The first time I clap eyes on Jenson Button's girlfriend Jessica Michibata, she is lying across a dressing table in a skimpy slip, miles of caramel-coloured leg extended in one direction and oceans of tawny mane in the other.

Hi,' she says vaguely, not in the least embarrassed, pouting lusciously for the camera.

As one of Japan's best-loved models, this sort of pose is Jessica's daily bread and butter. She has modelled for Reebok, Uniqlo, Evian and Seiko, and was the spokesmodel for undies brand Peach John (Japan's equivalent of Victoria's Secret).

So she's perfectly comfortable holding court in her lingerie. It's only when she's sitting before me, fully clothed in plaid shirt and Guess jeans, that she seems suddenly nervous.

When I meet people for the first time, I'm very shy,' she confesses. Clearly, she's more used to letting her physique do the talking.

With her large brown eyes, slender frame and gentle manner, she reminds me rather of Bambi. It's not hard to imagine what Jenson saw in her when they first met three years ago in a Tokyo restaurant. Obviously I knew who he was,' she says.

He's very popular in Japan because he used to drive for Honda. But I wasn't really into Formula 1. We met because we had mutual friends.'

Now the rumour is that they intend to get married in the brief window before Jenson has to get into McLaren's driving seat in March, although when I meet Jessica, just before Christmas, she denies any engagement.

Every single week in Japan there's some newspaper story saying we're getting married,' she expostulates. Still, there's no denying that the couple are very cosy. They spent Christmas together. He's a very difficult man to buy presents for,' she laughs (eventually she bought him a silver Tiffany dog tag, but refuses to reveal what she had engraved on it).

Then they were spotted shopping at Agent Provocateur together on the first day of the sales, before jetting off to Hawaii for New Year.

Jessica, who has just turned 25, still lives with her mother in a shared apartment in the centre of Tokyo that she bought recently.

She is the middle of three sisters; her siblings Karen and Angelica, who are also models, live close by. I've never lived by myself,' she muses in her soft Japanese accent. I've never wanted to. Maybe because it's so easy living with my mother, because she does all the cooking…'

But she and Jenson fly to each other's side on a fortnightly basis, and speak several times a day. Do they ever fight? Not really,' she says. I think I'm very Zen…'

They have, she says, changed each other. Jenson enjoys karaoke and Japanese food, while these days, of necessity, she is a loyal Formula 1 fan.

It's so much fun,' she squeaks. Now I know why people go crazy. You have to know the rules, otherwise you don't know what's going on.' She watched her boyfriend race 11 times last year, but missed the Brazilian Grand Prix which made him world champion.

I had to get up at 6am that morning for a job. The race started at 2am, Japanese time, and after he won, I was so excited, I couldn't go back to sleep,' she says sweetly.

She's unfazed by her new reputation as Jenson's good-luck charm. People have been saying it for a while, but I'm not sure about that,' she says.

I do believe in spiritual things, and special powers, though.' Isn't she ever afraid for his safety? No, not at all, I'm very excited. I never really worry about him getting into an accident. If it happens, it happens,' she says vaguely, but I know the cars are quite safe.'

She's similarly blasé about the potential threat posed by the hordes of scantily clad pit-stop princesses lurking on the fringes of Formula 1. I never get jealous when women come up to Jenson and try to chat with him,' she says.

I know lots of women fancy him because he's a Formula 1 driver and the world champion, not because they love his personality. It's a fan thing, and I completely understand that, because I get the same thing happening with male fans. I have fans that love me crazily. One of them said he would have a tattoo of my face done on his body. He's a very true fan if that makes him happy.' (Pretty as her face is, I cannot but agree.) Jenson understands that, too.'

Well, perhaps not always. There were, for instance, lurid reports last spring of a huge bust-up in the Melbourne branch of Nobu between Jenson and his Brawn team sponsor Richard Branson, after Jenson took exception to the Virgin boss flirting with Jessica.

