"I don't trust many people at all. But the problem is that in Formula One you are forced to place your trust in someone. How can I really know what a team will do? You can only go by what people say. But David does what he says. That was what grabbed me.
"When we spoke about me joining the team, he talked things down, not up. I really liked that. He's very realistic. So when he says I will be world champion with BAR in the next four years, I believe him."
Richards, who until late last year was the power in world rallying, where he guided Colin McRae and then Richard Burns to the world title, has no memories of Button racing his son, who is two years Button's junior and now at university.
Richards simply can't remember seeing them race against each other. But he knows he first met Button as a boy of 12, and promises the driver's trust in him is justified.
"There is not enough trust in F1," he said.
"I deal in realities. It's hard for a young driver to produce his best when he is not being given time. People said to me so many times with Colin McRae, get rid of him, he's making too many mistakes. But I didn't, and I was right. Time and trust can deliver the same for Jenson."
Intriguingly Richards used Button's unveiling as a platform to deliver another warningto Jacques Villeneuve, who was not present. Most expect Button to drive alongside the 1997 world champion, replacing Olivier Panis who is now wanted by Sauber.
But Richards, who has criticised the Canadian's £10m salary, has called Villeneuve's bluff by insisting he commit to the team until 2005.
"I need a two or three-year commitment from Jacques to really work with us and bond together as a team," he declared.
"I want people who share the same goal and ambition as me - long-term people who will take the rough with the smooth."
