Jenson's Head Master Still Makes Him Laugh

As Jenson Button begins the biggest week of his life - after all, not many Formula One drivers enter the penultimate race of the season knowing that a first world title is within touching distance - I recall an anecdote he told me that is guaranteed to make him smile to this day, even in the increasingly tense atmosphere of Interlagos and the Brazilian Grand Prix. It concerns his time at school in Somerset when, having just won a notable kart race, he was wheeled on to stage in the school hall by the head master as an example to the other kids of what hard work and dedication can bring. "I sat in the car with my helmet still on and didn't say a word," JB told me. "Then I got wheeled off again." Here comes the punch line. What was the Head Master's name? " Master Bates," says the Brawn driver. "This is why few teased JB about his own, unusual name. "When your headmaster's called that, Jenson Button seems pretty normal in comparison," he reasons. Quite.