Button’s world title… but Webber wins the race

Jenson Button won the driver’s World Championship brilliantly at Interlagos on Sunday - after a true champion’s drive.

And it almost got lost in all the excitement that the Brazilian Grand Prix was won – in absolutely dominant style – by Red Bull’s Australian driver, Mark Webber. In fact, I’d say that Mark drove the race of his life on Sunday, making winning look easy.

A lot has been written over the years about what an unlucky driver Mark is… but Webber is a fantastic racing driver, and you have to say that he was the best driver out there, all weekend. I say that because he was quickest in wet, dry and intermediate conditions during nearly all of practice and qualifying, would have been on Pole position allowing for ‘fuel correction’…and then won the race by what seemed like a country mile.

Webber’s team mate, Sebastian Vettel, also drove an impressive race…and could have easily made the result a Red Bull 1-2 had he not been so unfortunate in qualifying and had to start from so far back down the grid. His chance of becoming 2009’s World Champion driver is now over…but I think it’s probably fair to say that he didn’t actually lose it here in Brazil. Every driver who narrowly loses a Championship then has a long winter to brood over just where he might have really lost it…and for Vettel, I think you’d have to say that it was probably performances earlier in the season, such as Australia and Monaco. Vettel is still only 23 though, and should have plenty more chances in the years to follow.

It’s already tempting to look forward to 2010, now, and I think you’d have to say that Red Bull, with their Adrian Newey-designed car together with Webber and Vettel driving, should be right up there at the front of the field again next season.

Robert Kubica showed that he’s going to be in the mix next year too, after a great second place for BMW. He’ll be swapping one PUMA Formula One partner for another - moving to Renault next year

Defending World Champion next season will be Jenson Button of course. I’ve personally always thought him to be one of the sharpest overtakers in the F1 business…and didn’t he prove it on Sunday whilst carving his way up through the field! What an incredible weekend for the Brawn GP Team, winning the constructors title in Brazil too - a great achievement.

The team might face a tougher challenge next year. One of the reasons they were so immediately impressive in testing at the beginning of this year is perhaps because – whilst still the Honda team – they decided to ‘write off’ 2008 last June or July, and concentrate almost totally on their 2009 car. It’s paddock opinion that both McLaren and Ferrari have done the same thing since the middle of this year…whilst Brawn were running flat-out trying to win both of this year’s World Championships; so may both have an advantage over them when we start again next year.

Speaking of Ferrari, it was good to see Felipe Massa looking so fit and healthy here in Sao Paolo. He always used to go like a rocket around his home race-track, and could have made this eventful Brazilian Grand Prix even spicier if he’d been out there on Sunday, in his Ferrari. I hope he is able to return at his old pace next year, the inter-team rivalry between him and his new team-mate Fernando Alonso is going to prove one of the highlights of 2010, I predict.

Before then, we’ve still got one more round of 2009 to complete, at a brand-new circuit in Abu Dhabi. I think everyone will enjoy this new event, the pressure is off – with the Championships decided - and I think that this new location is going to be spectacular but tricky, too…

From ‘driving’ the new circuit on the Brawn simulator, I know it has fast straights and some sweeping corners…together with several tight, slow turns – a difficult combination. But I think that the pit-lane exit may prove most difficult of all. It’s somehow underground – almost a tunnel in fact – and with no margin for error whatsoever!