Formula One
[
edit] 2000: WilliamsAt the end of 1999 Button had his McLaren test prize at
Silverstone, and also tested for the
Prost team. A vacant race seat became available at the
Williams team following the departure of
Alessandro Zanardi, and team boss
Frank Williams arranged a 'shoot-out' between Button and
Formula 3000 racer
Bruno Junqueira. Button won the seat.
[4]He finished eighth in the
2000 Drivers' Championship. At the
Spa Francorchamps circuit, he qualified 3rd and finished 4th. However, he made a number of rookie mistakes during the season, including crashing while under safety car conditions at
Monza. He was outscored by his more experienced teammate,
Ralf Schumacher.
[
edit] 2001: Benetton
Button drove for
Benetton in the
2001 seasonIn
2001, although still under contract with Williams, Button drove for
Benetton which had just been purchased by
Renault. He had a dismal season; the car, which was constantly under development that year, was never fast, nor was Button. He did, however, place fifth at the
German Grand Prix, but finished a disappointing seventeenth in the drivers' championship.
[
edit] 2002: RenaultIn
2002 Renault renamed Benetton as
Renault F1. Though his teammate
Jarno Trulli routinely outpaced him in qualifying, Button occasionally had the superior race pace. He narrowly missed third place (and his first podium) at the
Malaysian Grand Prix, being passed by
Michael Schumacher in the last lap due to a suspension failure in his Renault, and ultimately finished the race in fourth. The
Brazilian Grand Prix gave him another fourth place, and he finished seventh in that year's drivers championship.For the
2003 season Renault team principal
Flavio Briatore replaced Button with
Fernando Alonso, previously test driver for the team. Despite a "huge outcry"
[5] Briatore stated "Time will tell if I am wrong." In 2005 Alonso won the Drivers' Championship with Renault, while Button had yet to win a race and was involved in his second contract dispute in two years.
The Times quoted Briatore as saying "Jenson is a fine driver but there were too many contracts, too many things in the background."
[5] [
edit] 2003-2005: BAR
[
edit] 2003After his replacement at Renault, in early 2003 Button joined the
BAR team, alongside former World Champion
Jacques Villeneuve. As the season progressed, Button gained the upper hand in qualifying and also enjoyed better luck in races. Button's best result of the season was fourth place in
Austria. However, he crashed heavily during Saturday practice in
Monaco,
[6] causing him to miss both the race and the following testing session at Monza. By the end of the season, though, things were looking up, and at the
2003 United States Grand Prix Button led a lap for the first time. He finished ninth in the Drivers' Championship that year with 17 points.
[
edit] 2004
Button behind the wheel for
British American Racing at the
2004 United States Grand Prix at
Indianapolis.In
2004, Button and BAR-Honda made significant progress and BAR finished the season second in the Constructors' Championship. Button scored his first ever podium finish with a third place in the
Malaysian Grand Prix, and added 9 more throughout that season.Button and BAR's first
pole position came in April at the
2004 San Marino Grand Prix, in which he finished second. He ended the season third overall, behind the two dominant
Ferrari drivers, with 85 points.
