Tomorrow, Jenson Button will join Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher in an exclusive club of F1 drivers to have started 300 races. As one of the most loved drivers inside and outside the paddock, we take a look at some of his funniest moments.
Alonso’s new teammate
Back in 2014, Fernando Alonso was being very secretive about his future and rumours had been circulating that he would be returning to McLaren for the following season.
When the Spaniard was asked the question during the official press conference in Abu Dhabi, Jenson decided to make it as awkward as possible for Fernando. Classic.
Pour Homme, Pour Femme, Pour Cringe
Jenson has done plenty of adverts for Santander and you can pretty much take your pick as to which one is the most hilarious, but the naff green screen and saucy tiger pose at the end in this one just edge it here.
Are you telling me you’ve made a time machine…out of a McLaren?!
Yes Jenson, apparently he is telling you that. This teaser for the 2015 season was actually a pretty neat idea by McLaren to pay homage to Back to the Future, even if the execution was a little…’awkward’.
As the season progressed it turns out McLaren had made a time machine, but instead of going back to 1988 they got stuck in 1994, except their Honda engine was somehow worse than the Peugeot engine they had that year.
Probably more than you, Jeremy
Button has appeared on Top Gear a number of times and always gives a good interview. In fact when the show was rebooted he was constantly rumoured to be one of the new hosts – who knows, without an F1 drive next year, maybe those rumours will come true. Here’s a young and hairy faced Jenson talking about his sex life on his first appearance on the show back in 2006.
Fernando… Alfonso I think his name is?
Over the last couple of seasons Button seems to have resigned himself to the fact that McLaren aren’t really going to achieve anything while he’s still there and has stopped taking things too seriously (not that he ever really did anyway). This wonderfully light-hearted chat after potentially his final British Grand Prix is only made better by Mark Webber spending the entire interview trying to desperately swallow some food.
Excuses, Excuses…
Racing drivers are famed for making excuses about why they didn’t perform as well as they should have done – Button himself is notorious for complaining about a lack of grip – but this reason for not making an appearance on The Graham Norton Show is perhaps the most ridiculous of the lot. Really Jenson? Really?
Was that meant to be an American accent?
It would only be right to end with another cringeworthy advert. This time Button puts on the worst American accent ever heard by humans while Alonso makes all sorts of generalisations about America. Stuff like this just won’t be the same with Vandoorne in Buttons place.