British racing driver Jenson Button, 41, grew up in Somerset. He won the Formula One world championship in 2009, and has 15 grands prix titles. He lives in Los Angeles with his fiancée, Brittny Ward, their two-year-old son and ten-month-old daughter.
I am addicted to winning. My dad bought me a go-kart when I was seven. I won, and stood on the podium with what was probably a £15 trophy, but it was bigger than the other kids’. That for me was the best thing ever. Knowing I had done a better job than them, that’s what got me into this sport.
After I won the world championship, I thought, what now? I set out to win it when I was eight years old. I achieved it when I was 29. But I’d never planned what would happen after that. The evening I won, in Brazil, the team went to a bar. I stayed for about an hour and a half, then went home and sat in my room thinking of everything I gave up to get there.
Being a great driver is not just down to natural ability. That’s something you’ve been given by your parents. It is how you build on that. Every driver on the F1 grid is talented, but what some of them fall down on is their mental strength when they are put in a high-pressure situation.
I don’t like being inside a house. I want to try extreme things; to go out and see things, gain new experiences. That is what I feel life is all about.
The first time I got engaged, I was too young. I was 25. I’m glad I called it off; it was the right thing for everyone involved. I was just about ready for marriage when I hit my forties. Brittny doesn’t take any shit. She’s a very strong woman and I love that.
My physio was also my therapist. I would hop on the massage couch and he would say, “Tell me what you’re thinking.” I would have struggled without that bond. There is so much pressure – from the teams, fans or from within. You need someone you can talk to.
I was a bit silly when I was younger. I raced hard, but I also liked to party. I bought a house and a boat I couldn’t afford, and that’s where the playboy label came from. But you arrive in F1 at 20 and don’t grow up in the sport – that happens when you finish. I am a different person now. I can’t remember the last time I went to a nightclub.
I am happy that I was racing before we had camera phones. There would have been a lot of awful pictures of me, I’m sure, in compromised positions.
I struggle to make new friends, and I struggle to trust people. My missus is always saying I need to meet new people. There are only a few people who know me away from the track well enough to be able to judge who I am. The friends I have are very close.
For a sportsman who has had to be so selfish, having children was difficult. Suddenly I was at home with a baby for days. You have to get your head around not being the most important person in the household. I have had to change as a person, to grow up over the past few years. Now, I have a lot more pushchairs than I have cars.
Being able to go for a run in shorts and a T-shirt year round is what I want. I do love my life here in California. We are right by the coast. There’s a desert to drive my off-road vehicles, and you can go skiing an hour away.
I miss my family and friends in the UK. The London food scene and architecture too – there is nothing like it in California.
Dare 2b – the Jenson Button Edit clothing is out now (dare2b.com)
Photograph: from the book Jenson Button: How to be an F1 Driver
