Jenson Button revealed the “trickiest” post-title interview he had to navigate was after the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as he was on the microphone in the aftermath of that dramatic title conclusion.

The 2009 World Champion is one of a rotating panel of interviewers to speak to the top three drivers immediately after races and, by coincidence, he has conducted the parc fermé interviews with Max Verstappen straight after three of his four title victories to date.

Jenson Button had 2021 title interview prepared for ‘another driver’

Button gave the post-race interview alongside actor and former NFL player Terry Crews in Las Vegas over the weekend as Verstappen clinched his fourth Drivers’ crown, but the former McLaren, Brawn and Honda driver was also entrusted with those duties in both the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

The Briton acknowledged that the drama of the 2021 finale in Abu Dhabi led that interview situation to be the “trickiest” all round, after Verstappen passed Button’s former McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton on the final lap in controversial circumstances to take the lead of the race.

He revealed that, because he had to travel towards the podium with several laps to go and with Hamilton having been leading, he had been preparing to interview the drivers as if the Mercedes driver was set for victory, before the title race turned on its head on the last lap.

“This one was always going to be special in Vegas, four-time World Champion, but the one that was the trickiest, and I think for everyone involved, was Abu Dhabi,” Button explained on the Sky F1 podcast.

“Because I was walking towards the podium where I was going to deliver the lines of: ‘You are World Champion’, but I was doing it to another driver, because I had it all planned in my head that it was going to be Lewis.

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“I had the questions all set up, then as I’m walking to the podium, [TV producers] told me in my ear: ‘Actually, no, Max has won the World Championship.’

“And it’s, ‘oh, okay, this changes things a little bit’. So yeah, it’s interesting.

“Normally you have three drivers on the podium that are just happy to be there, but when it’s down to a World Championship and it’s between two guys, it’s pretty emotional – more so for them – but also for us asking the question.”

With Button having been one of Formula 1’s longest-serving drivers, he brings real-world experience to his line of questioning that few others can offer.

Despite being out of the Formula 1 cockpit, having just finished the season with Hertz Team Jota in the World Endurance Championship, he said he enjoys speaking to those who still drive in the present day.

“For me, it’s a really interesting dynamic,” he said.

“You know, interviewing racing drivers as I was in F1 for so long and still race, but post-race, when you’ve got the top three, there’s always a great atmosphere, and I love doing those interviews and interacting.”

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