Jenson Button 2013

It is probably a bit harsh to call Button ‘Britain’s other driver’, but has had to live with life in the shadows of Lewis Hamilton during his time at McLaren. Still, by his own right, Button is a former world champion in the sport, taking the crown back in the 2009 team with Brawn. That signalled his move to McLaren where he hasn’t quite been able to deliver. He did take a second place finish in 2011, totally outperforming Lewis Hamilton and this time around he will get all the attention as McLaren’s principal driver, with Hamilton heading to Mercedes. So can Button get a second wind in the McLaren now that he will be the very driving force of the team? Perhaps the steadiest and most controlled driver at the top of the sport at the moment, it will be all a matter of consistency for him, in grinding out results against faster drivers who can push the envelope just that little bit more.

There was something calm and collected about Jenson Button last season again in his McLaren. He muscled his way into positions when people weren’t really expecting him to, and he will likely continue to fly under the radar as he did in 2012. He took a 5th place finish overall in the Drivers World Championship, but Button did fire himself to three Grands Prix titles during the year, a 50% return from the six podium finishes which he did pick up for the season. Button perhaps lacks the pace of the likes of Vettel and Alonso, but he more than makes up it for when he can when it comes to producing grinding, accurate performances, especially on the slower circuits. He has his favourites tracks and therefore you would expect to see him challenging. He couldn’t match the performance of his 2nd place finish in 2011 in the World Championship, but with all focus on him in 2013, he may make a decent outside shot for the title.

It is worth asking yourself how many races that Button may get under his belt in the 2013 season. Especially with having one of the stronger cars behind him, it is more than probable that you are going to see him standing on top of podiums around the world in 2013. For your Jenson Button 2013 F1 betting guidelines, he has taken exactly three wins in each of his last two seasons. In his first season with McLaren in 2010 he took only two. Again, there are big variables to look at this season from last because he will now be the principal driver and McLaren will be getting heavily behind him to deliver wins. It was Button who opened the season with a win in Australia last season, also taking wins in Belgium and in the final race of the season, Brazil. The only two courses at which he has won multiple times are Australia and Hungary.

So Jenson Button could well be worth looking at for some value in the season opener in Melbourne on March 17. There really is a big chance for Button to deliver this season and he does represent value in the F1 Drivers Championship betting market, with bookies placing him as third favourite during the pre-season, behind only Vettel and Alonso. So can Jenson Button mount a challenge for his second Drivers Championship title? The way the season could pan out, it is likely that we will see him challenge for a top three finish and there is even value in that with early odds offered on him making the top three around a general Evens.