Jenson Button, Formula One world champion

How many people have dreamt that their name replaces Jenson's? Millions I reckon, me included.

Who wouldnt want to be formula one world champion, the man who is a better racer than you, a better driver, the man who can drive a car faster than you. THE FASTEST RACE DRIVER IN THE WORLD!

But is that all there is too it?

Well depending on your stance on formula one, the answer is yes, or no.

My answer is no. Formula One is a team game, gone are the days when you could turn up and race your own car and even they those who did, didnt win.

Today you need a team around you, but brilliantly, the driver still counts.

Jenson and Rubens had the same car all year long, yet the difference in points was 18 points, in the same car thats a horrendous difference.

Sebastian Vettel gained more points than Rubens, but not Jenson, yet Rubens and jenson had the same car. So the difference was the driver.end of.

From March 2009 to November 2009 Jenson Button drove the best races any driver probably drove in any competition throughout the world, and deserves to be formula one world champion.

HOWEVER!

Sadly I dont think JB will ever be thought of in the same league as fellow world champs, mansell, hamilton,hunt and many overs. Why?

You tell me a Jenson button memory from before 2009. You tell me something he did that made you smile, that made you proud to be a formula one fan, or a british formula one fan.

It is not necessarily Button's fault, but formula one is a show, and the whole point of formula one is the fans.

Those who care, and those who really love formula one, want certain things from a driver, they want drama (mansell) they want action (Gilles Villeneuve) they want never say die (Hamilton) and they want charisma and attitude (Hunt).

Where is Button going to fit in any of this?

Nowhere, he has no win or lose attitude, no never say die charisma, yes his overtakes this season were quite frankly sublime and brilliant, but the media never promoted these in the same way they promoted Hamilton or Mansell. Why? Because Jenson has never been the typical british driver, the underdog, the struggler.

He was always the guy who was alright but often in a crap car, and when he got a great car, people didnt know how to take it and understand it and just assumed it was the car. That was the mainstream interpretation. Yet sadly, only those who looked deeper will see how good Jenson really is, so accurate, so precise, so in touch with the feelings of the car.

But does Button capture the general publics imagination and hearts like Mansell and Hamilton? Has Button ever loved and lost? Has he ever had the world title in his grasp? Only to lose it in the cruellest fashion one can imagine? No.

Britain takes pride in the underdog, the man who nearly made it, not the multi world champion. Hamilton, Mansell, Hunt, Graham and Damon Hill, embodied the british spirit, try try and try again, and eventually, you will succeed.

I feel here it is important to mention Stirling Moss and David Coulthard, two men who were just too gentlemanly to become world champions, despite possessin the ability.

But for Button many will feel it has been given to him by the simple fact that Brawn ran a car engineered, designed and developed by a Honda squad who pumped some £300million into the car.

So in ten or twenty years from now, when people reminisce this period of formula one racing. Who will they think higher of? Hamilton? or Button?

Feel free to contribute your own answer, but my answer has been driving a mclaren all his life and I suspect will do so for the rest of his career.

Thanks for reading.

Rich Marsh

Driver Review of the Year

Simple really. Mark out of ten, then brief plus points and negative points.

1- Jensen Button -Brawn GP World Champion 94 points.6 Wins,9 total podiums. 9/10

Uttertly brilliant first 7 races, simply impeccable. Damage limitation trough the summer thanks to consistant race pace and excellent overtakes throughout the year. Brilliant drive in Brazil. Easily man of the year.

2- Lewis Hamilton - Mclaren Mercedes 5th place. 49 points. 2 wins,5 total podiums. 8/10

Drove better than in 2008. Involved in team lie-gate scandal. Not all his fault. Got his head down and just drove the car faster than anyone else could. Never say die attitude, very evident in Monza. Destroyed Heikki Kovalainen's career.

3- Nico Rosberg - Williams Toyota, 6th place. 34.5 points. Best finish 4th 8/10

Superb season from the German. Only one main error in Singapore which cost certain podium. Fast througout the season. Suffered horribly on option tyres in Australia and on wet tryes in Malaysia which also cost podiums. Very unlucky not to have a podium. Deserves better next year.

4- Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull Renault - 2nd Place, 84points, 4 wins 8 total podiums 8/10

This guy is brilliant. Super fast and the best qualifyer of the season. Only man other than Button to win more than twice. Brilliant in the rain. Inexperienced though and mistakes cost him title, lost podium in Melbourne with crash and points in Monaco with a crash.

5- Mark Webber - Red Bull Renault - 4th Place,69.5 points, 2 wins, 8 total podiums

Best season yet from the Aussie, most dominant win of anyone in Germany. Brilliant recovery from leg break in november. A few qualy issues saw him get beaten too often by Vettel but has better racecraft and race pace overall.

6- Rubens Barrichello - Brawn GP 3rd Place, 77points, 2 wins, 6 total podiums 7.5/10

A great comeback season littered with too many problems. Rubens is far too sensitive a driver, particularly with brakes and clutch controls. Bad starts in Melbourne, Turkey and Spa cost big points. Could not beat Button often enough. Good on his day, doesnt have enough days.

7- Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari, 6th Place, 48 points, 1 win,5 total podiums. 7/10

Always an enigma, took a while to get to grips with Ferrari. Excellent in aftermath of Massa's accident. Just drove the thing to four podiums including win at his favourite spa circuit. Did what he could when team stopped development.

8- Felipe Massa, Ferrari,11th Place, 22points, (Started 10 races)1podium (3rd). 7/10

Up untill his accident he destroyed Raikkonen 22 points to ten. But then the horror accident in Hungary ended his season and Raikkonen picked up a gear. Got the most out of Ferrari untill his crash and should be as good as ever next year.

9- Fernando Alonso - Renault, 9th Place, 26points, 1 podium (3rd) 7/10

Fernando got what few people could out of the 2009 Renault. 26 points, and a podium. It was slow, inconsistent, unreliable and tricky to set up. His podium in Singapore was more about the driver than the car. Maybe not Alonso's finest season but still one of the best drivers in the field. Did well to get points early in the season.

10- Sebastien Buemi, Torro Rosso, 16th Place, 6 points. 0 podiums. 7/10

Excellent debut season from the Rookie. Often kept out of trouble and scored points in 2 of first 3 races. Awesome in China to qualify in top 10 and finish in 8th. Rounded off season with strong trouble free drives to points in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

11 - Jarno Trulli - Toyota 8th Place, 32.5 points, 3 podiums. 6.5/10

A difficult year for Jarno, he and the car were inconsistent. Failed to take advantage of the car's speed early in the year. And surely should have won in Bahrain but for a poor tyre choice by the team. Really struggled to get the car to work each weekend. Car was as good if not better than 2008 and yet scored fewer points.

12- Nick Heidfeld - BMW - 13th place, 19 points, 1 podium 6.5/10

Tough times for Nick. For most of the season the car was terrible, and only an excellent tyre decision in Malaysia gave him a lucky 7th place. Nevertheless, got more out of the car than Kubica did. Excellent again at strong race performances, bringing the car home at miminum where it should be.

13- Adrian Sutil - Force India Mercedes - 17th place, 5 points, Best finish 4th. 6.5/10

Mr Unlucky of 2009. So often when things were going well they would go wrong. In China he dropped it on a drying track on wet tyres when in 6th place. In spa he was on Fisichella's pace but failed to get through q2. In Germany he was on for at least top 7 when he collided with Raikkonen. Got his first deserved points in Monza with 4th. Excellent qualy in Japan and Brazil ruined by a steward penalty and Jarno Trulli.
So much better than results suggests. Gotta keep out of trouble.

14- Robert Kubica, BMW 14th place, 17points. 1 podium. 6.5/10

After publicly saying he wated BMW to continue development on their 08 car last year when in the title hunt, he would not have been impressed to see that the 09 car was crap. Excellent in Australia untill crash with Vettel. Good in qualy in Malaysia and fantastic in Brazil. Heidfeld got more out of the car more often. Will hope to form Alonso-esque bond with Renault.

15- Timo Glock, Toyota 10th Place, 24 points, (Started 14 races) 6.5/10

Failed to build on promising 2008. Again strong in the race but needs to start higher up to make it count. Did not get as much out of the car as Trulli and again struggled with car's inconsistancy. Big failure in Barain. Injured in crash in Suzuka after lucky podium in Singapore.

