Jenson Button confronted Virgin boss Richard Branson after 'blatant flirting'

Jenson Button his girlfriend Jessica Michibata arrive at the Canadian GP in 2014. Photo / Getty Images

F1 ace Jenson Button has revealed he had to confront a "very very drunk" Sir Richard Branson during a meal in a high-end restaurant after the Virgin boss flirted with his then-girlfriend.

He claims that an intoxicated Sir Richard put his hands on model Jessica Michibata's face, making her "uncomfortable" and forcing the F1 champion to tell him to back off.

The incident would have taken place during the Australian Grand Prix in 2009 at the famous Japanese restaurant Nobu.

Sir Richard Branson outside the Soul Bar in Auckland in 2011. Photo / File

In his autobiography Life to the Limit, Button, 37, writes that a "very, very drunk" Richard Branson came over to their table and sat down uninvited.

He alleges that the Virgin CEO then started flirting with his then-girlfriend, Japanese model Jessica Michibata, by accusing her of staring at him.

"Although Jessica was a model she was quite shy, so this was making her feel uncomfortable," an extract published in The Telegraph relays.

"Especially when Sir Richard followed up his blatant flirting by putting his hand on her face."

Button writes that he was in the bathroom when this took place, and said he returned to find Sir Richard with his hands on Michibata's face.

"'Hold on', I said, 'that's enough. That's well out of order'. But he was so hammered that he simply didn't understand what the problem was."

Button adds that Sir Richard later apologised to the then-couple, and that he "gave up drinking for months afterwards".

Sir Richard addresses the incident himself in his own autobiography Finding My Virginity, admitting that the incident led to him giving up alcohol for six months.

He writes: "Jenson and his girlfriend were sitting at the next table, enjoying a far quieter evening as he had to race the next morning.

"By contrast, through a mixture of tiredness, jetlag and drink, I soon found myself very, very inebriated. This wasn't like me; I can't remember ever getting that drunk before or since."

He admits to walking over to the couple's table and telling Michabata "how gorgeous she was".

"Jenson understandably took offence and I decided to retreat quickly from the table (thankfully, we smoothed it out)."

Button is now dating Brittny Ward. Photo / Getty Images

Button and Michibata, 32, first met in 2008 in a hotel bar in Tokyo and began dating eight months later.

They split for a short time in 2011 before the McLaren reserve driver proposed on Valentine's Day 2014, with a ring worth £250,000.

They tied the knot in a lavish Hawaiian ceremony in December 2014 called time on their relationship just one year later but say they remain on good terms.

Button his now dating former playboy model Brittny Ward, 25, and Michibata is due to give birth to her first child next month.