![]() It was very much a characteristically immaculate race win. Jenson celebrates his pole position at Spa in 2012 Despite everything going on behind him, he led every lap of the race, without ever looking like finishing anywhere other than P1. Typical of his calm and collected style, this all happened a long way behind Jenson, who had got off the line well, made one regulation pit-stop and won by 14 seconds from Sebastian Vettel. That was followed by great passes, collisions, cars spinning out and mayhem in the pit-lane. The race itself was the usual chaotic Belgian thriller, with a massive first-corner collision that put four cars out on the spot. Brilliant on the brakes, capable of getting everything from a set of tyres, and imperious in damp or wet conditions, he was very much the driver to deliver across a race stint. Red Bull were also enjoying a particularly strong period, and Fernando Alonso at Ferrari was no pushover.Īs much as anything, it's arguably down to the fact that Jenson’s talents shone brighter against other drivers on a Sunday, than against the clock on a Saturday. Jenson won eight times for McLaren, but took just one pole positionīut what of his time at McLaren? Contextually, it's worth remembering that opportunities were rare: Jenson’s McLaren teammate at the time was celebrated snaffler of poles Lewis Hamilton, who took nine during the same period. But Jenson is towards the extremes of that list: we have to go back over four decades, and to a time when mechanical unreliability was rife to find greater disparities, with only Alan Jones (six poles, 12 wins) Jody Scheckter (three poles, 10 wins), Emerson Fittipaldi (six poles, 14 wins) and Denny Hulme (one pole, eight wins) having a higher ratio of wins-to-poles. Of F1’s 34 World Champions, that already puts him in the minority: only 15 of them have taken more victories than pole positions. His overall career record lists 15 F1 victories and eight poles. The final six of those years were spent with us - his 2011 victories in Canada and Japan are remembered particularly fondly – and there were eight victories in total, but just that one pole position. So why was this?ġ0 years on, Jenson's 2012 pole at the Belgian Grand Prix can still tell us plenty about not just his own unique style, but the unique challenges of the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit, and what we can expect from this weekend's Belgium Grand Prix… A style suited to Sundaysĭuring a 16-season Formula 1 career, Jenson graced the sport with his smooth and elegant driving style. In fact, only four world champions in Formula 1 history have a higher win-to-pole ratio than Jenson. One of Formula 1's more surprising recent statistics is that Jenson Button, winner of eight races for McLaren, only took one pole position for the team. ![]()
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