16- Giancarlo Fisichella, 15th place, 8 points, 1 podium, 12 races- Force India, 5 races-Ferrari. 6/10

Often out performed by Sutil at Force India. Flash of speed in Monaco for 9th place finish. Was fantastic at Spa, pole and should of have the win. Struggled to adapt to Ferrari but did a reasonable job.

17- Heikki Kovalainen,Mclaren Mercedes 12th place, 22points. 0 Podiums 6/10

Very poor season from Heikki and he will be lucky to be at Mclaren next year. Could not get near Hamilton all year. Too many errors, too inconsistent. Often went backwards at start of races.

18- Vitantonio Liuzzi,Force India Mercedes 22nd 0points best finish 11th. 5 Races, 0 podiums 6/10

Bought in to replace Fisichella who joined Ferrari. Excellent at Monza and oncourse for points untill retirement. Struggled at Singapore and Japan, better at Brazil and beat Sutil in Ahu Dhabi. Could well be kept on in 2010.

19- Kamui Kobayashi,Toyota 18th Place, 3 points, 2 races. 0 podiums, 6/10

2 races to showcase his talents, and he did just that. Very impressive, if abit wayward defending in Brazil, and pace was not bad. Excellent in Abu Dhabi to finish ahead of Trulli while on a one stop strategy. Likely to be kept on in 2010.

20- Kazuki Nakajima, Williams Toyota. 20th Place 0 points, best finish 9th. 5/10

2009 showed his limitations. Points last year came in high attrition races. Should of had points in Turkey. 5th on grid in Silverstone but not fast enough and finished 9th. Quick at times, but nowhere near quick consistently enough. Destroyed by Rosberg.

21- N.Piquet Jnr, Renault, 21st place, 0points, 10 races. Best finish 10th. 5/10

Struggled with rubbish Renault and Alonso's ability to get points. Could not find the pace of Alonso at all. High pressure at Renault maybe not for him. Reputation ruined by Crash-gate.

22- Sebastian Bourdais, Torro Rosso Ferrari, 2 Points, 9 races. 5/10

Showed flashes of pace in 2008, but easily beaten by rookie Buemi and complained too often. Couldn't get his head down and just focus.

23- Luca Badoer - Ferrari, 25th place, 0 points, 2 races. 4.5/10

Thrown in at the deep end after Michael Schumacher's withdrawal to replace Massa. Did an ok job but really needed to go find the limit a lot more. Too conservative.

24- Jamie Algasuari - Torro Rosso- 24th place. 0 points. 8 Races. 4.5/10

Not a bad start. Often kept it out of trouble. Slowly learning the ropes but was quite far off Buemi's pace. Needs to improve.

25- Roman Grosjean - Renault, 23rd Place, 0 points, 7 races. 4.5/10.

Arguably worse than Piquet. He was just as slow. Spun more often and spent much more time going backwards through the field. Piquet was far more competitive. Really struggled with f1.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Review

Quite a spectacle Abu Dhabi, it looked fantastic and the people who were there say it was fantastic.

The worst thing about it was the race itself, aside from the start and the end it was rather dull.

Hamilton had qualified on pole after a sensational lap that saw him over 6tenths up on the rest of the field and just on lap shorter than the Red Bull's. It was one of the lap's of the year quite simply.

So at the start we had a brilliantly set up and close tactical fight between Hamilton,Vettel and Webber with Button lurking just behind. Barrichello, in 5th was strugglin after whacking Webber's right rear at the first corner, damagin the Brawn front wing and thus causing him considerable understeer all race. Webber got away undamaged.

Ruben's had begun the year smacking into Webber at Turn one in Melbourne, and ended it by smacking into Webber at Turn One in Abu DHabi. Now think how many people did Button run into and yo get a sense of the difference between the two drivers and why one won the championship and 6 races, and the other won 2 races and finished 3rd.

Button and Ruben's pitted first, followed by Hamilton, Webber and Vettel, Vettel's longer stint saw him emerge clear in front of Hamilton and a battle Royal for the final race of the year was set.

