Jenson Button has an 'F1 red pass' for life that money can't buy, but what is it?

Button in high-neck dark top and beige blazer in the F1 paddock holding a Sky Sports microphone — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Jenson Button has an 'F1 red pass' for life that money can't buy, but what is it?

It's an incredibly rare thing to own

Chris Deeley

Wednesday 18 February 2026 09:55

Tall, handsome, phenomenally rich, and an F1 world champion. You could argue Jenson Button already has too much going for him.

Apparently the universe doesn't agree, because the 2009 drivers' champion has revealed the details of his 'red pass' for F1 events, and it's...well, let's just say we'd like one.

Think of it like the legendary Nando's Black Card, but for F1 instead of chicken. And unlike the Black Card, the red pass gets Button things that money can't really buy (that doesn't make this a bad comparison, you shut up. Most Black Card holders get to go to the secret kitchen in London, so maybe this actually does work as a comp? We're getting off track).

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Turns out that thanks to Button's red pass, he has full access at any F1 race, anywhere in the world. On the grid? No problem. Pit lane? Come on in Mr Button, you're always welcome here.

How do you get an F1 red pass?

Bad news for any of us mortals hoping to get the motorsport equivalent of Wonka's golden ticket – there's only one way to get a red pass for life, and it's to win an F1 world championship.

Button explained on Sky Sports: "I've got a red pass for life, which is awesome. A red pass is basically all access, you can go on the grid, pit lane, media areas. You have to have won a world championship to have that for life, which is kind of cool."

That's not the only thing that we recently discovered that we have absolutely no chance of owning, either. You ever see someone wearing a baseball cap that just has the straight-up Red Bull logo on it? No 'Red Bull Racing', no fuss, just straight-up Red Bull?

Well, Red Bull athlete and NASCAR star Connor Zilisch explained recently: “Any hat you see with the Red Bull logo on it is only for athletes; like, you can't buy a Red Bull hat with just the Red Bull logo. You can buy hats with the Trackhouse logo or the Red Bull Racing logo.

"If you are an athlete and you give a hat to somebody, and you get caught, like, you can get fired. Whenever you are at an event or if you're out and about and you see someone with a hat.

"Unless they've bought a knockoff one off eBay or something, most of the time, they're a professional athlete, and you can relate to and approach them. And they're going to know that we're in a club of only a couple hundred athletes."

Our DMs are open for any former Red Bull athletes with a spare in the cupboard.

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