Can Jenson Button Do It in Brazil

The question on everyone’s lips in Sao Paulo, as the sixteenth round of the Formula One Championship approaches this weekend, is “Can Jenson Button do enough to take the Drivers Crown?”.

As the F1 Circus transports itself yet again onto another continent as it criss-crosses the Globe the answer has to be “well… maybe”.  Jenson has two pretenders to the crown who are both staking their own very strong claims.  The first is Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and the second is Brazil’s very own Rubens Barichello, Jenson’s stable mate at Brawn GP.

As the ratings currently stand, Jenson heads the championship with eighty-five points from fifteen races.  This puts him fourteen points ahead of Rubens and sixteen ahead of Sebastian. So with just twenty points available in the last two races of the season the two pretenders will have their work cut out if they are to overhaul him,  that and some uncharacteristically bad driving from Jenson or unreliability from his Mercedes powered Brawn GP car.  Conversely, all Jenson has to do is accumulate another seven points to guarantee victory.

But he can’t afford to be complacent.  Lewis Hamilton, last year’s champion had a lead of seventeen points as he went into the last three races of the 2007 season and was still pipped at the post by Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.  So it’s anything from a foregone conclusion.

Looking at the two contenders, if anyone has a point to prove it must be Rubens who, if pit lane rumours are correct, will be off to Williams in the New Year.  Having been Michael Schumacher’s No2 at Ferarri, where the Brazilian fans gave him the nickname of “Schumi’s Tortoise”, he is used to the disappointment of having a wining car but having to playing second fiddle and he may never have a better opportunity to show his real potential than this year, especially given that Ross Brawn seems content for both drivers to duke it out for the championship instead of throwing in his and the team’s lot with Jenson.  If any further help was needed, Interlagos is Ruben’s home circuit and he will be sure to have an enthusiastic and noisy crowd cheering him on.

As for Sebastian, he has nothing to lose.  Everyone in the paddock agrees that he is probably Shumi’s heir apparent with his natural talent, speed and outgoing, friendly personality.  In his first season with Red Bull he has clearly shown his team mate, the far more experienced Mark Webber, a clean pair of heels.  But, due to F1’s attempts to keep running costs down, he does have the prospect of making his current engine, the last of eight allowed in any one season, go on for another two races if he isn’t to incur a grid penalty for an engine change.   He definitely can’t afford to be too aggressive if he is to keep his title hopes alive.

So, as we look forward to what could be a crowning weekend for the season it comes down to the fact that even if they win and Jenson gets no points, neither Rubens nor Sebastian can win the championship in Brazil.  Only one person can do that and Jenson Button has the experience, the motivation and the car to make it happen.