But it never materialised. Hamilton's Mclaren suffered a right rear brake problem and with two stops from 200mph down to less than 100, leaving him out on the track was a risk nobody was going to take.

Hamilton pulled into the pits and into the garage and every viewer's race was over.

Vettel cruised to the win, while behind him, Button encountered new friend Kobayashi after pitting for his first stop, with Button coming off worse as he outbraked himself at the end of the first long straight. But as world champion, Button didn't care, the gloves were off and it was time to enjoy racing again.

And he certainly did enjoy it, as Mark Webber began to struggle on the option tyre with still 15 laps to go, Button started reeling the Aussie in, after Button made his second stop with 13 laps to go. Webber was in sight. Vettel was gone and in a race of his on, but Webber was there for the taking.

Half a second, sometimes more, lap after lap, and with 4 laps to go he was almost on the Red Bull's rear wing. On the final lap, battle had begun. Webber was really struggling to slow the car down in the big braking zones, squirming and twitching almost every time. Button knew he would get past if he had a chance.

That chance came along the first straight on the final lap, Webber took the inside line, the dusty line on poor tyres. Button had the outside, cleaner line.

Thundering down to turn 7, Webber somehow, miraculously held his car in a straight line and it was Button who got out of shape, just as he had against Kobayashi.

But it wasn't over yet,Button got a better drive out of the chicane and was alongside Webber again on the second straight, but again Webber made the world champ choose, go round the outside where its cleaner, or go inside where it is dirty.

Button went on the outside and heading to the braking zone was a considerable margin ahead. Maybe he could of come across and squeezed Webber slghtly, but Button stuck to his line and held it for the next chicane, but incredibly, so had Webber.

But coming out of the chicane Webber was struggling once more and Button got alongside. They disappeared behind an advertising board,side by side.

Webber emerged first, had Button backed out or had Webber outbraked him? A bit of both I suspect.

For the rest of the lap Btton could do no more and finished just half a second behind Webber.

It had been a fantastic last lap from both men. Button showing us just how much of a racer he really is.

Their smiles, body languages and interviews after the race showed how much both men had enjoyed the fight.

Vettel meantime, said his car was a pleasure to drive and that he was sad to see the season end, and he isnt the only one.

Behind the top 3, Barrichello and Heidfeld had quiet drives to 4th and 5th, Heidfeld overtaking team mate Kubica in the championsip.

Kobayashi drove a storming one stop race to finish ahead of team mate Trulli who had started in the top 8! The japanese driver has surely bagged himself a seat at the japanese team.

The final point went to Buemi, another quiet, but very strong drive to round off his year.

Rosberg, Raikkonen, Kubica, Alonso, Nakajima and probably Kovalainen and Grosjean, said goodbye to their respective teams on a very low key note,all struggling throughout the race.

The only drive of note outside of the points was Tonio Liuzzi, who comfortably got the better of Sutil.

So, that was 2009, quite a season for both good and bad reasons, but all in all a success!

Bring on Bahrain!



1. VETTEL Red Bull
2. WEBBER Red Bull +17.8s
3. BUTTON Brawn +18.4s
4. BARRICHELLO Brawn +22.7s
5. HEIDFELD BMW +26.2s
6. KOBAYASHI Toyota +28.3s
7. TRULLI Toyota +34.3s
8. BUEMI Toro Rosso +41.2s

9. ROSBERG Williams +45.9s
10. KUBICA BMW +48.1s
11. KOVALAINEN McLaren +52.7s
12. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +54.3s
13. NAKAJIMA Williams +59.8s
14. ALONSO Renault +69.6s
15. LIUZZI Force India +94.4s
16. FISICHELLA Ferrari +1 lap
17. SUTIL Force India +1 lap
18. GROSJEAN Renault +1 lap

