In 2008 Jenson could hardly buy a point with Honda (and believe me, they paid top dollar); he was labelled “washed up” at the tender age of 28. This season, he has won three out of four grands prix and been praised to the rafters for his “smooth” driving style and maturity.
Well which is it? Car or driver? Was Jenson really that bad, or indeed is he really that good?
In my opinion, Jenson really is world class, right up there with the likes of Lewis and Sebastian Vettel. Yes, he has had the best car for most of the season so far, but he has still beaten his team-mate Rubens Barrichello in every race.
It has sometimes been said of Jenson that he is a fine driver on an open road but not really a racer; well, his opening laps in the desert proved his detractors wrong. Jenson’s out-braking manoeuvre on Lewis – a fantastic racer – was particularly impressive given his Brawn car is not equipped with the KERS power boost system. Telegraph.co.uk
So far, Button’s team have done almost nothing to their 2009 challenger. The machine they took to Australia was virtually identical to the one that powered Button to victory in the desert on Sunday, a win all the more impressive because some of their rivals had made substantial improvements but still could not get on terms.
The word from the factory in Brackley, near Silverstone, however, is that Brawn GP have all that they need to fend off rivals such as McLaren, Ferrari and BMW Sauber, who have barely got going yet, not to mention further advances by Toyota and Red Bull.
“I think our team has got all the resources,” Nick Fry, the Brawn chief executive, said. “We have got a reasonable upgrade package for Barcelona. Whether it will be as big as some others, we don’t know. Do we have the resources to develop for the rest of the year? Yes, we do.”
Brawn himself has spoken of there being “quite a lot of new bits” in the pipeline for Spain. “From the time that Honda announced they were stopping at the end of November, the budget was limited, the developments weren’t coming,” he said. “But they are coming now, so we can get the ball rolling again in terms of improving the car.” Times Online