It's not true. No, no. People always want to make up stories,' she says. Whatever, it has clearly been a very wise move on the part of
Jenson to hook up with someone who is as accustomed to being in the spotlight as he is.

Like Jenson, Jessica started her career very early, taking her first steps on to the catwalk at the age of 13.

She owes her exotic appearance to an interesting mix of bloodlines: her mother Tomiko, who works for a food company, is Japanese (and was in her time an aspiring model); her father Annibal, a retired businessman, was born in Argentina and is half Spanish, half Italian. They separated many years ago and Jessica doesn't see her father, which is why she uses her mother's surname.

Jessica was brought up in the countryside of Fukui province, near Kyoto.

If you grow up in the country in Japan and you are mixed race, it's very tough,' she says.

I didn't have many friends at school because I was different. At elementary school, all the other children would say, “You're American!” because for little kids, all foreigners are American. There's always someone who's left out,' she goes on philosophically.

It wasn't that bad for me. One of my friends, who's half American, used to have stones thrown at her by the other kids.'

As Jessica grew into her looks, the teasing became more admiring, but she still found it a trial. I just wanted to be like all my friends. I didn't want to be special, or for people to think I was different. I asked my teacher once why I was getting all this weird attention. I said, “I've got two eyes, one nose and two lips, how come I look different?”

She said it was because I was a mix, but then I was with a Japanese friend, and the teacher said to her, “Foreign people get older quicker, she won't be looking like this in ten years' time.” She said that to my friend, in front of me!'

Her elder sister Karen was by then an Elite model, and the agency approached Jessica and asked her if she'd like to model as well.

And my mum kind of forced me to do it,' she says. And my sister Angelica. Karen has always wanted to be a model, that was her dream, and I was very happy for her that she made it. But I didn't want to be a model. I didn't really enjoy it – I was only a kid. I was enjoying my school. I loved studying and I just wanted to spend time with friends like everyone else.'

Her own ambition, unexpectedly, was to be a coroner. I was so into biology,' she explains, seeing my rather astonished expression.

I wanted to be a doctor but there's so much responsibility – you can't let a patient die – whereas if you're a coroner, the patient's already dead. And it really attracts me somehow to find out why somebody died.'

Unfortunately for these Patricia Cornwell ambitions, her looks proved too extraordinary for the advertisers to ignore. The moment she started modelling, she was inundated with work.

If I hadn't been so busy, I probably would have given up,' she admits. I was so little – I was always the shortest one – but I was different, and that was what they wanted.'

By the time she was 14, her career had taken off to such an extent that her mother decided to move the family to Tokyo so she could be nearer her work. I've been modelling more than half my life now,' she goes on rather wistfully.

I've never done any other job, but I'd like to try.'

Not that she's complaining these days, since it was through her job that she won the affections of her handsome world champ. (And I'm not entirely sure Jenson would relish going out with a coroner, especially given the risks of his profession.) Now, on top of her modelling, she's doing a bit of designing for a Japanese fashion company, Samantha Thavasa, which has in the past recruited the services of Victoria Beckham, the Hiltons, Beyoncé and J-Lo.

I've mainly been doing bags and jewellery for them,' she says, and I have done some designing for Seiko.' Her modelling experience helps; she's spotted flaws in the chicest designer creations.

I have so many ideas, and creating and designing really excites me.' She's also working on some charity T-shirts in aid of the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR. And now that she's spending more time with Jenson, her plan is to give her modelling career a boost over here.

I do think about being based in London,' she says. I don't have an agent over here yet but I would love more work.'

Judging by the grace with which she has been writhing on that dressing table, it won't be long before the phone starts ringing.

Meanwhile, perhaps Jenson should be giving her a few driving lessons? She got her licence a year ago but hasn't been behind the wheel since, she
confesses.

I don't have a car and when I'm in Japan, people drive me or I get a cab, so I never really get a chance. But I don't want to drive Jenson,' she goes on, looking seriously alarmed. Maybe in a few years, when I've had some more lessons, but now it's too dangerous.'

I'm sure Button can cope.