Jenson Button will personally thank the entire Brawn GP workforce on Tuesday after being crowned Formula One world champion.
British driver praises team that helped him to victory
Jenson Button will personally thank the entire Brawn GP workforce on Tuesday after being crowned Formula One world champion.
Button is set to visit the team's factory in Brackley after a fifth place in Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix was enough to earn him the title.
The 29-year-old is meeting the workers in much happier circumstances than a visit he paid 10 months ago, the day after Honda had announced they were pulling out of the sport.
Then, Button decided to make an appearance at the factory in a bid to rally the troops, despite his own career also being under threat.
The British driver and Brawn have since completed one of the most impressive transformations in F1 history, and the new champion feels he owes everyone involved his gratitude.
Special time
"I saw pretty much everyone at the party we held that night," he said. "It was nice to see them, but it was quite busy and I couldn't congratulate them in the way I wanted to.
"It's always difficult in a nightclub to speak to people because it's so loud and there's so much going on. Everyone's celebrating but you can't feel the emotion together.
"So I'm at the factory tomorrow and I'm so excited about it. I'm doing some work in the simulator ahead of the race in Abu Dhabi.
"But mostly it is to see everyone that made this happen, that put this together, spending the day with those people and that will be the special time for me."
Reflecting on his new title, Button admits he has become more focused on his career since arriving in the sport at the age of 20, with a renowned reputation as a playboy.
World champion
"For the last four or five years I've been training I've been thinking about how it would feel to cross the finishing line and to take the chequered flag in a race knowing you are world champion," said Button.
"That's what has spurred me on with my fitness and with racing, and making racing my life because it does become your life, and you can't win unless it does become your life.
"That's something I didn't realise when I started in the sport, and that's why I found it very difficult in my early years in Formula One.
"But that made me realise I needed to put everything into it, that Formula One does become your life, as my family have found out over the last couple of years.
"Now, for me, as a driver and a sportsman, winning the world title is the best thing you can possibly win, and I've achieved that."
