Button believes his age and experience are overwhelmingly to his advantage. “I
am 34 years old but I don’t feel old. Age is better for experience. I have
no worries that a guy in his late thirties is as good as a guy in his
twenties in a Formula One car, as long as his head is still in it and he
still has the will to win, and the rush.
“The positives of a guy my age outweigh the negatives, the experience, having
been the rough and smooth and understanding a racing car. So maybe the best
years are to come.”
Button will most likely need to improve on his 2013 performance if he is to be
the one to determine when his career at one of the sport’s heritage teams
will end.
Although last season he outscored his team-mate, Sergio Perez, based on the
evidence of the first two races he will face a much sterner test against
Kevin Magnussen.
Another young driver, Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne, is waiting in the wings, and
is being heavily talked up in some quarters at McLaren.
This is not a case of preparing the exit for Button, who is in the final year
of his contract.
But it is a recognition of the fact he needs a strong showing against
Magnussen in 2014, and that you are only as good as your last race;
something the man himself freely admits. “It’s always the way, and with any
sport,” Button says.
For the meantime Button is training as hard as ever to prepare himself for
Bahrain, after McLaren enjoyed an average weekend in Malaysia.
“Every 34-year-old in F1 is fitter than ever”, he says. “Fernando [Alonso]
trains flat out and I do the same to keep young, to do 56 laps in Malaysia
at 100 per cent. It was good being able to hold off people as I was – you
need good mental and physical strength to do that, so hopefully I’m going to
have another 250!”
And even after a quarter millennia of race weekends – which this year, for the
first time in his career have been without his father John – the highs are
as joyous as they always were.
He adds: “Every weekend you want to do the best and if you have a bad weekend
it frustrates you massively. It is not a case of, ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter, I
have done 250 grands prix’.
“Every single grand prix matters and if you have a bad race it hurts. And if
you have a good race it means as much as the others.”
Button will be hoping to add more trophies to his collection this year, after
a barren 2013. Unfortunately for the 34-year-old, McLaren keep drivers’
trophies, although he admits to sneaking a few out to go alongside his
replica world championship trophy in his lounge – a £35,000 gift from his
long-time manager, Richard Goddard.
Button is one of the most popular figures in the paddock, so it was no
surprise he received a glowing tribute from his former team-mate on reaching
the 250 milestone.
“I have a huge amount of respect for Jenson,” Hamilton said on Wednesday night.
“Watching him come back every year, and have that motivation.
“Naturally as you get older, it gets harder. It does get harder to train, even
for younger people. And for him to come every year and he’s totally focused
on it.
“It’s also a much harder atmosphere for him because his dad’s not there, and
he’s been with him all these years. But even then, he’s still there, he’s
still working away.
“So I take my hat off to him. I can only hope and dream that I get to have as
long and successful career as he has had.”