2002 brings many changes for Jenson Button: new manager, new teammate, new car. It's all a bit much to take on board. Just how well will the British charger fair come March 3rd? The time is right for Jenson to start pushing all the right buttons and set the controls for success in 2002. The fallout, should he do otherwise, might just be the undoing of the young Briton. Graham Holliday reviews what's at stake for Button in the new season

If you could choose one word to sum up Jenson Button's pre-season testing and training and his prospects for the coming season it would be 'pressured'. From whichever angle you look at it, Jenson Button's career is centre stage with a very bright spotlight searing down from every conceivable angle.

Firstly there's the management, Renault president Patrick Faure and team boss Flavio Briatore will want to see a consistently quick qualifying pace from the Brit and results in the form of points if the newly badged Renault team are to see the season through with Button at the helm. The 2001 season saw a lacklustre Button outqualified by his experienced teammate Giancarlo Fisichella in all but four races, and he can't afford to see those sort of statistics repeated in 2002, which brings us to pressure point number two: Jarno Trulli.

Trulli is Briatore's Renault protege and long-term hope for the future of the French marque and he has proved to be exceptionally quick in qualifying. Button will have to pull out all the stops if he is to match his Italian teammate on Saturday afternoons and overturn last years' disappointing results.

If Button can't stick the Renault R202 into the top ten every other Saturday afternoon, there is someone waiting in the wings who might be able to. Eager test driver Fernando Alonso put a 2001 Minardi in places it really didn't belong to last year and Button can be sure that the Spaniard will be snapping at his heels for the first sniff of a drive should Button place the Renault on the wrong half of the grid more often than Briatore deems acceptable. Button will have to keep one eye on his back and the other on the racetrack if he is to remain in his seat for the entirety of the 2002 season.

If everything does go pear shaped Button could always find a home back with the BMW-Williams team where he spent an impressive rookie year in 2000. Or could he? It probably won't be as easy as he might have thought when he first left the team to join Benetton on a two-year loan deal at the end of the 2000 season. Since then, Ralf Schumacher has firmly established himself in the team by signing on with a hefty salary for the next three years. Teammate Juan Pablo Montoya didn't do his own future prospects with the Grove-based team any harm at all in 2001 with an impressive debut season.

And with many touting the Colombian as the only real challenger to Michael Schumacher for the World Drivers' Championship title, Frank Williams is hardly likely to replace Montoya for a less than stellar Button. As the team chief said of deciding on the 2003 driver line-up at last week's launch of the 2002 BMW-powered challenger, "We are in a very good position regarding our drivers. There is no need to rush into any decision. This will all be sorted out during the course of the season." This was hardly the vote of confidence Jenson Button might have been hoping for, but after his less than satisfactory performances in 2001 he couldn't realistically expect Frank to come calling with the checkbook.

Williams recently added another piece to this intriguing jigsaw by signing up 21-year-old Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia as test driver. His pace in testing has impressed all at Williams and should Button return to the team in their present state, Frank Williams might find it hard to justify asking the young Brazilian to step aside and allow Button back in if his form doesn't improve with Renault. Jacques Villeneuve could add a further twist to the story by ousting Button from the team in a switch from the disappointing Honda-powered BAR team. Mentor and manager Craig Pollock's recent departure from the BAR team means Villeneuve won't feel like he owes the Brackley-based outfit any favours if they don't deliver a competitive package for him in the coming season.

Then there's the influx of other rookies and relatively inexperienced Formula One drivers for whom Button is so often seen as a precursor. Sato, Raikkonen, Bernoldi and Massa - all young, all with a decent set of wheels to drive and all eager to impress. Who's to say any, or all of these, won't blaze a trail outstripping any memories fans and critics alike have of Button's idyllic 2000 season? A time when Button seemed to have the world at his feet.

Finally there's the pressure from himself as he said towards the tail end of the 2001 season, "I am very focused on F1, and I am hopefully on route to meet my goal, which is to be World Champion and to win races. That is what I want." Reaching such heady heights won't happen in 2002, but as he went on to acknowledge, with that all-important positive attitude he could yet achieve his goal, "If you get down, it doesn't help at all. So much in F1 is if you have the right mental attitude. It's huge. More than I ever thought - it's very, very important to be positive."

If pre-season testing is anything to go by, some of that 'attitude' might already be helping his cause. It looks like the young man from Frome in Somerset has already shown signs of resolving to silence his critics and bring out the best in the new garishly liveried Renault car. Button has been consistently quicker than both Jarno Trulli and test driver Mark Webber in recent outings at the Circuit de Catalunya just outside Barcelona. If he can carry this form through to Melbourne in March then his fans could see the turn around in form they've been waiting for.

But, just what is at stake for Button in 2002?

To put it bluntly, his entire future in Formula One racing hangs in the balance. Anything less than out and out dominance in pace at Renault will see him saying 'au revoir' to the French team at or before Suzuka. While the BMW-Williams team still hold his contract, they may be unwilling to use his talents with all their seats taken up. Without a drive it could be goodbye to the yacht, the Monaco apartment, the flashy cars, and a pop star lifestyle. Quite simply, Jenson Button can't afford to fail in Formula One.

A blindingly good season at Renault in 2002 will bring about the possibility of him staying at the French team for another year or two, although Briatore is already itching to get his man Fernando Alonso in the car come the start of 2003. A more likely scenario is a return to BMW-Williams to replace Montoya. Ralf Schumacher has already signed for a rumoured budget busting $12 million a year and with Montoya's price tag set to soar it seems unlikely that Frank will be willing, or able, to shell out an equal amount to keep the Colombian at the team. A rumoured move to Ferrari would make way for the return of Button to the Grove-based outfit.

If Frank Williams has ever had a soft spot for any of his drivers it's Jenson Button. The rarely seen romantic side of Frank still likes to see British drivers in his (partly British) cars. Messrs Williams, Head and Berger took an immediate and lasting liking to Button and they, the Williams collective, said all along that 'the Benetton years' would be 'character building'. Should Montoya move to pastures new, Button might be relieved to be pressed back into service at Grove.

No doubt about it, Jenson is a talented and exciting driver. With the pressure pushing down firmly on Button, he will be hoping that his season shines more attractively than his new Renault's colour scheme. Otherwise he could be pushed firmly out the front door by Briatore's unforgiving boot.