Honda team boss Nick Fry has hit back at criticism of the Japanese squad’s British driver Jenson Button.
Countryman and 1992 world champion Nigel Mansell was this week quoted by the BBC as saying 27-year-old Button had wasted his opportunities to win races by under-performing and indulging in a too-glamorous lifestyle.
“He had the opportunity and didn’t take it,” Mansell said. “There won’t be any more.”
Britain’s 1996 title winner Damon Hill, meanwhile, attacked under-performing Honda for “totally wasting” Button’s talent.
“He’s wilting away there,” Eurosport quoted Hill as saying. “Honda just aren’t a front-running team.”
The Brackley based outfit’s principal Nick Fry reacted by admitting that the current Honda car is “not particularly good” but said Button is still a future world champion.
And to Mansell’s criticism about Button’s nightlife, Fry told the Daily Mail: “People forget that Jenson made his F1 debut at the age of 20 — but he’s now 27.
“I’ve worked with him now for five years, and his increasing maturity, and the way he has changed his lifestyle is extremely noticeable.”
