Button Never Doubted Himself

Briton Jenson Button confessed he knew he would succeed in Formula One when he made his debut with the Williams-BMW team this season, though he also admitted he was surprised with his own progress.

The 20 year-old driver, who has left Williams to join the Benetton team next season, was thankful for the opportunity and said driving in Formula One was like a dream come true.

"Getting an opportunity to drive for Williams F1 at the age of 20 was pretty mind-blowing, but I never had any doubts about my ability," The Sunday Mirror newspaper quoted him as saying.

"Having said that, I never imagined it would be quite as sensational as it has turned out. Finishing eighth in the championship with 12 points wasn't too bad for a rookie, I guess."

Button, who will be replaced by Juan Pablo Montoya as Ralf Schumacher's teammate next season, also admitted that he was very confident throughout the whole season despite the rumours concerning his future.

"I can honestly say there was never one day when I went through any kind of self-doubt. There were times when I got a bit frustrated because things weren't going or I felt I could have gone a bit faster, but apart from that I always remained supremely confident in what I was doing."

Many Formula One experts expressed their concerns about Button being too young to be competing in the pinnacle of motorsport, and the Brit said he was glad to have proved them wrong.

"I remember the weeks leading up to the first race of the season when some people were writing me off as too young and inexperienced to succeed in F1," he said. It's a pretty good feeling to see those same people now saying I have the ability to become a world champion. "It's great that I have been able to prove on the circuit that I can make people sit up and take notice."

Button added that he would like to be World Champion Michael Schumacher's teammate in a near future in order to face a bigger challenge.

"I would love to be Michael Schumacher's teammate. Michael is the best driver in the world and partnering him would push me even more.

"Hopefully in the near future I will partner him, you never know. I hope he's still about when I'm able to be on the level to win the championship because he's the main person I really want to beat," he concluded.