What will Jenson Button be doing on November 2 this year? Will he be celebrating a close-fought victory in the Formula One drivers’ championship? Or rueing the missed opportunities that cost him his first title?
Either way, he’ll be in mid-air as he contemplates his first season as a Brawn GP driver. He is due to head straight from Abu Dhabi to Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing and take part in this year’s Race of Champions on November 3-4.
And likely to be on the same plane is title rival Sebastian Vettel. Yes, we’d love to be flies on the wall. Or should that be the cabin ceiling? Anyway
The event’s promotors are selling the Beijing fixture as “an enticing ‘extra time’ duel between Button and Vettel, should the destiny of this year’s championship be decided by a showdown between the pair in Abu Dhabi.”
A shame it’s going to be so bloody hard for most F1 fans to see it then, isn’t it?
Button said of the RoC: “It’s always a great event, it’s great for the fans but it’s especially good for all of us competitors.
“It’s pretty intense; it’s great to have so many different competitors from around the world. Really it’s a great end-of-season event to just chill out and enjoy yourself and I’m looking forward to this year because the Bird’s Nest is a pretty amazing stadium, it’s going to be a lot bigger than before, so it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Hear Button talking about the Race of Champions here >> (mp3 download from the event website)
Vettel is due to be paired with seven-time world champion and now current F1 pilot Michael Schumacher in an attempt to secure the first ever ROC Nations Cup hat-trick for Germany. Another seat on that plane taken, then.
The Race of Champions, which featured Button and colleagues at Wembley Stadium in 2007 and 2008, brings together the greatest drivers from the world of motorsport with stars of Formula 1, rallying, sports cars, touring cars and NASCAR fighting against each other in identical machinery.
Promoter Fredrik Johnsson said: “Jenson has been a great competitor in The Race of Champions over the past two years, and it’s been fantastic to see him leading the way in Formula 1 this year.
“With him and Sebastian Vettel already confirmed we have two of the leading drivers in this year’s championship, and whoever wins the title, they’ll be able to have one last battle at the end of the season.”
For more about the Race of Champions, visit its website here >>