19/10/2017
NEWS STORY
Jenson Button has revealed that Toro Rosso offered him a seat for the 2009 season following Honda's shock withdrawal from the sport the previous year.
Of course, the Briton declined the offer and remained on board at Brackley where Ross Brawn subsequently 'bought' the team, the pair going on to win both titles.
"One option was to race for Toro Rosso, Red Bull's junior team," reveals Button in his autobiography Life to the Limit, as he recalls the dilemma he faced at the end of 2008 following Honda's withdrawal.
"I loved them," he admits, "they had and still do have great spirit and attitude, but I knew I'd never get close to a podium in their car.
"What's more, they wanted me to bring money in the form of sponsorship to help fund the team," he adds, "which was singularly unappealing."
The book sees the popular Briton shed light not only on his career, but his opinion of other inhabitants of Planet Paddock during his 17 seasons in F1.
Ralf Schumacher is described as a "diva" and a "Mariah Carey", though we understand Juan Pablo Montoya has the real goods on the German.
Brother Michael, is seen as "tough", "fair" and "controversial", while the Briton admits to a tough time with Flavio Briatore.
While there is no disguising Button's friendship for David Coulthard, the Briton clearly has little feeling for former teammate Jacques Villeneuve.
"The only person who didn’t want me at BAR when I joined the team in 2003 was Jacques Villeneuve," admits Button. "At our first press conference, he was asked what he thought of his new teammate. 'Well,' he said, 'he’s inexperienced, he looks like he should be in a boy band.' This kind of open hostility floored me.
"After that, Jacques didn’t speak to me. He wouldn’t even look at me. If we passed each other in the paddock he’d find something interesting to look at in the opposite direction.
"At the season opener in Australia, he was supposed to pit on lap 30 and me on 31. However, Jacques had saved a bit of fuel through the first stint of the race and didn’t pit, even though they were calling him in. Instead, he deliberately came in on lap 31, knowing I wouldn’t be able to go any longer than 31 and that I’d have no choice but to pit behind him.
"Why did he do it? Partly mind games, partly because he wanted to beat me. But it was a dick move, and for a driver of his quality, a fairly incomprehensible one. He might have felt that he didn’t want whatshisname from Westlife coming in to beat him, but as a former World Champion he would have known the importance of keeping the team onside, and with that one act of petulance he turned them against him."
Reflecting on his one-off appearance at Monaco this year, where he stood in for Fernando Alonso, he writes: "I qualified ninth which I was very happy about, but for the race itself, I was a DNF.
"I didn't come away from the experience feeling like I wanted to go back and prove myself," he adds.
"Do I miss it? Tough one, but the answer's no."
However, he doesn't rule out a return to racing.
"I've been offered drives in Formula One but I'm not interested, although I will race in the future. Now that I'm no longer contractually forbidden I'm free to race in other categories.
"I enjoyed the rallycross experience, I've already dipped a toe in Super GT and I'd love to do Le Mans at some point - there's so much out there.
"Just not Formula One."
Check out our Thursday gallery from Austin, here.