Why Jenson's back on track

Pit stop babe ... Jenson's present girlfriend Jessica Michibata

�When it goes well, it goes well. Last year when it went bad, it went bad. I feel on top of the world.�

Yet Button’s reversal of fortune has as much to do with engineering as his own gritty perseverance.

Rule changes at F1 to help cut down massive costs have meant changes in the design of cars.

And Button’s team — Brawn GP, who bought out the Honda F1 outfit — stole a march on the others.

While the McLaren and Ferrari teams were battling for the title last year, Brawn were already quietly working away on this year’s car.

Led by Manchester-born engineering genius Ross Brawn, the improvements included a piece of carbon fibre called the double diffuser.

A diffuser channels air out of the back of the car. The more effective it is, the more downforce it produces on the rear wheels. This makes the car faster.

Complaints by other teams about Brawn’s diffuser — led by Ferrari — were thrown out.

And Button, from Frome in Somerset, has continued to lead F1 while the rest of the pack play catch-up.

Button’s apparent overnight success had been years in the making.

Driving him wild ... Jenson with Florence Brudenell-Bruce

The son of former rallycross driver John Button, Jenson began karting aged eight. In 1991 he won all 34 races of the 1991 British Cadet Kart Championship to claim the title.

Progressing through Formula Ford and Formula 3, he landed a seat for F1 team Williams in 2000.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, he often cut a cocky and brash figure as Britain’s youngest F1 driver.

He moved from sleepy Frome to playboy paradise Monaco and was engulfed in a whirlwind of parties and beautiful women.

His relationship with pretty Kimberley Keay ended bitterly after she claimed she had a secret abortion.

He then began dating Fame Academy contestant Louise Griffiths.

They were together five years but split when he called off their wedding in 2005 after the invitations had already gone out.

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