Buttons Brains and Brawn Win World Championship
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Jenson Button secures F1 title after fifth place in Brazil.
Jenson Button celebrated becoming Formula One’s 2009 Champion with a rendition of Queen’s We Are The Champions as he sung himself deliriously over the finish line at São Paulo.
It has been a long wait for Button since he was first unveiled a decade ago as the youngest ever driver to enter F1. It is fitting that on his tenth anniversary in the sport, Button became the tenth British driver to win the title, joining the elite ranks of Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, Jackie Stewart and most recently Lewis Hamilton.
Like Hamilton, Button had to rely on his strong past performances to carry him through the championship, and won the title by coming in fifth place in Brazil. Unlike Hamilton, there was no controversy in Button’s final victory; he may have taken the circuitous route to the grand prix roll of honour, but he made it with one race to spare.
It’s been an odd season this year, with Button cruising to an astonishing six wins out of seven at the beginning of F1 and seemingly having the whole championship sown up before it was even half way through the season. Then the other teams started waking up, with the Red Bull cars in particular starting to stamp their authority on the circuit and challenging Brawn’s super start.
Button took a lot of flak for his dwindling performances after such an explosive start, but throughout the British driver remained cool, kept at his racing and came through the other side as F1 champion. It wasn’t as thrilling as Hamilton’s victory last year, but there are many ways to win a championship, and Button deserves his as much as his fellow British winners.
Looking ahead to next year, the crowned Button told Sky News: “I want to be here next year and I want to be with a team that can challenge for victories like this season. Brawn can do that. These guys are not one-hit wonders.”
The curious case of Jenson Button is finally at a rest.
