Sunday March 5th, 2000

Former driver Martin Brundle on Sunday joined a chorus of concern about British newcomer Jenson Button's Formula One debut.

"I do not believe that young Button should be on the grid for the Australian Grand Prix next Sunday," he wrote in the Sunday Express newsapaper about his 20-year-old compatriot who makes his debut with the Williams team in Melbourne.

Brundle, now a television commentator and manager of McLaren driver David Coulthard, is involved in a new effort to help young British drivers reach the top but he suggested Button might have been better advised to wait.

"I feel it is too early for him, not just by a season but by two or three years," he said.

Brundle, who went into Formula One straight from Formula Three in 1984 just as Button is doing this season and who also drove for Williams in the 1988 Belgian Grand Prix, said the sport was far tougher now than in his day.

"I do not believe it is a good season to be at Williams, despite the team suggesting there is no pressure on Jenson, that results are not expected, that the car will have so many problems he will spend more time walking than racing.

"He won't learn much if he is walking a lot."

Canada's 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve said in January, on the day that Button was announced as Williams' replacement for Italian Alex Zanardi, that Button would be in for a shock when the season started.

"It's tougher than he's ever imagined -- I'm not sure he knows what he's letting himself in for," he said.

Finland's Mika Salo said last week that he was concerned for the safety of the Briton and other drivers. "I hope he can handle it because if he can't he will hurt himself or somebody else," the Sauber driver said.

Former champions Jody Scheckter and Jackie Stewart have also said that Button, the youngest British Formula One driver to date, is coming in too early for his own good.

However Gerhard Berger, the former Ferrari driver who now heads BMW's Formula One operation with Williams, has backed Button to succeed.

Button himself has dismissed the concern. "Wait and see what I can do," he said.