2008 Drivers – Part 8/11: Honda

Jenson Button
Nationality: British
DOB: 19/01/80
Races: 137
Wins: 1
Podums: 15
Pole Positions: 3
Total Career Points: 229

Rubens Barrichello
Nationality: Brazilian
DOB : 23/05/72
Races: 253
Wins: 9
Podiums: 61
Pole Positions: 13
Total Career Points: 519

Jenson came into Formula One the season after the Championship-Winning Brit Damon Hill retired. There was quite a build-up to his entrance, but he never quite lived up to the early promise.

The early promise on question came in the form of the British Formula Ford Championship in 1998, and this was followed up with third place in the British Formula Three Championship the year after. It was in 2000, at the age of just 20, where Button got a drive at Williams, beating off competition from Brazilian racer Bruno Junqueira. He impressed as a rookie, and very nearly scored his first podium at Spa. He followed this up with a dismal 2001 season, scoring just 2 points at Benetton.  He stayed with the team when they were bought by Renault, but replaced in 2003 by a certain Fernando Alonso. He went to B.A.R., where in 2004, he finished third in the Championship – his best result so far. He didn’t win a race, but he got on the podium ten times.

Honda bought out B.A.R. in 2006, and Jenson finally got his first, and so far, only race win, at Hungary. He finished the season sixth. However, a disastrous 2007 campaign by Honda saw Jenson pick up just six points. Honda need to show some power, and fast.

PREDICTION: 13th

Rubens is the most experienced driver in the field, though he has never won the Championship. Rubens picked up two notable trophies before his Formula One career – the Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries in 1990, and British Formula Three in 1991. He was signed up by Jordan in 1993, where he made a poor start, picking up just 2 points after a fifth-place finish in the Japan GP.

He improved drastically in 1994, finishing in sixth place overall. This year saw Rubens score his first podium – third place at the Pacific GP. Rubens moved to Stewart in 1997, where he had a disastrous season. Out of 17 races, he failed to finish 14 of them. The only points he scored was a second-place finish at Monaco. It wasn’t until he moved to Ferrari in 2000 where his fortunes changed. It was the German GP that year where Rubens finally recorded his first win. His best season, in terms of victories, was to come in 2002, where he won four and scored ten podiums, but, like most of his Ferrari career, he was second to Michael Schumacher. In 2004, he scored 114 points but finished runner-up again. In 2006 he moved to Honda, but in 2007 had his worst season to date, finishing 20th and failing to score. Honda have kept him on, but how will he improve?

PREDICTION: 16th

2008 Drivers – Part 7/11: Toro Rosso

Sebastien Bourdais
Nationality: French
DOB: 28/02/79
Races: 0
Wins: 0
Podums: 0
Pole Positions: 0
Total Career Points: 0

Sebastian Vettel
Nationality: German
DOB : 03/07/87
Races: 8
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Pole Positions: 0
Total Career Points: 6

Sebastien Bourdais comes into Formula One with a strong racing history. He is a Champ Car champion, winning the World Series four years running, from 2004 to 2007. His first major trophy was victory at the French Formula Three championship in 1999. Bourdais tried his hand at Formula 3000, and had won that championship in no time at all, taking the title in 2002.

2002 was the year that Seb almost made his F1 breakthrough, signing for the almost-bankrupt Arrows team. He didn’t get to race, and was beaten to the Renault Test Driver seat by Franck Montagny. Then Bourdais went on his marvellous winning streak in Champ Car, before being snapped up by Toro Rosso to replace Vitantonio Liuzzi for the forthcoming season. Toro Rosso didn’t score any points last season until the final race; I wonder if anything has changed over the winter.

PREDICTION: 19th

The second Seb in Toro Rosso is the more experienced – by eight races. Vettel made a winning start to his career by finishing runner-up, then champion of German Formula BMW in 2003 and 2004 respectively. He made a name for himself in Formula 3 Euroseries, again finishing in the runner-up spot. In mid-2006 Vettel was signed by BMW Sauber as a test driver. He impressed, and was kept on in 2007 when Vettel set two unique records.

After Robert Kubica’s horror smash at Montreal last year, Sebastian took over the BMW for the US Grand Prix, where he became the youngest ever points-scorer, finishing eighth at the age of just 19 years, 11 months. When Scott Speed left Toro Rosso after the European GP, Vettel was signed on, and became the youngest driver to lead a race, at the Japanese GP. But at China, Seb finished fourth, and picked up his first ever career points.

Sebastian was fined $1,000 just nine seconds into his career for speeding in the pitlane on his debut grand prix. Vettel has impressed since, but is he really in the right car?

PREDICTION: 14th