Having been runner-up in the 1976 RAC British Rallycross Championship, John
was an enormous influence and support to Jenson as he moved up through the
lower formulas to Formula One, rarely leaving his side.
Button’s McLaren team led the tributes from a shocked Formula One community to
a hugely likeable figure.
Martin Whitmarsh, team principal, who got to know John since bringing Jenson
from Brawn GP at the end of his championship winning campaign in 2009 to
McLaren, said John had always “been at his [Jenson’s] side.”
“In my long Formula One career, I’ve encountered many drivers’ fathers, but I
think it’s safe to say that John was perhaps more devoted to his son than
any of them”, Whitmarsh said.
“Ever since Jenson was a boy, racing go-karts, his dad has been at his
side, helping him, supporting him, finding the money for the next race.
“As Jenson grew older, and continued to win in cars, still John was
always there, his most steadfast helper and supporter.
“And, even now, in recent years, during which Jenson has become the
consummate Formula 1 world champion that he is, the most experienced driver
on the Formula 1 grid in fact, still John has been ever-present, as loyal
and as loving as ever, a benign and popular member of Jenson’s small and
intimate entourage.”
Whitmarsh said that John Button has become an “irreplaceable part of the
McLaren ‘family’”, and that he was a “great dad” and “lovely man” who will
missed by the entire paddock.
Jenson’s incoming team-mate, rookie Kevin Magnussen, added his condolences.
“I’m very very sorry for my team-mate, Jenson Button”, Magnussen wrote on
Twitter. “His Dad was a really great guy who will be missed by all in F1”.
Teams and drivers from across the paddock expressed their sadness, with double
world champion Fernando Alonso describing John Button as “a great man, a
friend, we will miss him”.