He stayed in F1 for another 11 seasons, winning a race and earning several podiums as moved from Jordan to Renault, Toyota and eventually Lotus. A podium with the unfancied Prost team helped earn him a switch to Jordan in 2000, where he impressed with several notable Saturday performances, even if collisions and failures hurt his overall points tally. He switched to Arrows and then Sauber for 2002, and then retired from F1 at the end of 2003, going on to compete in DTM and various sportscar races, including Le Mans.Īround the same time Frentzen's F1 career was winding down, Trulli's was on the up. The 2000 season was less successful, although he still claimed rostrums in Brazil and the USA, but the following year he was ditched by Jordan midway through the year, ending up at Prost.
Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard - McLarenįrentzen's F1 heyday came the year before Button's arrival when he scored two wins and six podiums for Jordan and briefly got himself into the world championship mix.
To underline that change, we look back at the other drivers to share the Melbourne grid with the Briton on March 12, over 16 years ago. Amidst myriad regulation changes and the arrival, departure or rebranding of more than 20 teams, there have been 130 different drivers to compete in at least one practice session during Button's time in the sport - an average of more than eight new faces a year. Many saw his appointment as a risk, but since his graduation the likes of Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen have followed suit, stepping up to F1 after a relative handful of races in the junior categories.īutton's longevity, meanwhile, is perhaps best viewed through what has come to pass since Australia 2000. Promoted into F1 just two years after he was dominating the karting scene, Button was proof of the now popular maxim that if you're good enough, you're old enough. He did likewise in the career path drivers are expected to tread. In the following 16 years, six have done so.
In 50 years, only four men had raced at a younger age. At the time of his debut he was 20 years, 1 month and 22 days old. The Englishman is now a veteran of 17 Formula One seasons, and in Malaysia makes his 300th start - a landmark only two other drivers in history have achieved.įifteen wins, 50 podiums and one world championship crown have followed, but Button's career should be measured by far more than just silverware. What was most important was that I proved I've got what it takes for F1…"Īs the face of F1 racing changed around him, Button would go on proving his credentials. "In fact it frightened me when I realised how calm I was. "I was very calm before the start of the race," Jenson Button reflected in the immediate aftermath of his Grand Prix debut.
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