Jenson Button may have had a patchy second half of 2009, but itv.com/f1 columnist James Allen says his virtuoso charge in the Brazilian Grand Prix showed he fully deserves his place in Formula 1’s elite group of world champions.
James analyses Button’s season and the key moments of another thrilling Interlagos title decider.
What a fantastic race to clinch a world title with!
Jenson Button put in a very stylish performance today to become the 31st Formula 1 world champion.
There have been more American presidents than there have F1 champions – it is a very select group.
Once again Brazil delivered a thrilling and unpredictable race and once again the title was clinched by the driver who finished in fifth place, as it was with Hamilton last season here.
It was great that he could seal it with a strong performance rather than reverse into it because of others’ misfortunes.
Does Button deserve it? You bet he does.
There are always cynics and critics who will disparage achievements.
They may point to his lean years in F1 and his poor performances in the second half of this season and say that he is not a worthy champion.
But he has won six races and kept the scoreboard ticking over all season.
Even in races in which he has scored low points, he has done some aggressive driving, some bold passing, which show his hunger and the much discussed “killer instinct”.
In the end Button’s bravura performance today was academic as his main rival Rubens Barrichello dropped down to eighth place with a puncture – but on a day when it was impossible to predict what would happen next, Button needed to attack from the outset and he did not disappoint.
Starting 14th on the grid, he was up to ninth at the end of the first lap, thanks to a chaotic start and accidents which took out Jarno Trulli, Adrian Sutil and Fernando Alonso.
With 30 laps of fuel in the car, Button was in a strong position, but to be sure he needed to pass some of the inexperienced drivers in front of him.
He made short work of Romain Grosjean and Kazuki Nakajima, but debutant Kamui Kobayashi proved a more stubborn competitor.
He was the key, however, as he was on a similar strategy to Button, even a couple of laps longer, so Button needed to pass him.
The longer he stayed behind the Japanese the more it brought Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, both of whom were running longer on the first stint, into contention to pass him.
They duly did that. But Button passed Kobayashi and then Sebastien Buemi as well to set himself up for a position from which he was in control of the championship.
Barrichello meanwhile started well, but was never able to break free of Mark Webber and was duly jumped by the Aussie at the fist stops.
Barrichello was unfortunate to emerge from his first stop in heavy traffic and into a battle with Vettel and then Hamilton.
This cost him so much time that Robert Kubica was able to jump him as well, en route to a second place finish.
In the middle stint Button made up a lot of time on Barrichello as the Brazilian’s challenge faded.
Webber controlled the race at the front, with Kubica around five seconds behind, while Barrichello fell into the clutches of Hamilton in the closing stages and was overtaken shortly before he discovered the puncture.
Hamilton’s third place moved McLaren one point ahead of Ferrari in the constructors’ championship.
This has been a good season for Lewis. He has had to work hard for his results, he has made some big mistakes like lying to the stewards in Melbourne, but he has emerged from it with humility and he has shown his quality in carving out the wins, podiums and pole positions.
He will be back next year, to battle for the title, perhaps with Button, Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa.