2009 - Honda’s policy of sacrificing their 2008 campaign to work on the 2009 campaign would have paid off if they’d stayed around to see it happen. Instead they put the team up for sale at the end of 2008 and Ross Brawn took over the running of the outfit. He won the championship at Brazil with a race to spare. It was a drive worthy of a champion – Button started 14th after a rain-hit qualifying session but raced to fifth, passing several rivals on the way despite needing to exercise caution to defend his championship lead. Button scored his second win of 2010 in Shanghai. After the jubilant scenes at Interlagos there came a surprising announcement: Button revealed he was leaving the team, which had been taken over by Mercedes, and moving to McLaren. There he joined the driver he’d succeeded as champion – Lewis Hamilton. 2010/11- To the surprise of many, Button held the upper hand early on in 2010. Over the balance of the season Hamilton’s edge on raw pace told and he was usually up the road from Button. In 2011 he scored a remarkable win in Canada thanks to his skill in mixed weather conditions. Despite an early collision with Hamilton, a puncture following contact with Alonso, and a penalty, Button bounced back to reel in Sebastian Vettel as the race drew to a close. On the final lap, as the McLaren got within range of the Red Bull, Vettel slithered wide and Button stole victory. He won again in Hungary in another race of mixed conditions, which he read better than Hamilton. A third win came in Japan, this time a straight fight between Button, Vettel and Alonso – the three outstanding talents of the year. The MP4-26 may not have been a championship contender, but Button ended the year runner-up to Vettel and comfortably ahead of Hamilton.
ACROSS SPAIN JULY 2012 EDITION
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