From the Pulpit

Jenson Button qualified third for the season's first Grand Prix, second for its second, first for its third, and second for its fourth. And if his race results in Bahrain, Malaysia, Australia and San Marino weren't quite as splendid as his one-lap work - he finished fourth at Sakhir, third at Sepang, tenth at Albert Park and seventh at Imola - then they were a dream compared with what he went on to record in the next four Grands Prix.

At Nurburgring, Button qualified sixth and failed to finish; at Barcelona, he qualified eighth and finished sixth; at Monaco, he qualified 13th and finished 11th; and at Silverstone. he qualified 19th and failed to finish. Moreover, as those stats suggest, the trend is an inexorably and relentlessly downward one.

Clearly, having now started 108 Grands Prix (the same as Elio de Angelis, and more than Bruce McLaren or Jackie Stewart)... and having racked up ten front-row qualifying performances (the same as Keke Rosberg, and more than Phil Hill or Peter Collins), of which three were pole positions (the same as Jody Scheckter, and more than Jo Siffert or John Watson)... and having stood on 13 podiums (the same as Gilles Villeneuve, and more than Stefan Johansson or Chris Amon)... and having scored 183 world championship points (the same as no-one, but more than Jacky Ickx, Rene Arnoux, John Surtees, Mario Andretti or James Hunt), Jenson ain't no mug.

No, he is now in his seventh season of Formula One and remains a fabulously fast driver, possessed of remarkable natural finesse.

Nonetheless, his teammate, Rubens Barrichello - a man who proved himself in six seasons alongside Michael Schumacher at Ferrari to be occasionally very quick indeed, sometimes a bit sluggish and often too emotional to dig deep and deliver of his best - is now driving better, and quicker, than Jenson is.

Jenson Button © LAT

Moreover, Rubens - the kind of man who, when shown light at the end of the tunnel, used merely to frown and order more tunnel - has picked his season up by the scruff of its neck and has now closed the chasmic early-season gap between his pace and Jenson's. Indeed, if, as the old racing adage insists, you're only as good as your last race, then Rubens is very good. And, to broaden the adage a bit, if you're only as good as your last two races, then he's brilliant.

He isn't, of course - any more than Jenson has become a mug. But something must be up.

What, exactly, that something is... perhaps not even Jenson knows. In fact, I'm sure not even Jenson knows. But it goes without saying that he has the talent and the experience to regain ascendancy over Rubens at any forthcoming Grand Prix.

As you read this, the F1 circus will be setting up shop in Montreal. One week after that, it will do the same in Indianapolis. Both races are important for Honda, commercially - and for Jenson, psychologically. If he can turn the tables on Rubens, then he'll begin to feel relatively normal again. If not, then I fear for his spiritual equilibrium.

In 2001, Button was summarily outclassed at Benetton by his teammate Giancarlo Fisichella. Okay, Jenson was younger and less experienced then than now, but being beaten by Giancarlo caused his head to drop and his performances to worsen during a mid-season nadir that included three consecutive P21 qualifying performances. And, by season's end, by which time Fisichella was still working miracles in the still-sluggish B201 - remember his third place at Spa, anyone? - Button was still struggling.

And yet, although Giancarlo remains a freakishly talented driver, even his most ardent supporters would not now claim that he's as solid as a rock. And yet that's exactly what he was in 2001: as solid as a rock. Perhaps it was the warm glow provided by the knowledge that he had his teammate on the run that made him so, because we saw the same quality from him at Sauber in 2004, when he ruled teammate Felipe Massa with a rod of iron.

This year and last, though, repeatedly vanquished by Fernando Alonso, Giancarlo has looked far less rock-like - and slower, to boot.

Perhaps Jenson is cut from the same cloth, for he gave of his very best when paired with Takuma Sato.

But that isn't what Jenson will be thinking right now. Jenson should be, and hopefully is, thinking only positive thoughts - thoughts that will lift his performance to where it should be, which is ahead of Rubens. On the other hand...

On the other hand, he wouldn't be human if he weren't also thinking the odd 'if only' thought. And the most obvious - no, make that the most glaringly obvious - 'if only' thought he may be thinking is: "If only I'd taken up Williams's offer of a one-year deal for 2006 instead of forking-out millions to stay at Honda."

Yes, lest we forget - as well we might, because Button-gates I and II involved a complex and lengthy series of legal battles - in the summer of 2004, Jenson went to law in order to try to leave Honda (or B.A.R-Honda, as it was then) for Williams; he failed. In the summer of 2005, he went to law in order to try to do the exact opposite of that, namely to stay at Honda and not touch Williams with a barge-pole. He succeeded, albeit at a rumoured cost of US$30 million.

Now, of course, instigating Button-gate III - namely, trying to get out of his Honda contract and go elsewhere - would be (a) prohibitively expensive, (b) hugely damaging to his paddock cred, and (c) impossible, probably.

Jenson Button walks down the pitlane after his Honda suffered a mechanical failure in the British Grand Prix © LAT

Undoubtedly, during Button-gate II, one of Sir Frank's motives in always appearing so adamant that he wanted Jenson at all costs was to talk up the settlement figure - and, indeed, without that US$30 million Williams would have found it very difficult to make ends meet this year.

But Frank genuinely wanted Jenson, and not only for romantic reasons. No, Williams's sponsorship-acquisition team had begun to sell sponsorship packages for 2006 on the back of Button's presence at the team - I overheard just such a pitch, breathlessly whispered in the paddock at Monaco last year - which is why, so desperate was Sir Frank that his commercial guys should not appear to have been making empty promises, that at one time he offered Jenson a 'drive for me for one year only and we'll call it quits' deal.

Button rejected it, of course. But imagine if he'd accepted it. The F1 world would now be Jenson's oyster. No, he wouldn't have had a magnificent 2006, but he isn't going to have a magnificent 2006 with Honda, is he?

And remember that he would have driven the Williams-Cosworth FW28 that a red-raw rookie, Nico Rosberg, used to record not only outright fastest lap in Bahrain but also 19 of the fastest 50 laps recorded by anyone in that race.

Surely, also, Jenson wouldn't have encountered the first lap grief that sent Nico into the pits for an early unscheduled pitstop in that race. And surely, then, Jenson would have finished fourth. Or maybe even third.

And had he done that, and had he then backed that up with a few more stout performances, and had he then sent his manager Richard Goddard up and down the paddock armed with a very simple sales pitch - "Jenson is a free agent for 2007, so let's talk" - then he might well now be in contention for, or perhaps even in possession of signed contracts detailing a long-term deal at McLaren or Renault or even Ferrari.

Whereas, as things are now, Jenson's prospects of driving for one of F1's three best teams any time soon are about as slim as Ron Dennis's chances of succeeding Max Mosley as FIA president. In other words, zero.

Sad, innit?