Jenson's Journal | Entry 04: Fernando's future, knowing when to leave F1, and living in Italy's 'City of Steel'
As the doors to Monza's Temple of Speed open this weekend, Jenson Button picks up his pen for the latest entry in Jenson's Journal. The 2009 F1 World Champion reflects on his memories of racing in Italy, including an epic battle for victory with Fernando in 2010, and offers his take on Fernando's future as the sport awaits his decision on whether to compete in a 24th F1 season.
This weekend F1 heads to Monza – one of the most enthralling racetracks in the world. It's a circuit where I have some good memories – including a great duel with Fernando for the win in 2010.
Fernando's future is a hot topic of conversation right now. I have no idea whether he's going to commit to another year in the sport, but I do know whenever he does decide to retire he'll be rightly regarded as one of the true F1 greats – though personally I hope he'll stay a little longer. While we wait to see what he does, I felt compelled to pick up my pen and reminisce about my time racing against him in my latest journal entry.
The biggest compliment I can give Fernando is that fighting him was very similar to fighting with Michael Schumacher. In my experience against them it would be hard but fair – it was on the limit every time and I loved that. That was part of the challenge.
When I won my first Grand Prix in Hungary, I was fighting against them and that's what you want as a driver. You want to be fighting against the best, against the greats, to see how you compare.
In my career I got to race against the likes of Fernando and Michael, as well as Mika Häkkinen, Kimi Räikkönen, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. I've been really lucky to have raced against some of the true legends of the sport.
What makes Fernando stand out is his driving style. If you painted all the cars the same colour and put every driver out on the track, you would struggle to notice the difference. But when Fernando drives past, you immediately know it's him. That's down to what he's doing behind the wheel.
Fernando drives like no one else. He's aggressive, he can adapt brilliantly, and it's been that way all through his career.
I remember in the early 2000s when we were both at Renault the car required a really aggressive approach to steering, otherwise you would have too much load on the front and have oversteer. He found a way of driving it. It didn't look pretty, but he made it work.
He's always been able to do that with any car he drives; it's hugely impressive.
I couldn't do that. If you give me a car set up how I like it, I don't think anyone can drive it quicker. But Fernando can adapt to whatever he's given. It's a special talent.
We were also team-mates at McLaren and we got on well but actually we didn't spend a lot of time together.
People assume that drivers, especially team-mates, are always together – perhaps because of how things seem now in the sport – but that isn't necessarily the case.
In fact, my wife met Fernando in Monaco earlier this year and had to introduce herself because I never did when she was my girlfriend back in 2016!
Your team-mate is one of the first people you'd think you'd introduce someone to inside the paddock, but racing in F1 was different back then. There was a lot of respect between us, but it wasn't as though we were best mates going racing. Even so, I really enjoyed the time we did spend together.
I think the sport has changed quite a lot in terms of how close some of the drivers seem to be now.
A lot of them grew up together and I also think they almost have to be more social these days, given how much the sport is in the spotlight.
We see a lot more behind the scenes than when I was racing. Everything is on camera and there's a microphone above your head all the time when you're in the paddock. I must admit, it would take me a moment to get used to. I'm not that type of person, especially when I'm focused on racing. I want to be on my own, not surrounded by people hearing every word I say.
I knew when it was time for me to retire from F1.
I retired aged 36, nine years younger than Fernando, but I was ready. I'd spent a couple of years struggling with racing because I didn't really want to be there. It felt like there wasn't anything new for me to achieve and when you get to that point you know it's time to go.
But I think the difference for Fernando is there's still an exciting challenge in front of him. Obviously, this year has been tough, but it's still an exciting time to be at Aston Martin Aramco and to be working with people like Adrian Newey. Any F1 driver would love to race a car designed by him, and to experience firsthand him driving this team forward.
I know how difficult it is to decide your future, and he's been there once before. He left the sport and came back, so he obviously left too early. Now, he will make sure that he's 100 per cent certain that he doesn't want to be in the sport before he leaves.
Fernando's still got so much more to give in F1. I would love to see him in an Aston Martin fighting for wins. That's where he should be, and it's where this team is aiming to be. He hasn't won as much as he should have. He's found himself in unlucky situations a few times, one alongside me, but the talent and hunger is still there, which is the key to staying in the sport and being competitive.
This week, F1 heads to Monza. I never won there, which is a shame, but I always really enjoyed driving the circuit. It is old school, and the fans are unbelievable. You see them building structures before Sunday to watch the race from. Obviously, there's a huge amount of love for the red team from the Tifosi, but for the sport in general there is a lot of support.
I achieved three second places there and a third, so I got to stand on the famous podium over the start/finish straight several times – one of the best in F1 – but it never quite went my way in terms of the win. Even so, it's one of the circuits that I miss racing at.
The 2010 Italian Grand Prix is perhaps the closest I came to winning there, but I was pipped by...
...Fernando.
I started behind him, but jumped him at the start and led the first stint. Fernando was quicker but he couldn't get past because I had a downforce advantage through the corners.
If you look at the photos of the cars from that day, you'll see I had a very large rear wing. Normally at Monza, you run a really low drag setup because it's such a high-speed track, but we had the special F-duct system where you'd put your arm over a hole inside the cockpit, changing the airflow to stall the rear wing and increase straight-line speed.
It meant you could go through corners with downforce and reduce drag on the straights – a similar principle to the active aero on the current cars.
So, every time I exited a corner, I carried so much speed that Fernando wasn't able to overtake.
If it stayed like that, I would have won the race, but we pitted on different laps, and Fernando's stop was a little quicker than mine. When he exited the pits, I saw his red car in front of me and I was gutted; there was nothing I could do. The crowd erupted and I just had to follow him to the finish.
To beat Ferrari in their backyard would have been amazing, but it wasn't to be.
In general, I've always enjoyed visiting Italy; it was like my second home growing up.
I raced karts from the age of eight in the UK, but when I became a teenager, I started racing in Europe and I raced for an Italian team. I spent a lot of time in Italy and specifically in Terni, an industrial city about 100km northeast of Rome known as the City of Steel, or Città d'Acciaio.
As a young racer, I knew I had to go to Italy if I was going to make it in motorsport. That's where all the best drivers in the world competed, and it's where all the big junior teams were.
I raced in the Italian Championship, and then the Europeans and Worlds. I have so many special memories racing against and watching some the best drivers around at that time.
I'd watch Jarno Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella, and what they could do with a go-kart was out of this world. They'd be overtaking on two wheels and pulling off some incredible moves. I tried to learn from drivers like them.
I have a soft spot for the country. It's the people, the food, the architecture, and their love for motorsport.
That passion for racing unites us, and it's why I hope this weekend isn't the last time we see Fernando in an F1 car at Monza.
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