Frome's Jenson Button suffered a rare trophy setback at the weekend when he had to settle for second spot in the 2009 BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards.

The Formula 1 world champion had been hot favourite to take the famous prize but lost out in the public vote to Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs.

"As any sportsman would say, they'd be disappointed to be second," admitted Button, who claimed 20 per cent of the vote compared to 33 for Giggs.

"I came here to – hopefully – win. I didn't, but the person that beat me I respect very much, so well done to him."

Regardless of the result, it was still a massive turnaround compared to Button's visit to the awards 12 months earlier where it looked like he might be without a drive for 2009 following the demise of Honda.

"We have been through so much over the last season," said Button, who paid tribute to the Brawn GP team which rose from the ashes of Honda and turned him into a world champion.

"Every single person at Brawn worked gave 100 per cent to get that car on the grid for the first race in Melbourne. Even that was an achievement for us – actually being there. Coming away with the championship was extraordinary and a very special moment.

"I've been racing in F1 for 10 years now and suddenly I thought my career was going to be over. I had no other options. So we all pulled together and pushed as hard as we could to stay racing in 2009. Little did we know what we could achieve.

"Finishing as world champion has been my dream for many, many years. Twenty-one years ago I started racing in a go-kart around a pub car park, and I'm stood here as the world champion, so it's a fantastic and very special feeling."