Feature: Button Flies the Flag at Silverstone

Jenson Button will take a win wherever he can get it but success at Silverstone on Sunday would be truly special.

The fans know it. Sunday's British Grand Prix is a sellout, with 'Button's Barmy Army' ready to revive memories of the crowds who roared on home favourites Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill in the 1990s.

England failed at the European soccer Championship, Tim Henman lost at Wimbledon. Button, the only English Formula One driver on the starting grid and still chasing his first win, believes he can deliver.

"I was listening to the radio recently and somebody was down at Wimbledon, talking about Henman and saying that he'd lost and what we were going to do now, who's the next English hope?," said the 24-year-old BAR driver. "And he said my name, which was good. I was quite excited.

"I hope there's going to be a big crowd there...and it should be a good event for us, we've been quick there in testing. Our consistency seems to be very good there."

Sunday will be Button's fifth British Grand Prix but only now does he have the maturity and the car to give him a real chance of success.

Although his best result at Silverstone remains a fifth place for Williams in 2000, the Briton has had two seconds this year and been on the podium six times.

Mansell Praise

"Britain is desperate for a driver to get behind and this is a great opportunity for Jenson," 1992 Champion Mansell said before taking part in a demonstration drive in central London with Button on Tuesday.

"Unfortunately it all seems to have gone pear-shaped for David Coulthard but Button is in the right place at the right time and he must make the most of it," he told The Times newspaper.

"BAR are operating much better as a team. Hopefully they can continue to improve and compete with Ferrari. It will then be up to Jenson to take advantage and show he has the genuine potential to become a world champion. I believe he can."

Button has a way to go before he can claim the following that the lion-hearted Mansell attracted, but he has been thrilled by the support so far.

Already this season the Button caps and flags have been more in evidence than the Scottish saltires for David Coulthard, who had been struggling with a mean-handling McLaren up until France, where he was sixth.

"I love Silverstone. It's a great layout, very flowing especially through the Becketts complex," said Button at the French Grand Prix. "I love it, I really do. There's a lot of fans for the team and myself and it's going to be a great feeling now that we have supporters."

The moustachioed Mansell used to say that the home crowd's support was worth a second a lap to him, a claim scoffed at by rivals who wondered what he was doing at the rest of the races if he could suddenly find such a margin.

"It doesn't make you drive any differently," agreed Button. "It's not like other sports where extra adrenalin helps you. It doesn't in Formula One but it will just be a very nice feeling if we have a great result there and there are so many fans to watch it and see it happen.

"We had 'Button's Barmy Army' in Barcelona - they were fantastic, it's great that they get so excited and so into it. Hopefully everyone's keeping all their St George's flags from all the sports events lately and they will come along to Silverstone."

First Podium

Button started the year knowing that he had to make his presence felt. After a sensational debut with Williams, becoming the youngest points scorer in Formula One history and then qualifying third in his first Belgian Grand Prix, the Somerset-born driver lost his way.

A year at Benetton was a struggle, amid suggestions that fame and fortune were going to his head, but a successive season at Renault turned out somewhat better.

Last year he held his own against former Champion Jacques Villeneuve at BAR but by then Finland's Kimi Raikkonen and Spain's Fernando Alonso had emerged as the sport's bright young things, race winners both of them.

Button was in danger of becoming dismissed as a nearly-man. Not any more. Now he is a team leader, his first podium in Malaysia followed up with a first pole position soon after at Imola in April.

The car has also been getting steadily more competitive, Button and Takuma Sato giving Ferrari's Michael Schumacher a run for his money even if the six-times Champion remains the favourite for a 10th win in 11 races on Sunday.

At Silverstone, fans can expect a further step up, although nothing dramatic. And then there is always that crowd.

"Home teams always play better on their home pitches," declared BAR boss David Richards. "We are going to Silverstone and to my knowledge that is not a home pitch to Ferrari.

"How much more do football teams win at home than away? The whole factory will be involved, there is a lot of momentum and I feel very confident."