World champion, it is what all drivers in Formula 1 want to be someday. Jenson Button🇬🇧 was a world champion in 2009 after at one point thinking he might not ever race in F1. 2010 would be different for Button as he would join McLaren but it would be hard for him to start things off, He'd nearly get knocked out of Q2 but would start 8th and finish 7th at the season opener at Bahrain🇧🇭. Australia🇦🇺 comes around and Button would start 4th but at the start Fernando Alonso🇪🇸 squeezed Button tight in turn 1 sending Alonso and Michael Schumacher🇩🇪 around. The saftey car comes out and Button is in 6th. The saftey car would come in and Button loses out to Hamilton and the reigning world champion would come in the pits for dry tires at lap 7. Well he goes off at turn 3 so now the question is did he pit for dry tires too soon? Well after that Button is now flying in the 2nd and last sector so EVERYONE else pits for dry tires. When everyone put on slicks this strategy call put Jenson Button in 2nd place. Lap 25 Vettel retires from the race with a brake faliure giving the British driver the lead and eventually the race win. This got him 3rd in the championship 6 points behind Fernando Alonso so going into Malaysia🇲🇾 it was key for Button to have another good outing to gain the points lead. Well a rain filled qualifying saw his teammate and both Ferraris knocked out in Q1. Jenson posted a fast enough lap time to advance so you'd think he would make it to Q3 right? Well he got stuck in the gravel so he can't even participate in Q2 meaning he only qualified 17th. Button would only move up to 15th so McLaren boxed him early for the prime tires trying to gain the track position. Well he got to 7th just before losing it to Massa and with 3 laps to go was defending against Alonso until the Ferrari's engine expired so Button finished 8th so while you could look and say it could be better but it could be worse. At China🇨🇳 Button would start 5th and wasn't impressed by Alonso's start saying it was obvious the Spaniard jumped the start. Well Alonso would eventually get a drive through penalty for jumping the start. While a saftey car comes out for Sebastian Buemi🇨🇭, Vitantonio Liuzzi🇮🇹, and Kamui Kobayashi🇯🇵 most drivers pit for intermediates but Jenson stays out and moves up to 2nd the other drivers that stayed out on slicks are Nico Rosberg🇩🇪 in the Mercedes, Robert Kubica🇵🇱 and Vitaly Petrov🇷🇺 Renaults BMW Sauber's Pedro De la Rosa🇪🇸 and last but not least Hekki Kovalainen's🇫🇮 Lotus. And since the track is still dry enough for slicks this put Button in the catbird seat in 2nd and eventually gets the lead after Rosberg makes a mistake in turn 12 as it is raining again. The next lap Button pits for inters and keeps the lead as the saftey car is out. As the race was about to restart Button nearly sets the field to a halt but he would hold the lead. But Jenson would show with 6 laps to go nothing is guaranteed in racing but luckily for him he still won the race and gets the championship lead as well by 10 points over Nico Rosberg. The Spanish🇪🇸 grand prix he would start and finish 5th after being stuck behind Michael Schumacher and a late puncture ruined Hamilton's race cutting his lead down to 3 points over Fernando Alonso. Race 6 was at Monaco🇮🇩 arguably the most important qualifying session ever. If it was difficult to overtake at Spain it was near impossible to overtake on the streets of Monte Carlo so a good qualifying was needed for the reigning world champion to maintain his lead. Well he would qualify 8th and would not do well at the start and would fall to 11th and if you think that was bad lap 2 when the saftey car came out for Nico Hulkenburg's🇩🇪 wreck out of the tunnel his engine gives up the ghost. This happened cause a cooling cover was left on a sidepod on the grid. This eventually overheated the Mercedes engine in that McLaren ending Jenson's day before it started really. This would make the British driver fall to 4th 8 points behind new championship leader Mark Webber🇦🇺. Race number 7 was at Turkish🇹🇷 grand prix where Button would hope to bounce back. He'd start 4th but loses 5th to Schumacher at the start. The Mercedes held Button up at Bahrain and in Spain but would not cause Jenson any trouble this time as he gets by the 7 time world champion in turn 12. He'd cycle out 4th after stops and when told rain was coming McLaren see an opportunity to get a podium or victory. Well an opportunity came at lap 40 when the 2 Red Bulls made contact. Vettel got a DNF from that while Webber had to pit this gave Button 2nd place behind his teammate Hamilton so a Red Bull 1-2 is now a McLaren 1-2 but Button wants the lead it as through turn 12 he goes side by