It's rare for a driver to so quickly go from being a "will be" to a "has been," but that is exactly what Jenson Button did in 2002. In his rookie season with Williams in 2000, he scored 12 points off 10 top-10 finishes and was praised by everyone from Frank Williams to four-time World Champion Michael Schumacher. The question was not if Button would win races, but rather when and more importantly for what team?
But then came Juan Pablo Montoya, whose move to Williams forced Button to leave the team for Benetton, where he struggled in 2001. He managed just two points with the team with five top 10s and six DNFs.
The 2002 season saw a marked improvement for Button and the newly renamed Renault F1 team, as the combination managed to amass 14 points en route to finishing seventh in the championship standings.
In 2003, Button moved to BAR-Honda and earned 17 points finishing in ninth place. He continued to improve with the team in 2004, placing third in the Driver's Championship, finishing behind the two drivers for the superpower Ferrari. He scored his and BAR-Honda's first pole at the Grand Prix of San Marino that season.
He was on the path to return to Williams in 2005, until a contract dispute kept him at BAR-Honda.
That year the team suffered a setback early in the season when they were disqualified from San Marino and the following two races for a weight issue. Button didn't score any points for the season until France, but continued to score points in every race remaining in 2005. He finished ninth in the standings.
Finally, in 2006, his long awaited moment happened.
In the midst of a campaign which saw him limited to just 21 points from the first 12 races – a total which could have been much higher if not for various mechanical and driver mistakes – the Brit finally claimed his first career victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix. Starting from 14th on the grid as a result of an engine change penalty, Button worked his way towards the front to claim his first victory in 113 starts. The win was also the first for Honda Racing F1 Team.
From there, he finished the season with five straight finishes inside the points to bring his total to the season to 56, good enough for sixth overall.
In 2007, Button paired again with Brazilian Rubens Barrichello at Honda Racing F1 Team. He struggled though, as the team's car was very unreliable. Button scored only six points on the season.
2008 wasn't much better, with Button finishing 18th in the final driver standings. Honda decided in the off season between 2008 and 2009 to close its team.
Brawn GP formed in the place of Honda, and Button will pilot one of the new team's cars for 2009.
