Vodafone pairs two champions for Albert Park showdown

Two champions, and two world-class racing cars on the same racetrack – it was a tantalising way to kick off preparations for the 2010 Australian Grand Prix. Reigning F1 world champion Jenson Button joined Team Vodafone’s reigning Australian V8 Supercars champion Jamie Whincup as the pair swapped respective machinery.

The switch put Jenson behind the wheel of Jamie’s TeamVodafone Holden Commodore and let Jamie loose in a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 car.

For Jenson Button, returning to the Albert Park circuit, scene of the first of his six wins in 2009 and the foundation upon which he built his successful championship assault, was a poignant moment.

“Albert Park is a great place to experience a Formula 1 car,” he said. “It’s not a big open track, it’s a street circuit and it’s very bumpy. It’s going to be a hell of an experience but I’m sure Jamie was fine.

After sampling the championship-leading Holden Commodore, a thrilled Jenson said: “That was great! It was difficult to get used to: I was surprised by how much grip it had. I was carrying a lot of speed, but turned into a right-hander, got a lot of under-steer and ran off the Tarmac onto the painted run-off. But it was all good. In a Formula 1 car I’d have been closing my eyes at that point!”

Jamie could barely contain his excitement as he donned his crash helmet and eased himself into the cockpit of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-23 – the same chassis Lewis Hamilton had taken to a memorable victory at Silverstone during the 2008 season.

Afterwards, Jamie Whincup said: “Jumping into a Formula 1 car is almost like going into space, or flying a fighter jet. It’s right up there with the best thing I could ever do.

“The car just does everything you’d want it to. The strain on my neck was amazing. The g-forces you feel are so much greater than I’d feel aboard my own race car. The F1 car is just a rocket ship. It’s another league.”

Jenson added: “Jamie did a great job. He’s a racing driver, so he knows how to control a car. It was pretty dusty out there, so probably not the best time to be jumping behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car for the first time. But I could tell he had a lot of fun.”