Cotswold Airport directors and staff have paid tribute to newly-crowned Formula One World Champion Jenson Button, just weeks after he and his team-mates tested at the facility.
The airport is one of only five FIA approved testing facilities in the country and Jenson’s team, Brawn GP have used the runway on several occasions this season to review the capabilities of their Mercedes-powered car.
Jenson himself put the machine through its paces at Cotswold Airport ahead of the German Grand Prix in July.
Airport director Suzannah Harvey said she hoped the sessions had helped play a part in the racer and his team achieving both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles in Brazil yesterday.
She said: “Everyone at Cotswold Airport is delighted for Jenson and Brawn GP and we would like to offer them our heartfelt congratulations.
“It was great to see Brawn and Jenson here this season and we hope that our facilities have, in some way, helped them achieve the success they rightfully deserve.
“There’s always a real buzz about the place when the F1 teams are here testing and when we met Jenson here back in July, we all hoped that he would go on to win the title.
“It’s great to have a British driver win the title for the second year in a row and we would really look forward to seeing the team here again next season."
Jenson (pictured with Airport Director Suzannah Harvey, below, and in front of the tower, above) had powered into a massive lead in the championship after blistering early season form but, ahead of Sunday’s race in Brazil, which was the penultimate race, team-mate Rubens Barrichello and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettell were still in the running for the drivers’ title.
After qualifying in 14th place, with Barrichello in Pole Position, the West Country driver had it all to do, but a fantastic driving display saw Jenson finish fifth – one place behind Vettell and three ahead of Barrichello, which was good enough for him to lift the crown.
During testing at Cotswold Airport, formerly Kemble Airport, earlier this season, Brawn team manager Andrew Alsworth said: “We like coming to Kemble. It’s local to us and has a good surface to run the cars on and get some good data.
“It’s good to run the car and get it on the straight and the staff at Kemble are hospitable and flexible on dates.”
Kemble and its 2,000m runway have been approved for FIA straight line testing by Formula One teams for more than 10 years.
It is one of only five FIA approved testing facilities in the UK and, with the full co-operation of the F1 teams, Kemble has put in place voluntary restrictions on the amount of testing to ensure cohesion with the local authorities and the surrounding community.
Other teams to use the airport for testing include Williams, McLaren, and Force India.
The airport is also a popular television and film location, with Top Gear, Casualty and Fifth Gear among the shows filming on-site.