19. HAMILTON McLaren +35 laps
20. ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso +37 laps


1. Jenson Button Brawn GP 95
2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 84
3. Rubens Barrichello Brawn GP 77
4. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 69.5
5. Lewis Hamilton McLaren Mercedes 49
6. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 48
7. Nico Rosberg Williams 34.5
8. Jarno Trulli Toyota 32.5
9. Fernando Alonso Renault 26
10. Timo Glock Toyota 24
11. Felipe Massa Ferrari 22
12. Heikki Kovalainen McLaren Mercedes 22
13. Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 19
14. Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 17
15. Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari & Force India 8
16. Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 6
17. Adrian Sutil Force India 5
18. Kamui Kobayashi Toyota 3
19. Sebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 2

1. Brawn GP 172
2. Red Bull Racing 153.5
3. McLaren Mercedes 71
4. Ferrari 70
5. Toyota 59.5
6. BMW Sauber 36
7. Williams 34.5
8. Renault 26
9. Force India 13
10. Scuderia Toro Rosso 8

Brazilian Grand Prix Review

Congratulations to Jenson Button and the Brawn team, he won the world drivers championship and boy did he earn it! And the team won the constructors title in their first season. A barnstorming drive from 14th on the grid to 5th at the flag showed everybody just how good a driver Button is.

After a midseason struggle of qualyfying mistakes where he was far from the best driver, he managed to salvage enough points in races to keep him at the top of the standings, his race pace always very strong. But after starting 14th in Brazil, he had two choices, sit back and hope it works out for him, or go out and win it anyway.

He chose option number two.

An incident filled start saw Trulli Sutil and Alonso all crash out, with Trulli having a major word with Sutil live on camera, the italian was fined £6,000 for his outburst, after wrongly accusing Sutil of running him off the road.

So by the end of lap one Button was 9th with the safety car out, but Vettel was right behind him and Rubens was leading the race, so jb couldnt afford to wait around, when the safety car pulled in, Button disposed both of Roman Grosjean, his old mate from spa, and Kazuki Nakajima in less than a lap!

He then came up against Kamui Kobayashi, making his debut in place of the injured Timo Glock, the japanese driver put up a great, if somewhat reckless fight and Button took the best part of 20 laps and 3 attempts to get passed, when he finally did so, a yell of delight roared inside the Englishman's race helmet.




If anybody decides to host an overtakes of the year competition, it may be a one man show. All four of buttons moves in brazil was superb, grosjean was risky, but determined and wonderfully executed. Nakajima's was probably the simplest of the lot. Kobayashi left button with no idea what he would do next, and Buemi had no idea button was coming!

Add all this to his moves on Hamilton in Bahrain, Kovalainen in Monza and Kubica in Japan, it makes you wonder what the rest of the field are doing wrong.

Buttons day was eventually complete when Rubens Barrichello suffered a puncture with 7 laps to, the Brazilian just did not have the outright pace to win this race, as Webber won the race and a resurgent Robert Kubica raced home into second place, and anyway, Button had done enough to secure the title.



Webber strolled to his 2 career win, leaving people to wonder just where Vettel would have been had he got qualifying right. Kubica was second and Lewis Hamilton held off Vettel for the final podium place. Button was 5th ahead of Raikkonen, a solid drive from Buemi and Barrichello down in 8th after his puncture.



Nico Rosberg was also looking very strong untill a gearbox failure. Big points lost for the second time in three races for the Grove squad, and with BMW and Renault lurking behind them, they cud drop a couple places in the final round in Abu Dhabi. Team mate Nakajima was also in with a chance of points untill getting too close to fellow jap Kobayashi and spectacularly going off at turn four.

Kovalainen again got destroyed by Hamilton, while Kobayashi was fast, if somewhat wayward. Fisichella still cannot get used to the KERS braking system, while Liuzzi could not match Sutil's pace, Grosjean was poor, slipping back through the field alarmingly quickly, while Jaime Alguersari got another race distance under his belt.


Abu Dhabi next up, both championships wrapped up but there is still plenty to play for, Ferrari and Mclaren are battling for third in the championship while BMW and Renault are snapping at Williams heels.

New track, new atmosphre, who knows what will happen. Do not get too excited though, the track does not look like a great producer of close racing.



