Book Review: Jenson Button – Life to the Limit My Autobiography

I’m always a sucker for driver autobiographies – although published in 2017, I’ve only recently managed to read Jenson Button’s “Life to the Limit”. Despite not being a hardcore Jenson Button fan, this book is a pretty good read. It’s still recent enough for F1 fans to relate to many of his stories around the back-end of his F1 career at McLaren but also offers a lot of information about his experiences as a Brawn, Honda, Renault and Williams driver.

At 344 pages, the book is split into 3 parts – Part One is Jenson’s early childhood years from karting, Formula Ford, F3 and his test shoot with WilliamsF1. This early section dives into Jenson’s  family growing up in Somerset and the major guiding influence of his father, John Button. Part Two is a quick recount of his rookie year at Williams, exiting to Renault for 2 seasons, the Honda years (1st GP win at Hungary 2006), Honda withdrawal at the end of 2009 and redemption with his 2009 world championship. Part Three traces his surprise move to partner Lewis Hamilton at McLaren in 2010 and his succession of teammates since including Perez, Magnussen and Fernando.

A genuine driver autobiography isn’t the real deal without providing some personal jibes and acrimony. Jenson offers some honest & interesting views of his interactions with former teammates Ralph Schumacher, Jacques Villeneuve, Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez and team management Frank Williams, Patrick Head, Fabio Briatore and Nick Fry. Fernando doesn’t get too much of mention though.

Much of the book is spent on Jenson acknowledging his family support and his memories of the large part his father played (like many F1 drivers) in supporting and developing his career. I thought the back chapter where Jenson delves into his retirement thinking seems quite honest. He obviously lost a lot of interest in F1 following the passing of his dad, and it’s kind of reflected in his last few F1 seasons in the book only being glossed over in a few paragraphs.

Photography is limited to 3 sections of colour photos which synchronise with the book’s 3 parts. Aside from the family snaps, these are largely Sutton and Getty pictures also seen in motorsports magazines.

How does it compare with Jenson’s previous “My Championship Year” book on his 2009 championship season with Brawn GP? “Life to the Limit” is a much more in the style of a traditional drive driver biography. The excellent “My Championship Year” is much like a magazine diary layout with a lot of detailed content. There is some common overlap in the books which both cover the Honda pullout, Mercedes engine swap and various 2009 key race highlights like the season opener in Australia, Monaco and Brazil. If you are a Jenson fan, both books are complementary and essential reading.

Hardcore F1 fans may find the pacing of “Life to the Limit” a little to quick with race notes or even seasons quickly glossed over. This is one reason why I rate his earlier book “My Championship Year” so highly. Jenson does occasionally try to inject some of the technical aspects of down force, double diffuser and blown exhausts and his own views and driver preferences.

This is a light and easy to read book – more emotional and conversational than technical or statistical.

Wow Factor/Money shot: Jenson’s views of his teammates and Richard Branson.

Suitable for: Millennial F1 fans