Ten sportsmen and women from the UK and from nine very different sports make up the shortlist for the BBC Sports Personality of the year 2009.  One of these people is current world drivers' champion, Jenson Button.

The 2009 season is a season that Jenson will never forget. Just weeks before the season started in March, he didn’t have a car to drive – but by October he was Formula One World Champion. He started out in pole position winning an incredible six out of the first seven Grands Prix, building up an unassailable lead thanks to a combination of brains and a Brawn car that was just too good for the competition. Jenson – who was 100-1 to win the title in January – had only won one Grand Prix before this season and is now the 10th Formula One world champion Britain has produced.

Button is graced on the shortlist by other sporting legends including tennis ace, Andy Murray, England cricket captain, Andrew Strauss and Manchester United football star, Ryan Giggs.

The ten stars, shortlisted by 26 of the countries top sports' editors, will compete for the title of "BBC Sports Personality of the Year" during the live show on Sunday 13th December - a title that was bestowed upon Olympic gold medalist Chris Hoy (pictured) last year.

The festivities begin at 7pm on BBC and is presented by our very own Jake Humphrey who will be joined on the night by Sue Barker and Gary Lineker as well as a capacity crowd of 11'000.  The show will be hosted, for the first time, from the Sheffield Arena and promises to be a "classic."

The public will be able to vote for their BBC Sports Personality of the Year by telephone; details of the numbers to vote on will be given out during the programme so make sure you're watching, phone-in-hand, ready to get that trophy into Jenson's hands.

Image courtesy of BBC Sport | (Adam Poole for The F1 Times)