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A Championship Year
From nowhere to the winner's the story of Jenson Button's astonishing domination of the F1 world championship.On 4 December 2008, just a few months before the new season was due to start, the Honda Racing F1 team, which Jenson Button had been driving for since 2006, pulled the plug on their involvement in Formula One. The media at the time reported that it was likely that the factory would be forced to shut, and it was unlikely that Jenson would be able to secure a drive at a top team at this late stage.Yet incredibly, in October 2009, Jenson Button was crowned World Champion, and the new team that had risen from the ashes of the Honda Racing F1 team - Brawn GP - secured the constructors' championship in their first season, a feat never before achieved. If this were a movie script you wouldn't believe it possible, so how did it happen?A CHAMPIONSHIP YEAR tells Jenson's incredible story of the 2009 season, from being written off pre-season to winning six of the first seven races, and finally securing the championship in brilliant style at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Jenson's personal commentary on the races is combined with notes on strategy, on-board radio exchanges, quotes from the team and even text messages to recreate the atmosphere of each race weekend. With a foreword by Ross Brawn, it is a fascinating account of an extraordinary grand prix year, and shows just what it takes to become world champion.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 19, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 5, 2017
It's interesting to get the perspective from Jenson, as well as the details on what drivers get up to when they're not racing, but you can tell he's a driver and not an author - it's a good thing he stuck to the driving!
December 12, 2017
What's fascinating about this book is that the team with which he won had no past nor future. It was Honda in 2008 and it became Mercedes in 2010. In between, what we all witnessed is a dream run by a man who had previously been associated with all of Michael Schumacher victories. This was Ross Brawn's venture all along and he had two solid drivers in Button and the emotional Rubens. If you love F1, you would enjoy it and Button is one such likable driver that you don't mind spending few hours on what is his greatest year of his F1 career.
January 10, 2019
re-read of a classic
January 26, 2010
I read this book in conjunction with the Official F1 Season Review DVD, both helping to fill the gap before the new season kicks off in March.
Presentation wise this book looks great and is filled with lots of fantastic pictures, with circuit diagrams and various stats throughout. As you would expect the narrative depicts the amazing turnaround Button experienced, from the depths of thinking he wouldn't have an F1 drive in 2009, to a thrilling climax to the season in which he was crowned World Champion.
Unfortunately much of the text is dry and uninteresting, and reveals little extra than gained from following the season during the year. Confusingly the writing switches from a diary like style, sounding like it it had been written during the race weekends, to a more reviewing style, as if written long after the event took place. Some of the descriptions of the events left a little to be desired too. For example the battle between Mark Webber and Jenson in the China Grand Prix was described as follows:
"Then another safety car came out and brought us all back together. Mark made a mistake and I was able to drive past him. Then I made a mistake, and he got back past me, and then he made a small mistake and I passed him, and then I made a mistake and he got past me again, so it was a good little fight we had."
Hardly worthy of a literacy prize, and did little to help imagine the situation unfolding.
My other main criticism was the repetition of events during a race weekend. Each race provides separate strategy and Brawn technical updates summaries (In the acknowledgements Andrew Shovlin - Jenson's Race Engineer & James Vowles - Brawn GP's Strategy Engineer are given credit for assisting with these) which often say pretty much the same things and are then repeated in the main text, often more than once.
Despite these criticisms there was some good stuff in this book, and some little insights from Jenson, such as his pre race weekend preparations and conversations with Brawn colleagues, family and friends, made this a worthwhile read. With the aforementioned excellent pictures it provides a nice memento from what was a remarkable season for Jenson.
Overall I'd only recommend for big Formula One and / or Jenson Button fans. If you're neither of those, and are perhaps just after an interesting sporting memoir, I'd give this one a miss.
Presentation wise this book looks great and is filled with lots of fantastic pictures, with circuit diagrams and various stats throughout. As you would expect the narrative depicts the amazing turnaround Button experienced, from the depths of thinking he wouldn't have an F1 drive in 2009, to a thrilling climax to the season in which he was crowned World Champion.
Unfortunately much of the text is dry and uninteresting, and reveals little extra than gained from following the season during the year. Confusingly the writing switches from a diary like style, sounding like it it had been written during the race weekends, to a more reviewing style, as if written long after the event took place. Some of the descriptions of the events left a little to be desired too. For example the battle between Mark Webber and Jenson in the China Grand Prix was described as follows:
"Then another safety car came out and brought us all back together. Mark made a mistake and I was able to drive past him. Then I made a mistake, and he got back past me, and then he made a small mistake and I passed him, and then I made a mistake and he got past me again, so it was a good little fight we had."
Hardly worthy of a literacy prize, and did little to help imagine the situation unfolding.
My other main criticism was the repetition of events during a race weekend. Each race provides separate strategy and Brawn technical updates summaries (In the acknowledgements Andrew Shovlin - Jenson's Race Engineer & James Vowles - Brawn GP's Strategy Engineer are given credit for assisting with these) which often say pretty much the same things and are then repeated in the main text, often more than once.
Despite these criticisms there was some good stuff in this book, and some little insights from Jenson, such as his pre race weekend preparations and conversations with Brawn colleagues, family and friends, made this a worthwhile read. With the aforementioned excellent pictures it provides a nice memento from what was a remarkable season for Jenson.
