enough for Button, the 33-year-old is also
forced to fend off an unexpected challenge from within.
Sergio Perez, the Mexican wunderkind a decade his junior, might have struggled
as McLaren’s replacement for Lewis
Hamilton but responded memorably in Bahrain last month by overtaking
him in a sustained wheel-banging duel.
Button plainly resented Perez’s audacity, describing the rookie’s tactics as
“dirty and dangerous”, but resisted escalating a public feud.
“In front of the camera, I don’t think you need to show the world the
relationship you have with your team-mate,” he explains.
“I like to deal with the issues face-to-face and get it sorted. It’s the way I
have always been, from my time with Jacques Villeneuve and Rubens
Barrichello. We would speak and express our issues. Otherwise, frustration
and anger can build.”
The tensions between Button and Perez remain a simmering subtext in Spain.
McLaren initially claimed that the matter was resolved straight after the
race, in a meeting at the team garage with sporting director Sam Michael,
but Perez let slip in Mexico City last week that he had not offered a word
of apology to his team-mate.
For Button, the episode serves as an unhelpful reminder of his testy
relationship with Hamilton, who once attempted to prove he was McLaren’s
faster driver by disclosing his rival’s telemetry on Twitter.
“Yeah, we had misunderstandings,” says Button, recalling one famous
contretemps at the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix.
“As soon as we got out of our cars, I saw Lewis was angry and I didn’t know
why. He didn’t think that I was supposed to have overtaken him but I had.
“I said, ’I didn’t know. Listen back to the radio, nobody told me.’ We
cleared it up.”
Button conveys a sense that as time passes, these crossed wires matter to him
increasingly less. He is worth £58 million at a conservative estimate,
commands a global property portfolio including his Riviera retreat in
Eze-Sur-Mer and, by his own acknowledgement, feels “no pressure at all”.
Within the paddock he cultivates the most serene demeanour of any the leading
protagonists, with a coterie of friends and family nearby.
Chief among them is father John, the former rallycross driver who has helped
nurtured Button’s career since childhood in Somerset.
An exuberant, colourfully dressed 67-year-old, invariably with his own table
reserved in the team hospitality suite, Button Snr unashamedly revels in the
fruits of what he has sown.
“The old boy isn’t here to give me advice, he is here to enjoy himself,” his
son says. “He has been involved in my career since I first started karting
and he has obviously got my best interests at heart.
“He is never involved in discussions on race weekends about strategy,
but he has so many friends here that I think he would be around even if I
wasn’t driving.”
Button’s playboy days, when he was all too smitten by those hackneyed F1
temptations of supermodels on yachts, have given way to a more reflective
outlook.
He credits girlfriend Jessica Michibata, a half-Japanese lingerie model, for
her “brilliant support” in guiding him towards his maiden world title in
2009 despite a torrid second half of the season.
“It’s important to share all those moments of pain and satisfaction around a
grand prix,” he argues.
“I’ve been doing it so long now that if you don’t have people around who you
love or care about, it makes it all pointless.
“To have somebody there who has been with you for so long makes such a
difference that I can’t describe.”
Miss Michibata, he says, was especially effective at consoling him four years
ago in Singapore, when a botched qualifying session led him to believe he
had thrown his chance of the championship away.
“Those closest to you understand when to say something and when not to. I’m a
completely different person in a car to how I am when I’m at home, and they
appreciate that.
“My manager, Richard Goddard, was quite shocked at first about how abrupt
I could be at the circuit. We almost fell out immediately, but there’s a
good understanding now.”
There will need to be, one suspects, as Button toils to turn McLaren’s dismal
campaign full circle.
“Don’t forget, there have been difficult times before,” he says, suddenly
remembering all his many reasons to smile.
Who’s who on Team Button?
Jessica Michibata – Girlfriend
Half-Japanese, half-Argentine lingerie model who has been Button’s partner
since 2009. Regularly seen in the paddock.
John Button – Father
The nattily dressed Button Snr is ever-present on the Formula One circuit,
having competed himself as a rallycross driver. Divorced from Button’s
mother, Simone, since 1987.
Richard Goddard – Manager
Button describes Goddard as “the best manager there has ever been in Formula
One” and they have launched their own agency, The Sports Partnership. They
branched out as restaurateurs but their Harrogate business, Victus, closed
last summer.
Andy Collier – Trainer
Button’s best friend and personal trainer, aka ’Mikey Muscles’, who steers him
through not just the exceptional rigours of a Formula One campaign but also
triathlon events from the Riviera to Hawaii.
Matt Bishop – PR chief
McLaren’ media gatekeeper and the team’s communications chief since 2007.
Fought fires for Button during a strained partnership with Hamilton, who
last year deliberately disclosed his old team-mate’s telemetry.