Button: win justifies contract wrangles

The British driver grabbed the headlines with two separate contract disputes with BAR-Honda and Williams in 2004 and 2005.

But speaking in a lengthy interview with The Sunday Times, Button says he thinks that his actions can now be reasoned by the fact that staying with Honda helped him grab his first win in this year's Hungarian Grand Prix.

And that comes despite openly admitting that mistakes were made at the time of his actions.

"The people I had looking after me were completely wrong," explained Button. "And I was guided in the wrong direction, but they can't take all of the flak. I did make wrong decisions, but I have learnt from them, and in a way, if they hadn't happened, I might not have won my first Grand Prix."

He added: "Some people thought it was a terrible thing to do, to try to get out of the contract I had with Williams, but it happens all the time in football....otherwise you are never going to achieve. It's either sit there and never win a race, or fight for it and go on to win a race or a championship."

In the interview, Button also dismisses claims from his former teammate Jacques Villeneuve that Michael Schumacher will be quickly forgotten from the sport once he retires, and that he was not a great champion because of the number of incidents he has been caught up in.

Button said about those claims: "It's typical Jacques. He is very outspoken, but some of the things he says are not necessary.

"The thing is he is right when he says that Michael  has played some dirty tricks and done lots of naughty things in the past, but he's a seven-time world champion. He has achieved more than any other driver since F1 has existed, so he will be remembered."