Overall I'd only recommend for big Formula One and / or Jenson Button fans. If you're neither of those, and are perhaps just after an interesting sporting memoir, I'd give this one a miss.
May 1, 2025
Not bad, just a bit boring. I went into this expecting a little more about the story of Brawn itself, considering it starts from the very beginning of him getting the offer to join the team. This was a play by play of every race weekend for the year Jenson Button won his WDC. He got to the hotel with his girlfriend, did something nice with his team, and went on to win the race or score some points. Rinse and repeat. It read a bit like a protagonist of an early YA novel. Honestly a bit juvenile and not much depth. Jenson is a charming guy to this day, and while I enjoy hearing from him during his semi regular stints at Sky, this made it seem like he had little to no idea what was going on with this team aside from knowing he just had to get in the car and drive every week. The story of Brawn is something better experienced from those who were actually behind the development of the team, aka Ross Brawn himself.
February 3, 2024
Like Jenson Button's previous book, I found myself really enjoying the read, though for different reasons. While it still definitely showcased Button's vibrant personality, it was definitely a more technical read than the previous book. There was a lot of technical information about the tracks, the car, and the races themselves - accompanied by charts and various graphics. I really liked it, especially the graphics. I also really enjoyed the diary-like format, it added an intimacy to the book I appreciated a lot.
I will say it's a little harder to get into and read, as it's more technical. I definitely couldn't read it tired.
Overall, it's a great read for fans of Button, and for anyone who enjoys the more practical aspects of racing.
I will say it's a little harder to get into and read, as it's more technical. I definitely couldn't read it tired.
Overall, it's a great read for fans of Button, and for anyone who enjoys the more practical aspects of racing.
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October 14, 2024i'm alive i was just busy with nothing! finished this one! took some notes to think about. overall... yeah, mr. Button has no filter and it shows!! also there was a couple of moments that are funny in hindsight!
July 8, 2015
Un campeón de F1 necesita un auto ganador y algo mas
Jenson Button expone su temporada de campeón abordo del Brawn-Mercedes. Un coche similar a la historia del Wolf de Scheckter o del Hesketh de Hunt, pero con la diferencia de que tanto él como el equipo salieron campeones del mundo. Muchos han señalado a Button como el peor campeón de la historia o que sólo fue campeón gracias a su auto. Para ellos este libro. Toda vez que el Brawn fue el auto mas veloz durante la primera parte de la temporada, era un auto sin Kers, con bajo presupuesto para desarrollarlo y con serias deficiencias aerodinámicas que afectaban la degradación de neumáticos. Red Bull, Ferrari y McLaren tenían todo para revertir la situación y no pudieron. Sólo Vettel y Rubinho Barrichello (teammate de Button), fueron amenazas para el inglés. El relato deja claro que Button tuvo el auto ganador y que cuando lo dejo de tener se esforzó en ganar la mayor cantidad de puntos posibles. Button explotó ese algo más que necesitan los campeones de F1 y el libro lo deja claro. Lectura obligada para fanáticos de F1.
Jenson Button expone su temporada de campeón abordo del Brawn-Mercedes. Un coche similar a la historia del Wolf de Scheckter o del Hesketh de Hunt, pero con la diferencia de que tanto él como el equipo salieron campeones del mundo. Muchos han señalado a Button como el peor campeón de la historia o que sólo fue campeón gracias a su auto. Para ellos este libro. Toda vez que el Brawn fue el auto mas veloz durante la primera parte de la temporada, era un auto sin Kers, con bajo presupuesto para desarrollarlo y con serias deficiencias aerodinámicas que afectaban la degradación de neumáticos. Red Bull, Ferrari y McLaren tenían todo para revertir la situación y no pudieron. Sólo Vettel y Rubinho Barrichello (teammate de Button), fueron amenazas para el inglés. El relato deja claro que Button tuvo el auto ganador y que cuando lo dejo de tener se esforzó en ganar la mayor cantidad de puntos posibles. Button explotó ese algo más que necesitan los campeones de F1 y el libro lo deja claro. Lectura obligada para fanáticos de F1.
February 8, 2012
A very easy, but slightly dull read. Very repetitive (did you know Brawn nearly didn't exist and everyone would've been out of work? Don't worry, Jenson will tell you multiple times). There was the odd interesting insight into the life of an F1 driver, but otherwise nothing I didn't know from having actually watched the 2009 F1 season! Some strange writing decisions, KERS is mentioned multiple times throughout but it isn't until the 14th race that it's explained to the uninitiated.
Overall feeling I got from this book - What I did on my summer holiday by Jenson Button (aged 29-ish). If I'd paid full price (£8.99) rather than picking this up in a charity shop (£1) I'd be pretty annoyed right now!
Overall feeling I got from this book - What I did on my summer holiday by Jenson Button (aged 29-ish). If I'd paid full price (£8.99) rather than picking this up in a charity shop (£1) I'd be pretty annoyed right now!
June 21, 2015
Lame. A basic description of Jenson's championship year, you'll learn nothing new if you saw it on TV.
April 1, 2016
This book is inspiring for me. Jenson button is a good guy, you will know him more while reading this book. I am now a fan.
October 7, 2022
My F1 era what an amazing year good to see another British driver.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews