Monday January 24th, 2000

By Alan Baldwin

Jenson Button joined BMW-Williams today and, aged just 20, will become the youngest British driver ever to race in Formula One when the season starts in Australia on March 12.

"I'm still on cloud nine at the moment," Button, a teenager until last Wednesday, told a news conference.

"I'm sure I'm ready for Formula One. I think this year's going to be a very interesting one for me."

Button, who takes over from the disappointing Italian former Indycar champion Alex Zanardi, will become the fifth youngest driver of all time after beating Brazilian Bruno Junqueira in a test "shoot-out" for the drive.

In Formula One they say that if you are good enough you are old enough and Button convinced Williams that was the case.

Team owner Frank Williams said that he had made the decision only shortly before Monday's launch of the new FW22 car in Barcelona and the announcement of computer giant Compaq as the team's principal sponsor.

"By the smallest of margins, we decided to go for Jenson," Williams said.

Button will now partner 24-year-old German Ralf Schumacher while Junqueira was named as an official test driver and will compete in Formula 3000 next season.

Patrick Head, Williams technical director, said the Englishman lacked mileage in the car but had demonstrated considerable maturity in motor racing terms.

He also signalled that Schumacher had truly come of age.

"Ralf has been the young pup of the team, now he's got to be the paternalistic older statesman," Head said.

Button Pushes Past Moss

The previous youngest Briton in Formula One was Stirling Moss, who made his first appearance in an HWM at the 1951 Swiss Grand Prix aged 21.

Others have been even younger on their debuts -- New Zealander Mike Thackwell was just 19 years and 182 days old when he started the 1980 Canadian Grand Prix for Tyrrell.

Mexican Ricardo Rodriguez was 19 and 208 days when he appeared at the 1961 Italian Grand Prix for Ferrari.

Most recently, Argentine Esteban Tuero was 19 and 320 days old when he made his Minardi debut in 1998. New Zealander Chris Amon was also younger than Button will be in Melbourne.

Moss, despite never winning the world title, was one of the greatest drivers of his era while Amon was also one of the greats but other youngsters have struggled.

Thackwell crashed on the first lap of his debut race and departed from the sport with barely a ripple. Tuero completed a season and then quit for personal reasons.

However, Ralf Schumacher was optimistic for Button.

"If you're quick, why not?" he said. "I joined Formula One at 21 so it's just a year later. I survived to today so why not? I just hope he's not too quick."

On The Grid

Michael Schumacher was 22 when he made his Formula One debut for Jordan at the Belgian Grand Prix in 1991 but the late Ayrton Senna was 24 when he first appeared on the grid. Alain Prost was 25, Nigel Mansell 27.

Williams missed out on signing the young Senna after giving him a test in 1983 and Michael Schumacher also eluded him. He has made it clear he has no intention of being caught out again.

Button, British Formula Ford champion in 1998, had caught the eye of Formula One teams after securing a test drive in a McLaren as a prize for winning a British young driver of the year award last season.

He grabbed the opportunity with both hands and also impressed Prost, who invited him to a test for his team and was poised to offer him a job as test driver.

Head said Button will now have to come to terms with juggling the demands of sponsors with racing and could find that harder than adapting to life in the fast lane.

"I think that will probably be more stressful," he said. "He'll probably climb into the car for a bit of relaxation."