“World Champions Baby, Yeah!!”

Something amazing happened in Formula 1 in Brazil yesterday. The result that occured had long been expected, even from the first race back in Australia, but yesterday Brawn GP and their British driver Jenson Button proved all of their doubters wrong, by becoming World Champions.

Brawn were clearly the underdogs going into this Formula 1 season. Their previous owners Honda had decided late in 2008 that they were pulling out of the expensive sport, leaving a team without financial backing, or an owner. At the last minute Ross Brawn stepped in with a management buyout, putting everything he had on the line. The team still had it’s drivers, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. They stuck with the team despite the uncertainty, trusting Brawn would pull the team through.

As pre season testing kicked off, Brawn were absent for the most part, using the last sessions available to them to test their new car. What happened then alarmed alot of the teams, they were fast, really fast. The big teams, clutching for reasons why focussed on the rear diffuser that Brawn had deployed. Many said Brawn’s interpretation of the rules was too much, with others saying they had merely been more clever than the other teams.

With the issue bubbling away, the teams went off to Australia for the first Grand Prix of 2009. Once again, the Brawn cars were fast, so fast that they won that race P1 Button, P2 Barichello. A fairytale start to the season for a team that upto a few weeks ago had nothing.

More races followed, more wins for Jenson. He wasn’t concerned by the hype around the rear diffuser, he knew inside that the team would win out. Button soon stormed to 6 out of 7 wins for Brawn GP, an amazing record. The diffuser issue confirmed legal by the FIA.

Meanwhile though, we should mention McLaren and Ferrari. Both turned upto the Australian GP with what they considered fast cars, that was until they raced against the Brawns and Red Bulls. Turns out both teams were so focussed on winning the 2008 title, that they had put the 2009 car developments on hold. They left it too late, and struggled for much of the season.

And it’s for this reason that Brawn and Jenson were so easily able to capitalise on those early wins.

Once the teams got to Silverstone Brawn’s luck ran out. The European track was far colder than any of the previous, Rubens and Jenson apparently unable to warm their tyres enough to get the right performance out of it. They struggled on.

Jenson meanwhile began to start his lie affair with lady luck at this point. Whils proving he has the guts and determination to make some overtakes when they were needed, he also became the receiver of gifts from other drivers, their mistakes giving him greater grid positioning that he wouldn’t have normally had, and therefore reducing the points hit he would have taken from Red Bull or his nearest competitor, Rubens Barrichello.

At Monza the Brawn team came back on top with Rubens and Jenson getting P1 and P2 respectively. They looked in good shape, their car seemingly back to life, the constructers championship lead growing even more.

Yet as the following races came, Jenson struggled to make the car work for him. Complaining about understeer, or oversteer, he just couldn’t string a lap together in qualifying, making his hunt for the championship win much more tougher with every race. That said, he continued to lead, not once being overtaken by his rivals. Jenson always managing to reduce the points damage in every race, other than Hungary where he was shunted off the track which ended his race.

As the season went on, people began to question Jenson’s ability to come through and finish off the championship battle. Every race seemed a struggle, and a few doubted he would make it in the end. Yet he continued, always leading and always hoping to make the killer blow.

So around came Brazil. This was Jenson’s second opportunity to seal the championship, before the final race in Abu Dhabi. Qualifying was a nightmare, not just for him, but for everyone. With the session lasting nearly 3 hours, the weather interchangable, many teams struggled to get the setup right. Jenson only managing 14th on the grid with his closest rival, Barrichello on pole.

During interviews after the session, Button was clearly showing the pressure. He knew it was down to him to make this championship his, but he seemed powerless to make that happen. Something happened in him overnight, he came to the race a different driver. More determined, less cautious. He needed to take the race head on, and he did!

After various lap 1 shennigans, the safety car was deployed and Jenson had already lept from 14th on the grid, to 9th, steering clear of any accidents himself. Barrichello remained on pole. Once the safety car went in, the immense drive began by Button, a champions drive!

Buemi was first on the list, Button took him with ease, with Buemi almost clipping his rear suspension. He quickly came up behind Kobayashi whom he found increasingly difficult to overtake. With the Japanese driver weaving all over the track, Button felt that the technique of the debut driver was too much, and called into the pits to get the stewards to have a word. Within minutes Button’s determination won through and he passed him.

It was there for everyone to see, Button was back! He was showing everyone what he was made of, ploughing through the field, his rival Barrichello going the opposite direction. The defining moment came as Lewis Hamilton overtook Barrichello on the pit straight. He clipped Rubens rear left tyre, giving the Brazilian a puncture, which meant he went from 3rd to 8th. Jenson was ahead of both his rivals, all he had to do was finish, and finish he did.

The fans couldn’t have asked for a more gutsy drive to bring the championship home, this time it wasn’t luck, it was 100% determination and it was there on his sleeve for everyone to see.

The victory meant everything to Ross Brawn. Interviewed moments after the win he was without words, tears in his eyes. There couldn’t have been a more genuine winner that day, and everyone in the pits knew that both Jenson and Brawn deserved everything they got.

A drive of Champions, a Hollywood Script.