Friday March 10th, 2000

by Julian Linden

- Formula One's latest pin-up boy Jenson Button should have listened to his girlfriend when she warned him to stay clear of Aussie birds.

If he had, the 20-year-old British driver may have been spared the embarrassment of trying to explain away how he was caught with a bird in his car during Friday's practice session for the Australian Grand Prix.

Button's only excuse was that the intruder was not part of the flock of female fans that have embraced his promotion to Formula One but a feathered gull which landed in his lap as he thundered around Melbourne's Albert Park.

"At the end of the session, when I was doing my last run on new tyres, I hit a bird which entered the cockpit," Button explained.

"It didn't really help as it interrupted my run and I had to come in... to take the bird out of the car."

Incredibly, the Englishman suffered a similar incident some weeks earlier while testing at Kyalami, when he hit another bird at 160mph. "I hope I'm not going to get reported to any animal rights groups," he said after the session. "The birds seem to be targeting me. Why me? That's got to be it now. They say things come in threes, so let's hope so."

Button's run-in with the bird today came at the end of an eventful introduction to the sport for Britain's youngest ever Formula One driver.

He made an impressive start on Friday when he avoided mistakes and steadily trimmed his times in opening practice for Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Promoted to motor racing's top category after just one season in F3, Button is still coming to terms the trappings of fame.

Since arriving in Australia, the former karting champion has spent most of his time fielding questions from reporters and news crews anxious to speak to a man whose apparent innocence makes for a refreshing change.

And Button hasn't let them down, revealing the odd insight into an upbringing that is disturbingly normal.

He created something of a stir in the teetotal world of F1 when he revealed that he was drinking with his friends in a pub when Frank Williams called him to say he'd been given the drive.

Unapologetic, he explained: "Yeah, I was drinking but I try not to do that much now. Anyway, it's only human to have a drink now and then."

And, in one of life's rich ironies, he said that while he is licensed to drive an 800 horsepower racing car at speeds in excess of 300kph, he still can't rent a hire car.

A reminder, he says, that helps him keep his feet on the ground.

"I can't even hire a car, you have to be 21 and I'm still to young," Button said. "So I have to get my dad to do it."