1. WEBBER Red Bull
2. KUBICA BMW +7.6s
3. HAMILTON McLaren +18.9s
4. VETTEL Red Bull +19.6s
5. BUTTON Brawn +29.0s
6. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +33.3s
7. BUEMI Toro Rosso +35.9s
8. BARRICHELLO Brawn +45.4s
9. KOVALAINEN McLaren +48.4s
10. KOBAYASHI Toyota +63.3s
11. FISICHELLA Ferrari +70.6s
12. LIUZZI Force India +71.3s
13. GROSJEAN Renault +1 lap
14. ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso +1 lap

R. NAKAJIMA Williams +41 laps
R. ROSBERG Williams +44 laps
R. HEIDFELD BMW +50 laps
R. SUTIL Force India +71 laps
R. TRULLI Toyota +71 laps
R. ALONSO Renault +71 laps

Fastest lap: WEBBER 1m13.733s (lap 25)

1. Jenson Button Brawn GP 89
2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 74
3. Rubens Barrichello Brawn GP 72
4. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 61.5
5. Lewis Hamilton McLaren Mercedes 49
6. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 48
7. Nico Rosberg Williams 34.5
8. Jarno Trulli Toyota 30.5
9. Fernando Alonso Renault 26
10. Timo Glock Toyota 24
11. Felipe Massa Ferrari 22
12. Heikki Kovalainen McLaren Mercedes 22
13. Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 17
14. Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 15
15. Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari & Force India 8
16. Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso 5
17. Adrian Sutil Force India 5
18. Sebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 2

1. Brawn GP 161
2. Red Bull Racing 135.5
3. McLaren Mercedes 71
4. Ferrari 70
5. Toyota 54.5
6. Williams 34.5
7. BMW Sauber 32
8. Renault 26
9. Force India 13
10. Scuderia Toro Rosso 7

Japanese Grand Prix Review

Vettel has kept his championship hopes alive. Just. 16 points behind Button with 2 races to go, how that late race crash in Melbourne must be bugging his mind now.

That accident cost him a certain podium, and added to spins in Malaysia, a crash in Monaco and an off in Turkey, Vettel could have 10 points further up the table, which of course would leave him just 6 behind Button.

As it is, Vettel is only in his 2nd full season, he is not a seasoned veteran and mistakes are going to happen.

At Suzuka however, the German showed the world what he can do. He can start a race and just storm away from everybody, like he did at Silverstone. Yes the Red Bull car is perfect for these circuits, but Vettel was going so fast at Suzuka the team wondered if they had had a fuel rig failure!

The only man who could have matched Vettel was Webber, and after a practice crash necessitated a chassis change, his weekend was over as he started from the pitlane and made four pit stops. His speed was evident though, as he set the fastest lap on the race. Luck, again,was not on the aussie's side.

Behind the flying German, Jarno Trulli drove superbly to out race Lewis Hamilton and score Toyota's second second place in a row. A timely reminder from the Italian that he can still produce the goods, but will it be enough to secure a drive for 2010?

Hamilton did what he could in a car that is never going to like the fast corners of which Suzuka is made, so 3rd place was a good result for the reigning world champion, who perhaps this season more than any other of his short career, has shown people just how brilliant a driver he is.



Next across the line, Kimi Raikkonen, who in the second half of the race, matched Vettel lap after lap, where that pace was in the first half, nobody knows, Raikkonen is an enigma and his time at Ferrari is coming to and end, will he be remembered as a Ferrari great with Schumacher, Villenueve, Ascari and Lauda? Unlikely.

Rosberg picked up 5th place despite setting his a personal fastest sector time when the Safety car came out, Rosberg says he could not see the SC info on his steering wheel because of another sign on the wheel, strange, but apparantly true. Heidfeld drove well to pick up good points, while the Brawn's again did poorly in the race, its been such a wierd season so there are no surprises anymore, but race after race Button has problems, which nobody seems to want to take advantage of. But there we go. Rubens and Jensen rounded out the top 8 which left the Englishman with a 14 point lead with 2 rounds to go.


Why you may ask, have I spoke little of the actual race action? Because there was no race action. Even a safety car with 8 laps to go bunching the field up did nothing. The regulations are still far far from succesful at promoting overtaking. Much more work needs to be done.

Button overtook Kubica on lap 3, and Kovalainen barged Sutil of the road. That was it.