side through 13 and 14 and Button now leads but Hamilton fights back and they are so close they don't need to take each other out but they keep it clean and Button gets overtaken by Lewis Hamilton incredible racing from the guys who won the last 2 world championships with 9 laps to go. Well Jenson would finish 2nd behind his teammate and climb to 2nd in the points 5 behind Mark Webber. He'd qualify 4th at Canada🇨🇦 and after surviving contact from Felipe Massa🇧🇷 and Vitantonio Liuzzi he'd stay 4th with Webber all over his rear wing. While Jenson is on the supersoft options which provide him more grip but higher wear Webber behind him are on the prime mediums meant they would last longer and in this case is the race preferred tire because the options degrade quickly as tire managment is needed today as lap 5 he'd lose the place to Mark Webber. 2 laps later he'd pit for fresh tires and come out 9th and get 8th the next lap from Hekki Kovalainen and 7th when Kubica pits in the early stages of the race. He'd cycle out to 3rd after Sebastian Buemi lead a lap in a grand prix so attaboy to him and Toro Rosso. Lap 25 and Vettel on the options are beginning to close on Button as it seems the tire wear is beginning to improve but lap 28 and Button pits again but luckily everyone else eventually does to and with 14 laps remaining gets by Fernando Alonso after getting stuck in lap traffic taking advantage of an opportunity as his engineer described it. He'd just like in Turkey finish 2nd to Lewis Hamilton. Race 9 in Europe🇪🇺 and he will start 7th and is 3 points behind his teammate so Jenson would love to one up his teammate and regain control of the championship fight. Well it wasn't meant to be as after a saftey car from a scary crash from Mark Webber and Hekki Kovalainen🇫🇮 would jump Button up to 4th but the Brit would be held up behind Kamui Kobayashi who started on the prime tires and would pit with 4 laps to go and despite being given a 5 second penalty after the race for speeding under the saftey car Jenson finished in 3rd place and would only lose 3 more points to his teammate and countryman Hamilton going to the home race for them and McLaren, Britain🇬🇧 it would be a tough one as Button could only qualify 14th. At the start however he'd take advantage from nailing the start and Red Bull teammates and Ferrari teammates which made Vettel and Massa having to pit go from 14th to 8th in 1 lap. He'd then be stuck behind Michael Schumacher again until the German pits while Jenson stays out as he is told he is doing good pace. He'd stretch the tires to lap 22 and gains 2 places from it so next up for him is Alonso and Rosberg and Hulkenburg hasn't stoped yet so things are looking good for the reigning world champion. Lap 28 and Hulkenburg pits so now he can have a go at Alonso. Well the Ferrari driver got a drive through penalty for leaving the track and gaining a advantage. But unfortunately for Jenson he would just miss out on a podium in front of his home fans but hey he recovered well to finish 4th and he is still 2nd in the championship but 12 points behind his teammate now so he stopped the bleeding of any championship points. Next is Germany🇩🇪, Button starts 5th with hopes of getting a good start to compete for a podium. Well he'd get to 4th but would fall to 6th after having to hit the brakes to avoid hitting Sebastian Vettel's car. But he would stay out for 8 extra laps like he is known to do, stretching and looking after his tires. It would work to finish 5th. But his slight decline was obvious as he is now 14 points behind his teammate. But hey at there isn't tension at McLaren like there is at Red Bull and now Ferrari because the Scuderia are being accused for using coded team ordes to allow Fernando Alonso to win the race. But there is one problem, team orders are BANNED and when asked briefly if they are banned he said "Yep." And he was also intrigued to see the move. So with this drama around his championship rivals could this open the door for Button to focus on beating his teammate in the championship? He will need to focus at Hungary🇭🇺 with his misserable 11th place start but race day comes and he is down in 15th place at the end of the first lap. Lap 4 and Button just appears to not have grip where Jamie Algersuari🇪🇸 just lost his engine but when Vitantonio Liuzzi appeared worse in turn 2 he got 14th place. Lap 15 and Jenson pits JUST before the saftey car to try to gain track position. It would also help that Nico Rosberg's right rear wheel wasn't on properly and just came off which forced the German to retire. Also what would happen is that a pit road collision between Adrian Sutil and Robert Kubica would give the Brit 3 places on a