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| Button moves out of comfort zone |
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Saturday, November 21, 2009
LONDON: Formula One champion Jenson Button says his move to McLaren will take him outside of his comfort zone so he can truly measure himself against Lewis Hamilton.Speaking to Reuters Television on Thursday the Briton said he had felt he needed to find a fresh challenge after winning the title.
“It was a very special feeling that I had achieved what I set out to achieve in Formula One. But immediately I thought ‘So, what happens now?’ Where do I go from here?,” he said. “I’ve been very comfortable within that team (Brawn) and it is taking me outside of my comfort zone.” said the 29-year-old,in London to publicise his new book “My Championship Year”, of the dramatic move.
“But that’s what excites me and that is a real challenge for me. That is a challenge I am definitely up for. It’s going to be a challenge going to a team where Lewis has been for three years and where he’s won the world championship,” added Button. “But that’s why I am doing it. I want to challenge myself, I want to challenge Lewis and that is so exciting for me.
“That’s the reason why I am going, I’m not going because it’s going to be easy, I’m going because it’s going to be tough.” Britain’s retired triple world champion Jackie Stewart warned on Wednesday that Button would be stepping “into the lions’ den” and should have stayed put.
“You can say ‘Well, isn’t winning a second championship a big enough challenge?,” mused Button. “Well, it is. But I wanted something else. It was only a couple of weeks ago that I knew it was a possible option and it made me very excited. It definitely came from the heart, that decision to move to McLaren and to be fighting with Lewis Hamilton in the same car.”
Button said Formula One fans should be excited by the prospect of an all-British line-up of champions, and had no time for the idea that it would be better to have an easier partner. “A team needs two drivers to be quick, to be competitive, to work and both drivers should always be given equal opportunities,” he added.
“I want to race against one of the best drivers in the world and he is going to try and beat me. I will try and beat him. That’s the way it is,” he said. The Briton said he had spoken to Ross Brawn on Wednesday morning and explained his decision. “It’s always disappointing to go your separate ways when you have been so close to someone who has really helped you to win a title,” he said. “But I think he understood my reasons behind it and we will stay friends, I hope.”
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ISSN 1563-9479 
