MARK Webber proved his formula one worth in Brazil becoming a multiple grand prix winner, but his victory was overshadowed by Britain’s Jenson Button securing his first world formula one championship. The Age
Mark Webber from Red Bull took the lead after the first round of stops, and then easily held off Robert Kubica and Lewis Hamilton, last year’s world champion, to win the Brazilian GP. Webber claimed his second career F1 victory. Kubica from BMW Sauber scored his first podium finish since one year ago in the Japanese Grand Prix, while Hamilton finished third for the second straight race.
Brawn and Red Bull have won a combined 13 of 16 grand prix so far this year.
Button began this season by winning six of the first seven races, but has not finished better than fifth since his victory in the June 7 Turkish Grand Prix. He will enter the November 1 season-finale in Abu Dhabi with an impassable 15- point lead over Vettel and 17 points ahead of Barrichello. A driver can score a maximum of 10 points only in each grand prix. MiamiHerald.com
A combination of brilliant driving and dramatic incidents elevated Button into fifth place at Interlagos, with title rivals Sebastian Vettel and Rubens Barrichello finishing fourth and eighth respectively. That left Button with a 15-point cushion over Vettel, with Barrichello two points further back with just one race remaining.
Formula 1: Brazilian Grand Prix - Race Results
Button becomes the 10th British driver to claim motor sport’s greatest prize, inheriting the crown from last year’s winner Lewis Hamilton. The Press Association
“The championship! I am the world champion!” Button, who drives for the Brawn GP team, shouted moments after the race.
“I made it happen. Now all I want to do is get to my team, because they deserve it.”
“This race was the best I have driven in my life,” said Button.
Button, 29, started his Formula One career at the Williams team in 2000 and shot to immediate stardom as the youngest British driver ever to race in the series. In the second race of that year, in Brazil, he became the youngest driver to score a point by finishing sixth.
“We made hard work of it over the second half of the year,” Brawn said to BBC television. “But we’ve done it, and it’s very special. It’s going to take a while to settle in.
“As for Jenson, he’s a fantastic racer and on the day he had a great race. He knew what he had to do.”
The victory Sunday also hands the constructors’ title to the team that had almost failed to start the year, being saved only at the last moment before the season began in March. New York Times
