Button, 31, became Britain’s youngest Formula One driver in 2000. He was world champion in 2009 and now races for McLaren with team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Appointed MBE in 2010, he lives in Monaco.
I know how to make spaghetti bolognese. It is the only creative thing that I do. And I do it very, very well.
Every single second of doing a triathlon is so painful. You push yourself to the absolute limit, both mentally and physically. It makes you horribly, painfully aware of how alive you are. I love the simplicity of triathlons. The more I train, the better I do – everything is down to me.
The best thing about Japan is my missus. Jessica [Michibata, a fashion model and his girlfriend] is teaching me Japanese. All the important things, anyway, such as “You look beautiful this evening.”
Training on your own at the age of 10 is difficult and lonely. I was working out in the gym every day, drinking mug after mug of coffee to keep me going.
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Growing up with three sisters teaches you an awful lot about women. Maybe some things that I shouldn’t have learnt…
My family all get nervous every time I race. Particularly my mum – it’s her little boy racing around out there.
Why would you not want to look your best? I like to look good. I have a shampoo bottle coming out with my face on it. How lucky people are to have my face on their bathroom shelf.
“Jenson, you are lucky.” I sit myself down regularly and have a word to remind myself of that.
Growing old is exciting. It means that I get to settle down with a wife and children.
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Know your limits. I’m not stupid. There will always be dangers involved when you’re driving at 220mph. Racing is a dangerous sport. I put the thought of danger to the back of my mind and let the buzz and the adrenalin rush take over. That’s what you have to do if you want to be the best.
When I was at school, I thought I was brilliant at art. In hindsight, that definitely wasn’t true.
Somerset is a wonderful place to grow up. I loved walking through the fields to get home.
You don’t need to rebel against yourself. The pressure to train, eat a strict diet and totally dedicate myself to racing came from me, not my parents. If I had told my old boy that I didn’t want to race any more, he would have said: “No worries.”
The machines that I drive do not want to be tamed. The buzz of trying to control all that power is addictive.
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There’s life in me yet. Michael Schumacher is 42.
You have to try. I would rather try and fail than not try anything. Pushing yourself further than you ever thought you could reach, that’s how to live your life.
The only thing in life that I regret is not spending enough time with my family. The night that I won the World Championship is a sad picture. After one drink with the boys, I went back to my hotel and sat there, on my own, at the end of the bed for three hours, running through my life from the first time my dad drove me to a go-kart race to that moment.
You have to let loose, let your hair down and get a bit messy sometimes in order to reset your body. Your body isn’t expecting it, so it reacts in a different way, which improves your fitness. That might not be true, but I’m sticking with it.
In Japan, when someone gives you a wallet it’s because they earn more than you. Jessica gave me a wallet for my last birthday, so I’m not sure what she’s been up to in her spare time.
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Jenson Button is the face of a new Head & Shoulders men’s shampoo (facebook.com/makingheadshappier)