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Jenson Button became the world champion in the all-conquering Brawn GP in 2009. The British driver was a part of the F1 grid for more than a decade before retiring from F1 as a McLaren driver.
Having said that, Button is not a fan of the term "Former World Champion". Talking in an interview with the Gentleman's Journal, the former Honda and McLaren driver talked about how the term "former world champion" infuriates him as it is equivalent to someone taking away his achievements.
"The World Championship lives with you forever. And I’ll never be a former World Champion. I hate it when people say that. I am a World Champion, you can’t take that away from me!”
Jenson Button reflected on the 2009 season where he made a strong start. He won five of the first six races of the season and built a commanding lead in the championship. However, Button went through a slump in form in the second phase of the season as his challengers started taking points off him. It wasn't until the Brazilian GP that Button eventually sealed the title.
“It was more of a relief. It had been a tough year, a great year at the beginning and then sort of a slump through the year, and then a great ending. But when you wake up in the morning, you think ‘damn, I’m a World Champion’, you don’t think about the race wins.”
I don't miss Formula 1: Jenson Button
Jenson Button retired from Formula 1 at the end of the 2016 season (and had a one-off race in Monaco in 2017). However, the Brit has stayed active and is still an active member of the paddock during the races. Having said that, the former McLaren driver revealed that he didn't really miss Formula 1.
“I don’t miss Formula 1. It’s at the pinnacle of the sport, but I don’t miss 23 races travelling around the world. It’s kind of a dangerous place to put yourself. I came into Formula 1 at 20 and when I left at 36, I hadn’t really learned a lot about life. I had to do a lot of growing up.”
Jenson Button was one of the best wet weather drivers on the grid throughout his career. Some of his standout drives being the win in Canada in 2011 or the utter dominance in Spa in 2012 despite having Lewis Hamilton as his teammate.
