After winning the 2009 drivers’ title with a truly ‘zero-to-hero’ season with Brawn GP, Jenson Button set himself a new challenge by joining Lewis Hamilton at McLaren for 2010.

Up against the driver many consider the fastest in modern Formula 1, in a team fashioned around the sport’s new wunderkind, the ever-calm Button could have struggled. But the fact that he stayed in touch with (and often beat) Hamilton perhaps highlights his skill and class even more than his surprise championship win.

After being labelled a Formula 1 playboy in his early years at Williams and Renault, Jenson settled in at Honda and after the departure of Jacques Villeneuve, the team was built around him. He repaid their commitment to him with the team’s maiden F1 victory in Hungary in 2006.

When Ross Brawn rescued the Japanese outfit from the prospect of closure at the end of 2008, Jenson’s career was also rescued from the brink. He repaid Ross Brawn’s faith with a stunning run to the 2009 title in a Brawn GP car that seemed perfectly suited to his smooth, no-nonsene style.

In the past, Button has rarely had the car to showcase his undoubted skill. Now he’s found his feet at McLaren. Having made sure his tall frame fits perfectly into the 2012 car, he powered to victory in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, and he is surely someone to look out for in the 2012 title race.