LONDON, (Reuters) – Jenson Button was almost a  write-off before he seized the Formula One title with Brawn last  year and he starts the new season with critics again ready to  scrap his chances.

The conventional wisdom has it that the 30-year-old Briton  is on a hiding to nothing against compatriot Lewis Hamilton, the  younger team mate who wants to take back the championship he won  in 2008.

Some, such as retired triple champion Jackie Stewart, have  warned Button that he is making a big mistake in stepping into  the “Lions’ Den”. Four other champions polled in F1 Racing  magazine this month all voted for Hamilton as top dog.

That may not be the case and it is certainly not how Button  sees it. Like 1996 world champion compatriot Damon Hill before  him, he is a lot quicker and more accomplished than many give  him credit for.

In many respects the pressure is off, even if the McLaren  line-up is presented as a battle of Britons that has to end up  with a winner and loser.There has been a spring in Button’s step since he started  preparing for next week’s season-opener in Bahrain, a smile on  his face and a new ring of confidence since he took the crown in  Brazil last year.

Much is made of McLaren being Hamilton’s second family, a  team that has backed the 25-year-old Briton since he was a boy  in go-karting.

However the first Formula One car that Button ever drove was  a McLaren and he has always been a fan of the team, even if it  has taken him more than a decade to turn the wheel full circle.
MOST COMPLETE

The reason for that has to do with circumstances, early  reputations, the fickle nature of the sport and McLaren’s  previous reluctance to take on a driver not already a proven  winner.

Second chances in Formula One are also about as rare as  commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone being outfoxed in a  business deal.

Button was locked into a long-term deal with Honda and did  not figure on McLaren’s radar when they needed a second driver  to partner double world champion Fernando Alonso for the 2007  season. They ended up signing Hamilton.

“If you take out the recognised top three (drivers), one of  whom (Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher) retired, we felt that in  looking at the others…there was no-one who really shone,”  former team boss Ron Dennis said at the time. At the British Grand Prix at Silverstone that same year,  Button had a nightmare in his Honda while Hamilton excelled in  the GP2 support series.“After a terrific win on home soil, one British race star  deservedly milked the applause from 80,000 fans,” declared the  Sun newspaper’s race report. “And then there was Jenson Button.”

Until last season, nobody would have given Button any chance  of driving for McLaren. But that was before he won six of the  first seven races of 2009 and opinions changed.

“In Jenson and Lewis, we feel we not only have the fastest  pairing on the grid but also the two most complete, professional  and dedicated drivers in Formula One,” McLaren boss Martin  Whitmarsh said in November.

PLAYBOY

REPUTATION

Button, who first tested a McLaren in 1999 as a prize for  winning a young driver award, made his race debut with Williams  as a 20-year-old in 2000.

After a shining start, his star began to wane. Moving to  Benetton and then Renault, he picked up an undeserved reputation  for being a playboy more interested in the trappings of success  than achievement itself.

Ditched in 2002, he moved to BAR/Honda where he finally  became a lucky winner in 2006 after 113 starts.

When Honda pulled out in 2008, Button’s career appeared to  have hit the buffers — only to be revived in sensational  fashion by the team that emerged from the ashes.

He has matured over the years but the talent is the same.“He’s an exceptional driver: very controlled and very  smooth, and he has a real depth of knowledge and experience,”  Hamilton said recently.

Button could have earned more by staying within his comfort  zone at Brawn, now Mercedes, even if they were in no hurry to  conclude a deal before quickly signing up Michael Schumacher as  a replacement.

Instead, he opted for a different adventure.

“In your whole career, you are going up against the best in  the world, especially when you get to Formula One,” he told  reporters recently.

“I wanted a new challenge…I wanted to race with McLaren,  whom I first actually drove for. It was my first Formula One car  and a team that I used to watch when I was a kid. And the  history, and what they have achieved in their time in the sport,  is immense.

“There are many reasons why I made the switch and for me  it’s a step forward in my career because it really gives me a  buzz and the excitement to achieve again in a very different  environment.”