Next up,Brazil, interlagos, seen of the world championship decider for the past 4 seasons, and generally produces good close racing and a better chance of overtaking. Lets hope so. And lets hope Button can get his act together and show us that he deserves this championship.


1. VETTEL Red Bull
2. TRULLI Toyota +4.8s
3. HAMILTON McLareen +6.4s
4. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +7.9s
5. ROSBERG Williams +8.7s
6. HEIDFELD BMW +9.5s
7. BARRICHELLO Brawn +10.6s
8. BUTTON Brawn +11.4s

9. KUBICA BMW +11.7s
10. ALONSO Renault +13.0s
11. KOVALAINEN McLaren +13.7s
12. FISICHELLA Ferrari +14.5s
13. SUTIL Force India +14.9s
14. LIUZZI Force India +15.7s
15. NAKAJIMA Williams +17.9s
16. GROSJEAN Renault +1 lap
17. WEBBER Red Bull +1 lap
R. ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso +8 laps
R. BUEMI Toro Rosso +27 laps
DNS.GLOCK Toyota

Fastest lap: WEBBER 1m32.569s (lap 52)

Drivers Championship Standings

1. Jenson Button Brawn GP 85
2. Rubens Barrichello Brawn GP 71
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 69
4. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 51.5
5. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 45
6. Lewis Hamilton McLaren Mercedes 43
7. Nico Rosberg Williams 34.5
8. Jarno Trulli Toyota 30.5
9. Fernando Alonso Renault 26
10. Timo Glock Toyota 24
11. Felipe Massa Ferrari 22
12. Heikki Kovalainen McLaren Mercedes 22

Singapore Grand Prix Review

When Lewis Hamilton has half a shout at a win, more often than not he produces, and this weekend he won his second race of the season.

An utterly dominant weekend from the reigning world champion, the circuit suited the Mclaren beautifully, no high speed corners, and very many slow 2nd and 3rd gear right angles.

Hamilton took the pole on saturday before Barrichello smashed his Brawn in the wall and brought out the red flag, many drivers were on their hot lap at the time and had it ruined. Would Vettel or someone else have been on pole? who knows.

It was Hamilton from Vettel and Rosberg, and at the start Rosberg got the jump on Vettel and hustled Hamilton throughout, the Williams having its best weekend of the year. Rosberg would have finished on the podium but he got it all wrong coming out of the pit lane and crossed the white line.

The german has been perennially unlucky this season and the curse continued when the safety car came out for Sutil and Heidfeld's altercation which meant Rosberg couldnt complete his drive through until after the Safety car went back in. Without the safety car Rosberg would still most likely have finished on the podium.



So Nico's day was done.

Vettel too, could have won this race, but for a misdemeanor with the pitlane, somehow the Red Bull shortened the entry to the pits and thus the FIA judged that he must have been speeding.

Red Bull telemetry lated showed Vettel did not speed at all.
The resulting drive through dropped Vettel to 4th, and he ended up 17s behind Hamilton, despite a 20s penalty. Just where would Vettel have been but for the pit lane issue? Crucial world championship points were again lost.

And so Timo Glock picked up 2nd place with a brilliant drive, Toyota's rarely do well on street circuits but Glock was superb, especially when you compare his result to team mate Trulli who struggled to enter the top 10.

Third ironically, went to Fernando Alonso, for the second year in a row he was on the Singapore podium, no cheating this time though, just Alonso at his "im going to get everything and then some out of this car" best.

4th was Vettel, just ahead of Button and Barrichello, Button was helped by the safety car and reckoned he had no more than half a laps worth of brakes in the car. Thin Line JB, thin line. Not a bad result however when you remember he qualified 12th.

Rubens will be annoyed to have finished behind his team mate despite starting ahead of him, but neither Brawn was really on it this weekend, Button had a few good laps just before his pitstop to jump Barrichello and Kovalainen, but a few good laps in a race of 61 laps is not enough.

Kovalainen was again outclassed by Hamilton and must surely be on his way out of the team next year, while Kubica edged out Nakajima Raikkonen and the recovering Rosberg for the final point.

A farily entertaining race, but few changes with regards to the world championship, Mark Webbers hopes are officially gone after crashing out with brake failure long before the chequered flag.

