Jenson Button Clinched His Only F1 World Title 17 Years Ago Today in Brazil

On this day 17 years ago, Jenson Button finished fifth at the Brazilian Grand Prix at Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo on October 18, 2009, and won the Formula 1 drivers' world championship. It was the 16th race of the season and the only title of Button's career. Brawn GP also secured the constructors' championship at the end of the same race.

Before the race

Button led the standings and needed to finish no more than four points ahead of his teammate Rubens Barrichello to take the title. Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel had to finish first or second to stay in the title fight. Brawn GP needed half a point to clinch the constructors' trophy.

Qualifying was held under the shadow of a tropical storm. The session was stopped for more than an hour and lasted 2 hours and 41 minutes, the longest qualifying session in F1 history. Barrichello took pole position with a time of 1:19.576. It was his last pole, and Brawn's last pole as well. Button was eliminated in the second segment and started from 14th.

How the race unfolded

Three separate incidents occurred on the first lap. Kovalainen and Vettel made contact, Trulli and Sutil collided, and Sutil also put Alonso out of the race. Before the safety car came in, Kovalainen was released from the pit lane with the fuel hose still attached to his car, spraying fuel. Räikkönen's exhaust ignited the fuel. Nobody was injured.

Button was ninth at the end of the first lap. He moved up through passes and was held up for a time by Kamui Kobayashi's defence, something he complained about over the team radio. Barrichello lost out to Mark Webber after his first pit stops. Hamilton damaged a tyre while passing Barrichello, forcing the Brazilian to pit on a punctured tyre. When Vettel settled into fourth, Button was in a position to become champion even if he had to retire.

Mark Webber won the race for Red Bull-Renault. It was his second career victory, and he finished 7.6 seconds ahead of Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber. McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton took third. Vettel finished fourth, and without a first or second place his title hopes were over.

Records and details

Button became the 10th British world champion. He was also the first time one British champion had been succeeded by another British champion since 1969, when Jackie Stewart followed Graham Hill. Button used a single chassis all season and won the title with the oldest car on the grid.

The podium trophies were designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer. The three-pointed matte turquoise trophies were made from recycled plastic bottle caps collected around the track over the weekend. The honour of waving the chequered flag went to Felipe Massa, who could not return to racing after his crash in Hungary.