Brazilian Grand Prix

19th October 2009

Jenson Button and Brawn GP are Formula One world champions! The Englishman battled from fourteenth to fifth at last weekend’s Brazilian grand prix, which was enough to secure the title. Ahead of him Mark Webber took his second race win of the year.

In an action-packed race, Button’s rivals tried everything to keep their championship hopes alive, including his team mate Rubens Barrichello who started on pole position. However, the Brazilian’s bad luck at his home race continued, as he eventually slipped to eighth following a puncture in the closing stages of the race.

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel had an outside shot at the title, although his weekend started badly when he could only manage sixteenth place in a rain hit qualifying session. In the race the young German turned on the style to fight up to fourth. Like Button he took advantage of a chaotic opening lap that saw Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and the Force India of Adrian Sutil crash out in a spectacular clash, collecting an innocent Fernando Alonso on the way.

From there both Vettel and Button put on a forceful display of driving, with the Brit in particular pulling off some stunning overtaking manoeuvres. The Brawn GP ace eventually fought up to fifth, giving him an unassailable points advantage even with one race still to go.

All the championship action meant that Mark Webber’s commanding win went almost unnoticed. The Australian took the lead after the first round of pits stops and never looked back. Behind him, Robert Kubica gave the struggling BMW Sauber squad a lift with second, while Lewis Hamilton passed Barrichello ten laps from the end to claim the final podium spot.

However, the podium celebrations were shaded by the party in the Brawn GP garage. “Today was the best race that I've driven in my career and I'm really going to enjoy this moment,” said Button. “For the team to win the constructors' and the drivers’ championships here is just fantastic and they deserve it so very much after all the difficult times that we all went through over the winter”.

Team boss Ross Brawn was equally overjoyed. " I am so incredibly proud of the team and our drivers,” he explained. “It's so very special to have won the constructors' and the drivers' championships in our first year as Brawn GP. I hope that everyone at the factory in Brackley and at Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines is very proud of what we have achieved today. I also want to thank everyone who has worked with the team over the years that couldn't be with us this season, as we had to resize the team at the start of the year.

Now the teams head to Abu Dhabi on 1 Novemeber for the final race of season. This is the first time the all-new track has featured on the calender, meaning it will be a trip into the unknown for all the competitors.

Result

1. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault
2. Robert Kubica BMW Sauber
3. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault
5. Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes
6. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari
7. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari
8. Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes
9. Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes
10. Kamui Kobayashi Toyota
11. Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari
12. Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes
13. Romain Grosjean Renault
14. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari

Driver Championship

1. Jenson Button 89 World Champion
2. Sebastian Vettel 74
3. Rubens Barrichello 72
4. Mark Webber 61.5
5. Lewis Hamilton 49
6. Kimi Räikkönen 48
7. Nico Rosberg 34.5
8. Jarno Trulli 30.5
9. Fernando Alonso 26
10. Timo Glock 24

Constructor Championship

1. Brawn-Mercedes 161
2. RBR-Renault 135.5
3. McLaren-Mercedes 71
4. Ferrari 70
5. Toyota 54.5
6. Williams-Toyota 34.5
7. BMW Sauber 32
8. Renault 26
9. Force India-Mercedes 13

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