Button: There's no need to be nasty...

The working relationship between BAR new boy Jenson Button and veteran team-mate Jacques Villeneuve has not got off to the best of starts, but the still young Briton believes that he can more than handle it having dealt with politics throughout the first three years of his F1 career.

Right from the time, last summer, that Button inked his contract with BAR team boss David Richards, Villeneuve has been saying that the former Williams and Renault pilot would have to earn his respect by beating him on track. Button says that he has no need to earn anyone's respect, claiming that working together was more likely to help move the team forward than in-fighting, but admits that the media fanning the flames of rivalry was just another aspect of the political nature of the sport he was getting to grips with.

Speaking to Britain's Sunday Times newspaper, Button claimed that he was a different person in the car to that he attempted to portray around the paddocks of the world - but said that Villeneuve's insistence that everyone was themselves all the time was not the right way to go, especially as it led to the Canadian sometimes being a bit brusque with 'outsiders'.

"I change 100 per cent when I get on the circuit but, as a person, I think I'm a pretty nice person," he revealed, "There's no reason to be horrible. When I'm working, as in driving cars, I get annoyed at times, but if there's no need to, there's no need to. We're only here once, aren't we?"

Asked whether his 'nice side' would prevent him from landing a world championship many feel has been tarnished by the ruthless determination of the likes of Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna, Button says not, highlighting the third of his top three drivers as a classic example.

"People would say that, but [Alain] Prost won the world championship and he was a nice guy," he said, "I would do a lot to win, but things that are dangerous don't interest me. Alain was a quieter driver. His way of driving was so smooth. He is the person I have modelled myself on. Ayrton was great, but I preferred Alain in a car."

He admits to being annoyed by the politics in F1, and by the way the media twist quotes and set traps in order to make something out of nothing - but admits that that is the nature of the sport, and world, he is living in.

"Everyone falls for it once in a while, and they get a really good story out of it, but it's all crap," he said, illustrating his dismay with reference to a trap full of 'make believe' Villeneuve quotes, "They started telling me things Jacques had supposedly said - but he didn't, because I asked. They were just trying to get a reaction from me."

While the Canadian feels sufficiently at home to say what he thinks, Button still feels the need to toe the party line on occasion.

"That's the business, isn't it? You've got to be . . . diplomatic, shall we say? I can't, for example, say 'the car is absolute shit and I'm only racing because I'm contracted'. There's no need. We all need to work as a team.

The team ethos only goes so far, however, and, only last year, Button again realised that politics had a large part to play. Despite having bounced back from being overshadowed by then team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella in 2001, and matching replacement Jarno Trulli stride-for-stride in 2002, the Briton was turfed out of the Renault set-up to make way for another of the team boss's prot?g?s.

"It hurt," he openly admits of the decision, "It shows how pathetic some people are in F1, and that speed and ability aren't the only things people want. A lot of people in F1, you think you trust, and the next day they turn around and say something about you, and it shocks you to start with. I was shocked at the politics in F1 [when I was at Williams], and when I moved to Renault, it got worse. I still don't trust a lot of people."

Among those in whom he is now placing his trust are BAR boss Richards and former Williams designer Geoff Willis, who have put together a Honda-powered package that has already got Button raring to go in 2003.

"I can't wait for it to start," he smiles, "[Although I guess] I'm supposed to say 'I'm not concentrating on the first race yet. I'm looking forward to next week to get some good testing done to make the car better for the first race'...."