October 23, 2009
F1-Jenson Button Awarded the World Championship
By Stephen Lars
There is still one more event left to go, but Jenson Button has already taken the world championship. The Brazilian Grand Prix is the penultimate event of the Formula One world championship tournament of the season, but a fifth place win on the Interlagos Circuit gave Button the 4 points he needed to secure the title, with 89 points.
The Brit left the exit in fourteenth position on the grid. He was able to accelerate forward quickly until he moved into fifth, a position he maintained throughout the competition despite the battles from his closes pursuers.
The Heikki GP Brawn team driver made his presence felt on the track, leaving a number of drivers in the dust. He accelerated smoothly, made no mistakes, and maintained his focus.
Button’s most serious challenge was posed by his teammate, Ruben Barrichello, who set the pace of the event. Barrichello was only 14 points behind Button in the standings, and managed to take the pole in Brazil during the qualifying tests.
With Robinho leading the race and only one event left of the world championship tournament, Button felt that his chances of becoming the champion diminishing.
Barrichello led during the first 20 laps of the schedule 71 laps, struggling against Red Bull Racing driver Mark Webber, who dogged him in second place. The planets seemed aligned in Barrichello’s favor, but with every stop in the pit area, his lead weakened further and further.
Finally, in the 21st lap, Webber pulled forward and overtook Barrichello, who continued to descend the ranks in the race before finally finishing at eighth.
Webber was able to keep first until Felipe Massa waved the checkered flag. With that, the Australian stood at the top of the podium, followed by Robert Kubica and Lewis Hamilton in second and third, respectively.
Webber may have won first place, but all the glory went to Button and Brawn GP; the driver is now the world champion and his team will get the constructor’s championship, which places Brawn at the top of world of engines in its debut year.
The achievement is, without a doubt, the greatest in Button’s career. It is only his second title in an 11-year career of circuit racing, a somewhat unusual track record for a world champion. Nonetheless, Button has clearly demonstrated his talent this season, despite a somewhat shaky latter half.
“It’s amazing,” Button said to the BBC after the race. “After the last few races I’ve had, this makes up for it. It was such an awesome race.”
"21 years ago I jumped into a car and I loved winning. I never expected to be world champion in Formula One but I've done it today."
Both Button and Barrichello gave great performances this season, winning eight of the sixteen scheduled competitions between the two of them. They stood on the podium together four times. With drivers like these, Brawn GP has gotten off to an amazing start this season and looks forward to an even brighter future.
About the Author
Stephen Lars has been a prominent writer on Formula One races, sports news and the sports betting industry for many exceptional sports web sites. You may reprint this article in its full content, please note no modifications to it are accepted.