Jenson gets needle

JENSON BUTTON has revealed his latest weapon in battle against the rest of the F1 grid – a shield tattoo.

The Brit has had the image of a tortoise shell etched into his upper arm and shoulder, which is a symbol of protection.
Plus it also contains references of FOUR different Tiki gods, believed to be the gods of war, fertility and peace, light and life and the ancient god of the sea.
The image is the latest addition to his growing gallery of body art, just like his former McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton, who also loves getting the needle.
Button said: “I have a new tattoo on my arm. It’s a Polynesian tattoo. I had it done in Hawaii.
“The shape of it is a turtle shell, which is the sign of a shield and it also has four gods on it as well.
“I had it done by a guy who does traditional tattoos. He was trained in the Polynesian way, which is all about black tattoos. There is no shading like the new-style tattoos.
“It is very difficult to get an appointment with him but we eventually did and he did it freehand which is pretty cool.
“He told me his life story while he was doing it. I would go back to him again if I wanted to get another one.
“I have a dragon on my back and I have some Japanese symbols. They are for my love of Japan and the dragon is because it is courageous, strong, for wisdom and protection.
“It’s funny tattoos are more acceptable these days. I like girls with tattoos if they are the right tattoos in the right place but I am not a big fan of colours in tattoos.
“People say to me, what’s it going to look like when I am 70 or 80, but I think it will look pretty cool and not going to look bad.
“I would not have one on my chest, for example because that is going to stretch right out!”
Button is hoping his fresh ink will form some sort of inspiration at this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, but admits he will be at the mercy of boiling temperatures and changing winds.
He added: “It’s a place where the grip levels can be quite hard to anticipate, and where the wind direction can play quite an important part in determining the car’s balance.
“The wind can affect top speed and cornering performance, so practice will be more important than ever in enabling us to take the best overall package into qualifying and the race.”
Meanwhile, Hamilton says he cannot wait to jump into his Mercedes again after guiding it to third place in China last weekend.
He said: “The weekend in China was really positive for both me and the team.
“With each race, I am becoming more settled in the team and more comfortable in my car, and we were very happy with the pole and podium finish.
“There are some areas where we need to improve to close that gap to the fastest cars and we’re working hard to identify and develop those.
“There’s a limit to what we can do before Bahrain but I’ll be talking to my engineers before we arrive at the circuit and seeing where we can improve in the short term.”