This is the case of JB meeting JB!
While our paths have occasionally crossed, mainly at social events such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed or back in the day at the bar at the BRDC dinner and dance, I have always thought Jenson Button and I would be great friends. He just never knew it!
Anyway, now we both live in Los Angeles I have hoped for a while that we could sit down for Life with Legends. The trouble is that Jenson is busier now than ever, so last week, before the madness of racing seasons kick off, we met at the Petersen Museum and guess what; we were like old friends!
When you are an active racing driver working your way through your career you tend to not to get that involved or aware of other peoples racing backgrounds. For me that was the case with Jenson, but once I read up on his early days in karting and how successful he was, it all dropped into place on why and how he set himself up for such an amazing F1 career!
He literally won nearly everything possible in Karting against some of the other (now) biggest names in racing; 3 x British Open Kart Champion, Winner of the European Super A Championship and many, many more.
His incredibly smooth and precise driving style led to a long stint in Formula One winning 15 races and the Drivers Championship in 2009, and was definitely a fan favorite known for his easy going nature and relatability.
While his post-Formula One career is pretty far reaching, but his appetite to still race is huge, and so some very exciting news ahead for him - stay tuned!
Thanks to everyone at the Petersen for giving us space to record this episode and a highlight for sure was seeing a couple of his old F1 cars in the vault! Very cool!
Anyway, we had a great time and covered a lot of ground in two hours and I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did having it.
JB
