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This article first appeared in GP Racing magazine.
Hard to believe that it's 17 years, almost to the day, since I had my first one-to-one with Jenson Button. It was a nervy moment for us both as we sat down in the bland office of the insurance company who were sponsoring Williams and discussed his debut season in F1.
I'd got off on the wrong foot at the start of the year by mildly questioning Jenson's qualifications (in F3) for a drive with a top team (an observation that John Button would cheerfully remind me of when his boy went on to qualify superbly at Spa and Suzuka). Our meeting that day was soothed by the quelling of doubts on both sides; a realisation on his part that I was not about to stick the boot in after a tricky season, and considerable relief on my side that the interview was not being stilted by a gangling 20-year-old bearing a grudge.
As we meet again in the more relaxed surroundings of a coffee shop in a smart London hotel, the passage of time and more than 300 grands prix is clearly marked. Instead of a slightly diffident lad with an anxious look, I'm greeted, with the usual firm handshake, by a tall besuited sports personality exuding the confidence that comes from having picked up 15 race victories and a world championship.
