When Jenson Button reflects on the 2007 Formula 1 season, he doesn't mince words. "It was a disaster," the 2009 world champion admits. After the high of his maiden victory at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, Honda's momentum evaporated almost overnight. The team that had tasted glory found itself struggling to even scrape a point, while its junior outfit, Super Aguri, outpaced them using Honda's own previous-year car. "That car had won a race, and we were driving something we couldn't even get into the points with," Button recalls.

But the turning point came when Ross Brawn walked through the door at the end of 2007. For Button, it was the moment everything changed. "You felt the mood shift," he says. "A team that had won a race suddenly was so bad in 2007, it needed that kick-start again."

Speaking on the F1 Beyond The Grid podcast, Button vividly describes the day Brawn's arrival was announced. The entire factory gathered in one room, unaware of what was coming. As Brawn strode down the middle aisle to the front, Button knew this was their saviour. "Just his presence was enough," he explains. "His leadership, his understanding of how a team needs to work together—he got rid of the blame culture and let people be free to come up with crazy ideas. Sometimes they don't work, but you've got to take risks, otherwise you're never going to get anywhere."

That risk-taking mentality laid the foundation for one of F1's greatest underdog stories. Just two years later, the team—now reborn as Brawn GP—would clinch both the drivers' and constructors' championships, with Button himself taking the title. It's a powerful reminder that the right leadership and culture can transform even the most difficult seasons into championship-winning campaigns.