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On January 24, 2000, the Williams Formula One team announced that they had signed a little known 20-year-old by the name of Jenson Button to drive for them.

Button had emerged as a shock contender to partner Ralf Schumacher at one of F1's most famous teams, despite having just two years of experience in cars after making the switch from karts.

The Frome racer had marked himself out as a strong future prospect after winning the prestigious British Formula Ford Championship and Formula Ford Festival in 1998, before finishing third in the British Formula 3 Championship and runner-up at the famous Macau Grand Prix the following year.

His performances had also earned him the 1998 McLaren BRDC Autosport award – given to the most promising young British driver each year – and a test drive in Mika Hakkinen's then-world championship winning car.

With his stock rising, Button had a further test for the Prost team, but no race drive was in the offing.

That was until Alex Zanardi parted company with the Williams team after a difficult 1999 season, leaving a vacancy at one of the most recognisable names on the grid.

The drive was expected to go to Brazilian Bruno Junquiera, but seeing Button's potential, Sir Frank Williams arranged a shootout between the two racers for a place on the grid.

Button rose to the challenge and edged out Junquiera by just 0.002 seconds in the test at Barcelona.

Even then, Williams took his time to confirm the youngster, waiting until just half an hour before the official announcement to tell Button that he would be giving him his Formula One debut.

The rest, as they say, is history…