Hamilton again showed why he is the world champion, and Glock reminded the paddock just what he is capable of.

As for Brawn, it still just does not make much sense, so consistent and fast in the first half of the season, now struggling to make the points. Button is making the best of a bad job, but really, he shouldnt be making a bad job in the first place.

Rubens is only fairing slightly better, and as for Vettel, his year is littered with errors. Whoever wins this championship, how will they be remembered and thought of by fans and those involved with the sport? Will people feel they have earned the title Formula One World Champion 2009?

Italian Grand Prix Review

A classic monza race and a crucial one in the world championship battle.

The two stopping Hamilton,Sutil and Raikkonen against the one stopping Kovalainen, Barrichello and Button.

It should have been Kovalainen's race to win, but 90seconds after the start his chance was gone as he ended lap one in the bottom half of the top ten despite starting fourth on the grid.



The brawn's of Rubens and Jensen ended lap one 4th and 5th and it was now a clear race. Could Hamilton Sutil and Raikkonen edge out enough of a gap to make that extra stop count?

Sutil and Raikkonen certainly could not, and would eventually find themselves 30seconds off the pace at the chequered flag.

Hamilton however, gave viewers everywhere a fight to the end.

After pulling out a significant gap over the Brawn's before the first stop, Lewis was still in with a decent shout of the win, but in the second stint, as the Brawn's were getting lighter on fuel and thus faster, he couldnt pull out the gap, and as he pitted for the second time, the Brawn's had done their single stop and were well out in front.

Undeterred, the reigning world champion hunted down 2nd place man Button lap after lap, like Schumacher used to do.

Entering the final lap, with Ruben's away and in the clear, Hamilton had got the gap to Button down to one second. The Mclaren set the fastest first sector of the race on the last lap, desperate to get close enough to the Brawn to make a move.

Exciting Lesmo one however, Lewis pushed just ever so slightly too hard, put his left reer just inches too far over the kerb and was pitched into the inside barrier, a heavy whack resulted in major damage for the Mclaren, but Lewis didn't care, he's not in the championship this year, he just wants to win.

It's a privilege to have racers like Lewis, he's a racer, not just a formula one driver, a racer. A man who wants to beat everyone the cross the line first, every race, every time.


That was the story of this year's Italian Grand Prix.

Red Bull have all but no chance of winning either title after Mark Webber was punted out of the race on lap one by Robert Kubica, its the third time in a row Webber has failed to score and his maiden win in Germany must seem quite a long time ago now.

Vettel, struggling with engine availability, struggled throughout, battling with the BMW's to earn a solitary point. This weekend was clear evidence that the engine to have was a Mercesdes, as 6 of the top 7 on the grid had the power plant. It is no wonder Red Bull want to start a deal with the German manufacturer.

Sutil put in a fantastic drive to finish in 4th place, easily his best ever formula one result. Had he beaten Raikkonen off the line he would have been much further up the road at the end. But it is just impossible to pass a KERS powered car.

Alonso put in a quiet drive to 5th, comfortably fending off Kovalainen who has a terrible habit of being super quick on a saturday, only to ruin it all on lap one on sunday.

Heidfeld dragged his beemer up to 7th, and would have been more of a threat I feel had he and Kubica not had identical engine failures in qualyfying.




Singapore next, and it very much is now a 2 man fight between the Brawn boys to be 2009 World F1 Champion.

1 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 1:16:21
2 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes +2.8 secs
3 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari +30.6 secs
4 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes +31.1 secs
5 Fernando Alonso Renault +59.1 secs
6 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes +60.6 secs
7 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber +82.4 secs
8 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault +85.4

9 Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari +86.8
10 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota +162.163
11 Timo Glock Toyota +163.925 secs
12 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 52 Accident
13 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 52 DNF
14 Jarno Trulli Toyota 52 +1 Lap
15 Romain Grosjean Renault 52 +1 Lap
16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 51 +2 Laps

Ret Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes Transmission
Ret Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari Gearbox
Ret Robert Kubica BMW Sauber Engine
Ret Mark Webber RBR-Renault Accident