Jenson slower than Lewis, but bullish

By Karl King
December 21 2009

Jenson Button made an appearance on the BBC's Top Gear show yesterday evening in an effort to propel himself up the F1 Power Laps leaderboard. The World Champion had set a time of 1m44.7 in the Suzuki Liana which was later equalled by 2010 teammate Lewis Hamilton in far worse conditions.

However, Jenson missed his opportunity to get one up on his teammate and went even slower than his previous effort, setting a 1m44.9 in wet conditions. Nigel Mansell remains the fastest F1 driver to set a lap with a 1m44.6.

Button appeared relaxed on the show, with Jeremy Clarkson poking fun and suggesting that not only has he won the 2009 World Championship but also the 2009 award for best forced smile after being pipped to the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award by Ryan Giggs the week before (pictured above).

Jenson reiterated on the show that "the chance to race alongside Lewis at McLaren is something I'm really excited about."

When he was asked if he could beat Lewis next year, Jenson was confident in replying, "that's the aim, I wouldn't be doing it if not." He added that joining McLaren is a 'massive buzz'.

McLaren Fans is now likely to take a break for Christmas before returning with more content over the New Year period. We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and continue the discussion on our message board.