silver platter. Jenson would also jump Michael Schumacher into 11th place. But on the restart he would get past Kamui Kobayashi and get into the points. Button would get another point but at Lewis Hamilton his teammate's expense when he retired from a driveshaft problem. And he would get 2 more when Rubens Barrichello pitted for options after his Williams was on ptimes for 55 laps and unfortunately that is all the points the reigning world champion would get in 8th place which would make him fall to 4th in the standings. However, he is only 14 points behind new championship leader Mark Webber. So going to Belgium🇧🇪 was what is thought to be a McLaren type of track so when Jenson qualified 5th it was disappointing but he vowed to make the best out of it. He would by getting past Webber's slow starting Red Bull and trying to make a 3 wide pass into turn getting by Vettel but not Kubica. He would get loose in the last chicane from rain and so does EVERYONE else but he darted to the right to get back on the racing line to ensure he doesn't get a penalty for leaving the track and gaining a advantage. He brilliantly got enough traction to get back past Felipe Massa and Sebastian Vettel into turn 1. McLaren were delighted and that would increase when Kubica ran wide at Eau Rouge gifting Jenson 2nd behind his teammate Lewis Hamilton. But when a safety car came out for a wrecked Rubens Barrichello it gave him a chance to claim the lead. And at the restart he would try but couldn't get by the 2008 champion. But he would fall off his teammate from some minor front wing damage so he was being pressured by Vettel and into the final chicane he goes defensive and Sebastian goes on the outside but loses his car and crashes into Jenson! The Red Bull continued but the McLaren couldn't from radiator damage! And then when Vettel served his drive through penalty some McLaren mechanics just had their shoulders crossed and gave Sebastian the death stare. And then afterwards McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh nicknamed him the "crash kid." And Jenson was just taken by suprise by it he was just simply disappointed by not scoring a podium result but the team was even madder than the reigning champion. Well going to Italy🇮🇹 he hoped to put Belgium behind him and he would get 2nd in qualifying but when the start came around he muscled his was past the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso into turn 1 and 2 like a boss. He don't care about a Ferrari home race he wants to win at a low downforce track which suits the McLaren car and to make up the deficit to the front to get back on track to defend his title. But however he would be at a slight disadvantage this time around by chosing to keep his F-duct making his car have higher downforce. But this device helped him all year and if it ain't broke don't fix it. Jenson lead but he could not shake the Ferraris. The Brit was so focused that his team was worried that something was wrong with the radio. The reigning champion doesn't care about Ferrari's home race, this was sponsored by the McLaren sponsor Vodafone some he wants to do them proud. But he would have to hold of Fernando Alonso and pitstop time Jenson gets told to give it everything he has. The pitstop went well for McLaren knowing that it could decide the race and Button's engineer would remind Jenson that he is coming out on a clear track and to push. The British driver didn't need to be told twice and he was on the pit straight and Alonso is coming out of the pits and Jenson makes a lunge on the outside going into the first chicane and Alonso gets ahead but Jenson tries the switchback coming out of turn 2 but he can't quite do it! Jenson Button would lose the lead to Fernando Alonso and that's how ot would be at the finish as well! This isn't quite what he wanted to just miss out on a win but he had fun though which you could tell in the colldown room and on the podium. He even asked how the points are, well he's still 4th but in the psychological game in hopes of retaining his title he is 22 points behind Mark Webber heading to the final push of the season with 5 fly away races remaining starting with Singapore🇸🇬. Jenson would start 4th and would have a go at his teammate at the start but Hamilton braked later into turn 1 taking the position back refusing to be behind his teammate. The race would get strung out when and Jenson was left all alone in 4th place until his pitstop at lap 30 but would come out in 8th but a net 5th when Red Bull pitted Mark Webber when the saftey car was out early for Liuzzi's parked car. Then Button would get told that Webber has older tires and is struggling with his brakes so when the saftey