FASTEN YOUR SEATBELT

In his 17 years as a Formula 1 driver, Jenson Button learnt a thing or two about how to drive a car fast. Here, in an extract from his fascinating new book, the British champion shares some of the tricks of the trade – including what to do in the event of a crash, how it feels to win and how the art of a successful champagne spray is all in the thumb.

DRIVERS don’t talk about crashes. We talk about “issues in the race”. You know, if you get a puncture on the rear, you have to close and thus lock the differential or risk damage because one wheel’s turning a lot faster than the other. Things like that. But never crashes.

When I was competing, what we did practise, however, was a procedure for quick extraction out of the car in the event of emergency. This came via an FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) ruling, which said that you can’t race unless you can get out of the car and put both feet on the floor in five seconds flat.

It became a bit of a competition. The FIA steward would get to you ahead of the race and he’d been to five teams already and you’re like, “What’s the time to beat?”

He’d be, “Well, [Sebastian] Vettel did it in three point seven.” So you’re like, “Okay, let’s try and beat it.”

And you’d do it in three point five. And your knees are sore and you’ve done your back in, but it was worth it knowing that you’ve won.

So if your car catches fire, say, you get out in your five seconds. But if you crash, though, and it’s a crash at speed, you have to wait for the all-clear before exiting.

Teams can tell from sensors on the car what sort of G the driver has pulled in the crash and if you’ve pulled 35G, which is the limit for possible distortion to the neck, you’ll need to wait.

It may well be that you’ll need to be seen by medics and attended to by FIA stewards who’ll extract you from the car still strapped into your seat so your neck doesn’t move.

They can do this in about four minutes flat. They help you out, in the seat, having spoken to you first to ensure you’ve replied to them in the correct manner and then they take you out.