Jackie Stewart commented You can’t go straight from kindergarten to university

Jackie Stewart commented, “You can’t go straight from kindergarten to university.” Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 world champion, shares Stewart’s misgivings “I’m not sure Button knows what he’s getting himself into. Formula One is about 10 times more physical than what he’s used to.”Michael Schumacher is a supporter. “If he is good and mature enough, his age is not a problem at all,” said the 2000 championship leader. Prost agrees: “On the basis of the test he did for us, I think Button is something very special.”Having taken on board a personal physio, Stewart Wild, to help him develop the right muscles for F1 racing, Jenson said, “It is up to me to prove those who doubt me wrong. Getting a drive with BMW-Williams is such an achievement for me.

I don’t think anyone can understand how much I am looking forward to this race and the season ahead.”We must expect an uphill task since we are a new package. Our aim in 2000 is to compete in the mid-field and finish races. Given that we scored points in the opening two Grands Prix, I think we have done a good job so far.”The promotional and corporate deals being struck for Jenson have caused muttering in some motor-racing circles. Patrick Head, technical director of the BMW-Williams set-up, emphasised: “It’s certainly not driven by us,” dismissing it as “all a little unfortunate and driven by hype”.But Button is the new British name who has excited media attention, and his management man, Huysman, insists he is mature enough to cope with the double demands of racing and sponsorship commitments. “I am a little frustrated that people don’t realise Jenson has 12 years of racing behind him and has already handled enormous pressure.”People have said we shouldn’t launch a clothing line after only three races but we are very comfortable with it.

We started a new internet site on 11 March and Jenson has already had close to a million visitors. There is an enormous demand for his T-shirts and his fan club was launched a week ago. Yet some professional people say we should be doing even more for him.”Jenson’s parents are divorced and he lives in Bicester with his father, who admits: “I do worry about some of the hype. Everything has happened so fast and I am a bit shattered by it all, but he seems to be coping with it.”Indeed he does. For someone who failed his driving test first time round, Jenson Button is not doing badly Just look at those figurines..

Politics, and the worst April weather since 1931, have conspired to render the British Grand Prix at Silverstone the sporting farce of the year. Politics, and the worst April weather since 1931, have conspired to render the British Grand Prix at Silverstone the sporting farce of the year.
As Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone was raising his hands in a plea of mea non culpa, the organisers of the jewel in British motorsport’s crown – the RAC Motor Sports Association and circuit owners the British Racing Drivers’ Club – were obliged to take the extraordinary decision to ban spectators from arriving by private car yesterday.As early as Thursday the rain had rendered Silverstone’s car parks impassable quagmires. Faced with even greater chaos as more than 40,000 paying spectators were expected yesterday, they closed the car parks in the hope that they would be usable for the 90,000 fans expected today.Ecclestone expects to be blamed. “People are probably pointing the finger at me,” he admitted “I get the blame for most things But I don’t deserve the blame for this. Internal politics caused the change of date.” Yet nothing happens in Formula One without Ecclestone’s say-so, such is the strength of his autocracy.At the heart of the disaster – which makes the occasional flooding at Wimbledon seem nothing worse than a trivial irritation – lies the change of the British Grand Prix’s traditional date from July to April. It is perceived to be another shot in the ongoing war between Ecclestone and the BRDC over who runs the race.The BRDC own Silverstone and licence the race from Ecclestone in collaboration with the RAC MSA. Ecclestone, who runs the majority of other grands prix via his Formula One Administration operation, would like to bring the maverick British GP into line with this rewarding arrangement.