Over the hubbub of noise in the pub, Jenson Button held his mobile phone close to his ear and could decipher the faint voice of Sir Frank Williams. It was Christmas 1999 and the legendary team owner was about to gift Jenson the best present of his life so far. Having been enamoured with his Prost test, Williams invited the Formula 3 graduate to test one of his own cars. This was the lifeline Jenson had been waiting for. Impress for Williams and the chance of a full-time F1 drive was a genuine possibility.

On 13 January 2000 Jenson arrived at Jerez and drove the interim FW21B, a development car for the Williams’s new engine partner BMW. The German firm’s competition manager Gerhard Berger was suitably impressed with the 19-year-old’s pace. “Once every ten years, a phenomenon comes along,” said Berger. “And I think we’re seeing one here.”

But there were two nagging issues for Jenson to contend with in the warm Spanish sun. The first was unreliability with the new powerplants, regularly limiting his track time. The second was Brazilian hotshoe Bruno Junqueira, who was also eying up the Williams drive and had sponsorship that could sway the team in his favour. The prized F1 seat was ultimately decided by a shoot-out between the pair, but with near identical laptimes, it was almost impossible for the senior Williams management to make a decision.

On the morning of the team’s new car launch on 24 January 2000, Sir Frank Williams spoke to Junqueira first and then to Button. Just minutes before the press conference, the team boss had finally made up his mind: “We’ve decided to go with Jenson,” he announced to the world’s media.

This was the euphoric moment that Jenson Button had been working towards his whole life. The youngster from Somerset with the silky-smooth skill behind the wheel was one step closer to his ultimate ambition of becoming world champion. Just two years after he’d entered his first ever car race, he was now a Formula 1 driver for the legendary Williams team. All at the tender age of 20.

A week after being confirmed as Britain’s latest F1 driver, he was appearing on Chris Evans’s popular Channel 4 show TFI Friday. Suddenly Jenson Button was thrust into the public eye and was lauded for his noteworthy pace. “I only hope he isn’t too fast,” muttered his new Williams team-mate Ralf Schumacher on the eve of the new season.

On 10 March 2000 in Melbourne, Australia Jenson Button was strapped into his FW22 for his first ever grand prix weekend. After making a rookie mistake by hitting the wall in practice he lined up 21st – on the back row of the grid for race day. After making up half a dozen places on the opening lap and running as high as fourth at one stage, Jenson Button was all set to finish sixth to grab a world championship point on his debut. Then bad luck struck when he suffered engine failure just ten laps from the finish.

“He did a fantastic job,” said an impressed Frank Williams after the race. “He was very composed and had great presence in the car. There’s no doubt he has a great future.”

“He did a fantastic job,” said an impressed Frank Williams after the race. “He was very composed and had great presence in the car. There’s no doubt he has a great future.”

A fortnight later in Brazil, Jenson out-qualified his experienced team-mate (for the first of six times that year) and achieved his first of many successes at the fabled Interlagos circuit. He finished sixth in the race, becoming the youngest driver to score a world championship point in the history of the sport. (His record of 20 years and 67 days was only beaten by Sebastian Vettel seven years later.)

Other highlights in his first F1 season were a fourth place at Hockenheim (from the back of the grid) and a sensational third on the grid at his first visit to the daunting Spa-Francorchamps.

With Juan Pablo Montoya confirmed at Williams for 2001, the difficult decision was taken to loan Jenson out to the Renault team so that he could continue to serve his Formula 1 apprenticeship. Disappointingly the Renault was a significant step backwards in terms of competitiveness and at the first race of 2001, Button finished a distant tenth, seven laps down. Sadly that became one of the highlights in a very challenging year.

“It’s impossible not to worry what people think of me when I’m driving as hard as I can for 18th place,” said Jenson at the end of 2001. “This has been my most difficult season in motor racing, I’ve never struggled like this before. It affected me a bit, but the important thing was to stay positive.”

At the end of the year Jenson was out-qualified by Giancarlo Fisichella for the 13th time in 17 races, although a prolonged shoulder injury affected his performances more than he ever let on.

For 2002, Jenson was partnered at Renault by Jarno Trulli, but endured another disappointing season. The highlight was set to be Malaysia when he was running third ahead of Michael Schumacher, until a last-minute suspension failure demoted him to fourth, robbing him of his first podium.

Despite being gutted he had the generosity to croak, ‘this one’s for you mate’ on the car-to-pit radio to one of his mechanics celebrating their birthday.

After the first four races, he had scored eight points to Trulli’s zero, but by round six in Monaco he was told by Renault boss Flavio Briatore that his contract would not be renewed for the following season.

He’d split up with David Robertson and Harald Huysman and found a new manager in the lawyer John Byfield of Essentially Sport. But his Renault was uncompetitive and politicking had scuppered his F1 opportunity. It was a glum period for Jenson and something needed to be done. He needed a fresh chance, a switch of teams and a new opportunity. He was then was asked to meet a man known simply as ‘DR’…