My Life In Cars Jenson Button

Not every 19-year-old buys a Ferrari, but then again, not everyone has the talent of one of motorsport’s most popular drivers

The first car I drove, the first road car, was the Suzuki ‘Jeep’ – the square one before the Vitara. My dad would let me drive it in the field across from the house; he remembers looking out the window and seeing me going backwards at 64kph.

The first car I bought after I passed my test was using £2,000 of my race winnings from karting. It was a Vauxhall Cavalier 2.0-litre, the 8V not the 16V (couldn’t afford that), and it was dark blue – a 1990 G-reg with 90,000 miles. I put some 17-inch wheels on it, Sachs suspension and obviously the speakers every kid had when they were 17.