MOTORSPORT: Webber wins second GP, Button world champ

Monday motorsport report

October 19, 2009

But if Bernie were ever to run all the GPs at one venue the place to do it would be Interlagos, beside a slum in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

It was there that Australia's Mark Webber this morning won his second GP and Jenson Button clinched the drivers' world title -- and the constructors' championship for the Brawn team in its debut season.

As we've seen so often at the undulating Interlagos, it was a fabulous race, showcasing F1 racing at its best.

The only downside is that, with the championships decided, it has left the new Abu Dhabi grand prix in a fortnight as a dead rubber.

Webber's victory inevitably will be overshadowed by Button and Brawn's titles, but this was a clinically brilliant drive from the Aussie.

There were other superb and more spectacular performances -- from Button, who finished fifth from 14th on the grid; from Robert Kubica, who was second for BMW-Sauber and back on the podium for the first time since Malaysia early in the season; from Lewis Hamilton, who wound up third from 18th on the grid and hoisted McLaren to third in the constructors' standings, ahead of Ferrari; and from Sebastian Vettel, fourth from 16th at the start and now, at just 22 years of age, second in the drivers' championship.

It was disappointment at home yet again for Rubens Barrichello, who began from pole position after the horrific wet qualifying in which Webber earned a start beside him.

Barrichello led early but drifted back in the field after his first pitstop and a late puncture dropped him behind teammate Button and behind Vettel in the championship, while Webber is now secure in fourth – his best year by far.

At 37 the chances of Barrichello, veteran of more GP starts than anyone, ever becoming world champion are now gone, especially if he is off to Williams next year. Vettel's turn will come, and probably soon, but now is Button's moment.

He is Britain's 10th F1 world champion and, while his results have often been far from spectacular in the second half of this season, he has won the most GPs this year and accumulated the most points.

By any measure he deserves his title.

Who would have thought at the start of this season that it would be Button's year? With Honda out of the sport and the transformation of its team into Brawn, and a car designed to take a Honda engine suddenly married to a Mercedes motor, he surely was a 200-1 shot at the outset.

While F1 has had yet more scandals this year, most notably "Crashgate", it has been mostly a ripper year on the track -- and 29-year-old Button is the biggest beneficiary from that.

"I'm world champion … and I am just going to keep on saying those words again and again," an elated Button said post-race.

"That was the best I have ever driven. I know it was not a win, but the way I drove and the way the afternoon went was fantastic. I think I deserve the world championship because I have been the best driver over the course of the season.

"There are 17 races in all and I have been the most consistent from start to finish. There were times the pressure got to me over the last few months. I have tried not to let it show but, believe me, it's been there.

"It is amazing to have won the championship after starting 14th. I felt sick about qualification on Saturday. But I woke up very positive this morning and thought I could do it. The engineers thought our strategy would be strong enough. It was."

As Button's celebrations got underway, amid talk that his father John had won a fortune by investing hugely on him at 80-1 to win the title, Webber was expansive on his latest success, which came after five races without a point.

"It's been a fantastic day for the team, to win again," Webber said.

"We've had quite a few victories this year off the back of some tough seasons at Red Bull, totally confirming second for us in the constructors' championship. Obviously we weren't good enough over the whole season to win any championships but we've done ourselves very proud as a team, as a unit.

"I would like to thank Renault as well, the engines have been very good. It's not an easy environment for them, so yeah, very, very good.

"It's a special weekend for Australians because Jason Crump, a very close friend of mine, won the world speedway championship last night, under very difficult conditions -- very badly injured.

"And Casey [Stoner] won the motorbikes [the Australian MotoGP at Phillip Island] yesterday, so it's a good weekend for the Australians."

Of how this second win compared with his first at the Nurburgring in Germany in July, Webber said: "I think the first one was pretty nice, there's no question about it.

"It's nice to get another one, but probably Nürburgring was a little bit better, because it was a big relief more than anything. This one was more of a controlled fashion, I suppose, and although not too dissimilar to the Nürburgring, but I suppose I could only lose this one.

"I put myself in a very, very good position after yesterday [qualifying] in the first stint to win the race and then I had about 45 laps of getting it home.

"I went a little bit on the kerbs in a few places here and there and just had to give myself a bit of an uppercut and say. 'Mate, just bring it together', and remind myself that I'm not in 10th, I'm in the lead, so you just control it.

"After Friday, I was quite confident that we could go for a victory. Our pace was pretty good, I was a little bit worried about Hamilton because the McLaren, we knew, would do pretty well here with the KERS and he's also a pretty good driver. We knew he would be a force. Fortunately it was mixed up yesterday and that's where the foundations were laid, particularly for me and Robert (Kubica), delivering in those difficult conditions.

"Again, some cars were different to others, it was not easy to get through, but that's where the foundations were laid for that type of day today. It didn't come as a surprise that I had a chance to go for the victory, but it's always nice with five laps to go that you realise it."

Webber said that, after the torrential conditions in qualifying his RB5 car had been "100 per cent" on its dry settings for the race.

"We struggled in Q1 (the first of the three segments of qualifying) … we all knew that we shouldn't have run in those conditions," he said.

"I was lucky to get a lap in which put me through (to the second segment).

"That was one of the toughest qualifying laps for a long time to get through that session, because I couldn't believe the pace on my pit board that other people were doing. I thought, 'I'm risking so much here to get through'. Thankfully I did, but then when the aquaplaning got lower in Q2, it was a different ball game, and then the car came alive on intermediates in Q3."

And of the season overall and the remaining race, he said: "Well, it's been a very interesting season in many ways. We started off with [some cars running] double diffusers, some teams with KERS [Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems, which only McLaren and Ferrari retain].

"Then we, as Red Bull, were phenomenal in the middle of the year -- the first part of the European races. Then off to the street circuits, back in July and early August and we had a bit of a tough time.

"The McLaren came back, especially Lewis, and Kimi [Raikkonen, of Ferrari – but only for another two weeks] also had a good run.

"So there have been many, many teams … six different winners this year, I think, and quite a few different people on the podium. So it's been a mixed season in terms of performance for people.

"Jenson, I think, deserves the championship, no question about it. He drove very, very well in the early part.

"It's not easy to have error-free weekends, with the exception of Spa (in Belgium), when he had problems at the top of Les Combes when it's easy to happen when you start in the middle of the pack.

"He's driven pretty well, particularly in first stints, when he's been on the back foot and coming through, doing a pretty good job here and there.

"Every car has its strengths and weaknesses and Brawn, obviously, have some strengths and a few weaknesses here and there. JB's done a good job, so I'd like to congratulate him and Brawn as well.

"I think he will sleep better now, because he's been incredibly nervous, there's no question about that. He's been absolutely bricking himself the last few weeks, so he can sleep better now, and all of us can go to Abu Dhabi and just enjoy the new race there.

"I don't think it's going to be like Suzuka [in Japan] but anyway … it's another street track."