Say what you will about Formula 1 drivers, Jenson Button’s crowning as World Champion last month in Brazil is undoubtedly one of the good news stories of the year. I would go as far as to say it’s not just a good story for fans of British sport, it’s a great story for society as a whole.During last winter Button received a phone call from his manager which effectively told him that he was out of a job, unemployed. His team, Honda, had pulled out of the sport, the global economic crisis rendering the running of an expensive Formula 1 team unviable. It probably additionally had an awful lot do with the fact that its cars had spent the last two years embarrassingly running at the back of the field.
From its ashes emerged the Brawn Grand Prix team, receiving last minute backing from a number of parties (including Honda themselves) headed by team manager and technical director Ross Brawn. Money was tight; one of the most poignant moments from Brazil was Brawn dedicating the success to the some 250 members of staff who had been made redundant following the downsizing of the workforce.
In my last blog I voiced my distaste for the avarice of the world’s bankers, keen to pay themselves vast amounts for achieving seemingly little. In regards to Button, it made me think back to an interview he did on BBC’s Top Gear. When speaking to Jeremy Clarkson he stated with some vehemence that he’d trade all of his millions for a World Championship in an instant, “100%”.
Yeah right, we all thought.
And yet, to some extent that is what he did. Button’s (admittedly very high) salary was slashed in order to get the new team onto the grid for the first race in Australia in March. In 2008 he was paid around £8million – a staggering amount yes, but on a par with other top sportsmen around the world. In 2009 it is believed he took a 70% pay cut, credited with being one of the biggest reductions in wages in sporting history. He could have left to join other teams but his loyalty meant he wanted to see things through.
And the rest, as goes the cliché, is history.
After dominating, completely and utterly, the first half of the season – winning six of the first seven races (a feat only matched by the all-time greats that were Alberto Ascari and Michael Schumacher), he eventually crawled over the line following an incredible drive from the near the back of the grid to finish fifth and take the title in Brazil.
There are those who discredit the sport as being boring and processional (often fairly) and unfair and unreflective of talent given the differing performances of the cars. ‘Button only won because he had the best car’. But the driver who accumulates the most points at the end of a season is always a worthy champion and in answer to the critics who allude to machine being the quantifier of success, why is it that the best drivers always end up driving the best cars? This is unquestionably no coincidence.
Though he may have been seen as a ‘playboy’ in his early twenties, Button was merely doing what any multimillionaire male icon would do in that position. It is to his credit that he matured as a person, most markedly in the years when given woeful equipment during which he did not lash out publically against his colleagues. He remained patient and was justly rewarded when he was finally given a race-winning car.
Are racing drivers overpaid? Perhaps, but they earn no more than t
he top football and baseball players and are far more personable and approachable than athletes in those sports. It is easy to forget too that they risk their lives on every occasion that they step into their vehicles, as we were starkly reminded by Felipe Massa’s terrifying accident in Hungary from which he was lucky to survive. Equally they are the fittest of nearly all sportsmen – you or I could only survive a few laps of the immense forces the drivers are subjected to (a fighter pilot experiences g-forces of up to 5g for 90 seconds at a time – a Formula 1 driver does likewise for up to 2 hours at a time).
He may not win Sports Personality of the Year. In all probability he won’t win another world title. But the next time we roll our eyeballs at the spoilt and greedy behaviour of a footballer, banker or even politician, we could do worse than to think of the example of Jenson Button.
From its ashes emerged the Brawn Grand Prix team, receiving last minute backing from a number of parties (including Honda themselves) headed by team manager and technical director Ross Brawn. Money was tight; one of the most poignant moments from Brazil was Brawn dedicating the success to the some 250 members of staff who had been made redundant following the downsizing of the workforce.
In my last blog I voiced my distaste for the avarice of the world’s bankers, keen to pay themselves vast amounts for achieving seemingly little. In regards to Button, it made me think back to an interview he did on BBC’s Top Gear. When speaking to Jeremy Clarkson he stated with some vehemence that he’d trade all of his millions for a World Championship in an instant, “100%”.
Yeah right, we all thought.
And yet, to some extent that is what he did. Button’s (admittedly very high) salary was slashed in order to get the new team onto the grid for the first race in Australia in March. In 2008 he was paid around £8million – a staggering amount yes, but on a par with other top sportsmen around the world. In 2009 it is believed he took a 70% pay cut, credited with being one of the biggest reductions in wages in sporting history. He could have left to join other teams but his loyalty meant he wanted to see things through.
And the rest, as goes the cliché, is history.
After dominating, completely and utterly, the first half of the season – winning six of the first seven races (a feat only matched by the all-time greats that were Alberto Ascari and Michael Schumacher), he eventually crawled over the line following an incredible drive from the near the back of the grid to finish fifth and take the title in Brazil.
There are those who discredit the sport as being boring and processional (often fairly) and unfair and unreflective of talent given the differing performances of the cars. ‘Button only won because he had the best car’. But the driver who accumulates the most points at the end of a season is always a worthy champion and in answer to the critics who allude to machine being the quantifier of success, why is it that the best drivers always end up driving the best cars? This is unquestionably no coincidence.
Though he may have been seen as a ‘playboy’ in his early twenties, Button was merely doing what any multimillionaire male icon would do in that position. It is to his credit that he matured as a person, most markedly in the years when given woeful equipment during which he did not lash out publically against his colleagues. He remained patient and was justly rewarded when he was finally given a race-winning car.
Are racing drivers overpaid? Perhaps, but they earn no more than t
he top football and baseball players and are far more personable and approachable than athletes in those sports. It is easy to forget too that they risk their lives on every occasion that they step into their vehicles, as we were starkly reminded by Felipe Massa’s terrifying accident in Hungary from which he was lucky to survive. Equally they are the fittest of nearly all sportsmen – you or I could only survive a few laps of the immense forces the drivers are subjected to (a fighter pilot experiences g-forces of up to 5g for 90 seconds at a time – a Formula 1 driver does likewise for up to 2 hours at a time).He may not win Sports Personality of the Year. In all probability he won’t win another world title. But the next time we roll our eyeballs at the spoilt and greedy behaviour of a footballer, banker or even politician, we could do worse than to think of the example of Jenson Button.
Like you... the internet ate my comment so here is the gist.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy seeing sports personalities humble as opposed to flaunting themselves in the public eye. Giggs, Button, Calzaghe to name but three who remind us that they do it for the love of the sport and not so much for the attention as many crave.
Looks like he's joining McClaren for more money....ooops!!!!
ReplyDelete