British press hails champion Button

Britain's newspapers hailed Formula One world champion Jenson Button on Monday after he clinched the title at the Brazilian Grand Prix, after ten years' slogging in the series.

Pictures of the Briton celebrating his victory made the front pages of all the national daily newspapers, broadsheet and tabloid alike, after his title-clinching fifth place at Interlagos in the season's penultimate grand prix.

Many commentators recalled his hard times fighting down the grid, when his detractors said he was not made of championship material.

The Daily Mail's chief sports writer Martin Samuel argued that Button's win was a victory for the driver, rather than his Brawn GP car.

"Button became everything his detractors said he could never be, displayed every raw emotion and drop of passion he was said to possess," he wrote. "In manoeuvering through the field to a position of unsurmountable superiority on the season leader board, Button delivered the drive of a true champion, of an extraordinary winner."

The Times' motor racing correspondent Edward Gorman wrote: "Button's detractors talk of a mediocre driver who benefited from an outstanding car, a man whose uncertain progress to the summit revealed as many strengths in his make-up as weaknesses. Inside the sport, however, that view has gained little traction."

Richard Williams in The Guardian, said Button's path to the title had been strewn with obstacles -- some of them self-erected.

"Button is not burdened with an over-inflated ego, and a world championship is unlikely to change him," he wrote.

"Among the most valuable weapons in a world champion's armoury is the instinct for joining the right team at the right time, and until this year it seemed to be the attribute Button most crucially lacked. The champion is the one with the skill and intelligence to take advantage of his circumstances, as Jenson Button has done at last."

The Daily Mirror's chief sports writer Oliver Holt said: "They said he was a party boy, that he was a dilettante, that he should have been a singer in a boy band, not a racer. It was a victory for the underdog in a sport that doesn't really do underdogs. It was a victory for a driver and a team that had been flung on the scrap heap ten months ago. They will make a Hollywood movie about it one day, no question."

The Sun's Steven Howard wrote: "It was the day when all the long struggles that have beset Button down the years were made worthwhile -- when the man mocked for a playboy image emerged as a racer of courage and distinction."

The tabloid's editorial said: "It won't be long before cops ask speeding drivers, as they used to in the days of Stirling Moss: 'Who do you think you are? Jenson Button?'"

Bob McKenzie, in the Daily Express, said Button's victory proved that nice guys can win.

"Button, 29, is one of the most decent men in motorsport, someone who remained affable but focused during the years when his commitment was tested to the limit," he wrote.

The Daily Telegraph's chief sports writer Kevin Garside said Button was a "racing driver masquerading as an IT supervisor" who "conquered by stealth".

Through little fault of his own, Button is a champion without a defining moment. He deserves his success. More than that he has earned it. In the wilderness years with Honda his head rarely dropped. He never once complained or dished the blame.

David Tremayne in The Independent said: "Button had become a figure for whom respect seemed to be disappearing as fast as the cars in front of him."

But at Interlagos, "It was as if the real Jenson Button turned up, and there was nothing feeble or insecure about the way he went about cementing his title with a race to spare. The confidence was back in spades, and he got the job done in style."