Categories: Look backRace and classic pictures

A better time for Button at Spa

40

15 years ago today, Jenson Button was taking part in his first qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps as a Formula One driver. In his debut year for Williams, the 20-year-old impressively qualified third on the grid behind Mika Hakkinen on pole and Jarno Trulli, lining up alongside fourth-placed Michael Schumacher. He would go on to finish fifth in the race.

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.