Why I was wrong (or perhaps why I was still right...)

Thanks a lot Jenson. Way to go and spoil my previous blog post (see 7^th November 09). And after I was so nice to you as well.

Two weeks ago this blog praised the selfless Button in reaction to his crowning as Formula 1 World Champion. The fact he’d taken an enormous pay cut and stayed loyal to his team through difficult times led to me and many others applauding his altruism and lauding his deserved success.

And of course last week he made the post look very foolish in contradicting all that was written by signing for McLaren, a rival team, for a much more lucrative salary.

There certainly seemed to be some sourness coming from his former team, Brawn GP, who have forbidden him from making any appearances for his new employer until his contract expires at the end of the year. Nick Fry, one of Button’s bosses, said in a statement: “Clearly loyalty would be nice, but in this day an age you don’t expect too much of that…we don’t see the logic of the decision.”

Evidently, then, the rose-tinted views expressed were far too optimistic and Button is the no different from all of the other multi-millionaire, greedy sporting stars.

Or is he?

Suggestions made by the press and Button himself in interviews state that he will actually earn less at McLaren than he would have done remaining at Brawn, who were understandably keen to give him a pay rise. Not only that but Brawn’s low-budget operation was last week bought out by Mercedes, so no longer are they the plucky underdogs but have potentially massive financial backing. Button stayed through the hard times and acknowledged that he was leaving the team on good terms while looking for a new challenge.

In addition, by signing for McLaren, Button pits himself against former champion Lewis Hamilton, widely regarded as the fastest man in the sport and for whom the team is organised around. Button faces a huge task in trying to beat Hamilton in ‘his’ team, whereas most were expecting him to stay put in the comfort of familiar settings. By doing so Button is leaving his comfort zone far behind him and has his reputation as one of the racing élite to uphold; failure would inevitably render him as a ‘one-season’ wonder that got lucky.

So maybe Jenson will keep proving us all wrong for a little longer yet. Just don’t necessarily believe everything that you read.