Happy Birthday Jenson Button: The F1 Champion who Triumphed over Prime Hamilton and Vettel

Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel are some of the biggest names in Formula 1 history. The two F1 drivers, who have a humble background and are from the same era, entered the pinnacle as rookies and started their dominance, and that too against legends like Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, and Kimi Raikkonen.

But there is one driver who defeated Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton in their prime and that too in a debut F1 team, Brawn GP, which later became the 8-time championship-winning Mercedes AMG F1 team. The driver we are talking about is Jenson Button, who became the world champion with a new car and did the impossible achievement in Formula 1. Let's look at the F1 champion's remarkable career.

Debut in 2000

1980 – Happy Birthday to Jenson Button#OnThisDay the 2009 Formula One world champion, @JensonButton was born. His name, inspired by his father’s friend and rally-cross driver Erling Jensen. Button’s racing career accelerated when he won the McLaren Autosport BRDC young driver… pic.twitter.com/eLTubwxhIm

— Formula One History (@F1History1950) January 19, 2025

Young Jenson debuted for the Williams team in 2000 but it took him 6 years to win his first ever Grand Prix at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix driving for the Honda F1 team. He impressed everyone when he raced against his seniors like Michael Schumacher, David Coulthard, and Mika Hakkinen.

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Driver for Brawn GP 

🚨JENSON BUTTON 2009 RESULTS

🥇From P1 to P1 in the Australian GP
🥇From P1 to P1 in the Malaysian GP
🥉From P5 to P3 in the Chinese GP
🥇From P4 to P1 in the Bahrain GP
🥇From P1 to P1 in the Spanish GP
🥇From P1 to P1 in the Monaco GP
🥇From P2 to P1 in the Turkish GP
From P6… pic.twitter.com/8TuL1JlOXw

— Holiness (@F1BigData) January 13, 2024

When Honda exited Formula 1 in 2009, Ross Brawn, the technical director of Honda Racing F1, took over the team and renamed it Brawn GP. He made a deal to use successful Mercedes power units for his new team. Jenson, the driver for the Honda F1 team, took a pay cut and continued as a driver for Brawn GP.

When Jenson started the 2009 F1 season with Brawn GP, everything worked like magic for him as he dominated all the other teams by setting the fastest lap times in qualifying. He went on to win the first 6 matches out of 7 at the start of the 2009 Formula 1 season. He led the world championship points ahead of Sebastian Vettel, his teammate Barichello, and Lewis Hamilton.

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2009 F1 World champion 

#OnThisDay in 2009 🗓@JensonButton stole our hearts when he unexpectedly and triumphantly won the World Championship with Brawn GP 💫#F1pic.twitter.com/p7VM5b9msT

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 18, 2021

Jenson Button, having the best car on the grid with the Mercedes Power Unit, won the 2009 world championship. Brawn GP, who came into Formula 1 as underdogs, won the constructors championship with a 100% success rate. Nobody believed in Jenson Button when he joined Brawn GP, but he scripted his name in the history of Formula 1 as a world champion. He is a living example for many drivers and teams to believe in achieving big even in their debut. 

This also pushed Mercedes to buy the team and enter Formula 1 as a direct competitor in the 2010 F1 season. Happy Birthday to Jenson Button; he will be forever remembered as the man who achieved an impossible feat for a debut team and the only man to defeat Vettel and Hamilton in their prime. He retired in 2017 after the Monaco Grand Prix and is now a Sky Sports commentator and an endurance racing driver. 

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