car came in his teammate Lewis Hamilton gave it a shot into turn 7 but it resulted in him into a retirement. This also placed Button into 4th and would do his best to get past Mark Webber to get a podium but he was no match for the Red Bull leaving Jenson a 4th place finish. The way that this race turned out left Jenson still 5th but still lies within 1 race behind Mark Webber 25 points. So the Japanese🇯🇵 grand prix could easily help Button make a championship statement being the last of the championship contenders. During the race weekend Jenson was told by Will Buxton that if he wins the championship he'll be the first driver ever since Juan Manuel Fangio🇦🇷 to win back to back titles with different teams. So Button replied "Yeah that's pretty amazing, I didn't know that. Um, wow I'm gonna have to try harder now. Right no more interviews, I'm off." He is off to finish 5th in qualifying on the prime tires. This would be a different strategy by McLaren thinking the options would be struggling in the conditions. He would hold position through the start phase and would get up to 4th when Robert Kubica retired from a runaway wheel during a saftey car that came out for a 4 car crash into turn 1. He would hold on to 4th but would fall of the back of Fernando Alonso's Ferrari but when the pitstops came Button eventually gets the lead at lap 26. The option tires for the rest of the field held on more than McLaren originally thought so when the Red Bulls eventually put the primes on they eventually would get within a second and a half behind Jenson but he is still pushing trying to get the best out of his McLaren but at lap 38 he'd be back in 5th after his stop for options. So now Jenson would push as hard as he could to make up all the positions he could. He could only get up to 4th place however after his teammate lost 3rd gear in his gearbox. It would be a disappointing run for Button especially when he is still last of the championship drivers now 31 points behind Mark Webber. "I think for all of us it's been, it's been quite up and down you know we have all had some pretty poor events and some good events as well so its made the championship very exciting its good to still be involved in the championship hunt with 3 races to go
Im 31 points behind but there is always a possibility." That is what Jenson Button said in a press conference regarding his championship defense before the inaugural Korean🇰🇷 grand prix. It would be very treacherous as he would describe the saftey car start that it's "So so wet. It's like a lake on the straight. It's gonna have to be a while before they start this one." Well after 3 laps the red flag was out because the track was undriveable and Button agreed by also saying that you can't even see the front tires and basically driving blind to make it destiny to hit something. Well after over an hour and 40 minutes and 17 total laps behind the saftey car Jenson would hit the gas pedal and go for it at racing speed. But he would start from 7th place and would hold position until the safety car came out for Nico Rosberg and the championship leader Mark Webber crashing at turn 12! Button now would be in 5th place with a chance for solid points to keep his championship hopes alive. But however it is starting to be ready for the intermediates like Robert Kubica and both Saubers. But Kamui Kobayashi would have an unwanted adventure with his tires so maybe the track isn't ready for inters. Especially when the track would receive a new coat of water according to Jenson's race engineer in 5-10 minutes. Button would be pushing Felipe Massa for 4th but Michael Schumacher is pushing even harder and demotes the McLaren to 6th place just before the race went halfway. And now Button does make the change to intermediates because his full wets were very worn and he is getting pressured by Nico Hulkenburg. Yet he comes out behind a lot of backmarker teams. He has a lot of work to do now but at lap 31 it would be made harder when the safety car came out for Sebastian Buemi wrecking himself against Timo Glock🇩🇪. Now he lies in 12th position but after the restart Vitantonio Liuzzi and Kamui Kobayashi are going at it into turn 5 and Adrian Sutil🇩🇪 dives his Force India on the inside of Button falls to 15th when Nick Heidfeld🇩🇪 and Jamie Algersuari. And he just CAN'T get by them. In wet conditions Jenson Button is one of the masters in the wet and he just is UNABLE TO PASS ANYONE. WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON WITH HIS MCLAREN?! HE WOULD NOT PASS ANYONE FOR THE REST OF THE RACE EXCEPT RETIREMENTS FROM VITALY PETROV WRECKING, SEBASTIAN VETTEL LOSING HIS ENGINE, AND ADRIAN SUTIL CRASHING OUT. AND HE ONLY FINISHED 12TH!!
"Yeah I can't do anything except laugh cause that was the most hysterical race. Um I just... didn't have any grip and um was just so slow I mean I was pretty much slowest person on the circuit so Yeah I was really struggling with locking fronts I couldn't not lock fronts as soon as I hit the brakes we locked fronts so I was just- Every time I braked for a corner I went straight on cause I couldn't stop the car. Even though I was going backwards and backwards and backwards on the brake bias so Yeah pretty horrific day really." Jenson made this comment when he made his brave move for intermediates.
"I didn't have any wet tires left, So along with not being fast I'm just destroying tires so um yeah I don't know I mean the setup we got is slightly unusual but not that unusual so I don't know where that went really."
And when asked about retaining his title Button responds
"Not really I mean uh everyone needs to have faliures so No not really um so yeah, not a great day quite disappointing but its the way it is but I just don't know what happened but there must have been SOMETHING wrong because the car was undriveable so, cheers." No cheers would be for Jenson Button who is now 42 points behind Fernando Alonso. 2 races to go and a miracle was desperately needed for him to win the championship now. A win and a 2nd is needed to even have a chance along with what he said needed his 4 rivals to have faliures. And Jenson JUST failed to make it to Q3 in 11th place in Brazil🇧🇷! And to make matters even worse is that Saturday night after leaving the circuit and some of his team were victims of an attempted armed attack! Thankfully nobody got hurt because this has just turned into a black cloud as Jenson would say that in Brazil that attempted armed attacks happen WAY too much. In 2017 Lewis Hamilton and some of the Mercedes team were held at gunpoint so it isn't the safest place to be a night. But he would be in his element at the race getting from 11th to 9th after lap 1. But the next lap Michael Schumacher put his Mercedes past Jenson's McLaren. Lap 12 and Button pits from 10th to try to gain track position. In the end he would get 6th but after getting past Kamui Kobayashi into 1 at lap 31 he would finish 5th despite a safety car for Vitantonio Liuzzi and pitting for fresh tires leaving him 47 points eliminating him from the championship fight. Jenson would start 4th but finish 3rd after jumping Fernando Alonso and would stretch his option tires for 39 laps at the start of the Abu Dhabi🇦🇪 grand prix. Button would go on to finish 5th in the standings 42 points behind what Martin Whitmarsh described "the crash kid" Sebastian Vettel who won his first championship and so far to this day the youngest world champion. Jenson also finished 2nd to Vettel in 2011 by a whopping 122 points. Vettel would also win 2 more consecutive championships while Jenson would only win 3 more races and claim 7 podiums. It makes people ask questions like "What if Button never had a miserable race in South Korea?" "What if he never DNFd Monaco or Belgium?" "What if Martin Whitmarsh never called Vettel the crash kid after Belgium?" But most of all people ask what might have been for Jenson Button in 2010?