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Button needs a ‘champion’s drive’
It seems when it comes to winning the F1 World title, the English drivers really like to stretch the nerves of their fans right to the last strand – Damon Hill left his championship winning drive to the very last race of the season in Suzuka in 1996. Lewis Hamilton left his even later, not just the very last race, but the very last corner of the season to move up into the requisite fifth place to take the title.
After seven races and six wins, it appeared this year was going to be a change to the norm, Jensen Button in completely his own world at the top of the table at half way. However, in the last 10 races the other teams caught up with the Brawns, leaving Button without a race win since Turkey in June. The Englishman’s lead has been cut to just 14 points with just two races to go, but a podium finish in Brazil on Sunday will see a fourth British World Champion in 17 years and the first back-to-back British champions since Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart in 1968-69.
But Button has been stalling, his lead getting smaller and smaller with the likes of Vettel, Webber and team-mate Barichello catching the Englishman up at every chance. He hasn’t been driving badly by any means, but the car and the driver have struggled to get on. Big names such as Raikkonen, Alonso and defending champion Hamilton have brushed aside poor starts to the season and are now consistently in the top 10. Button has had to work hard just to make it to the last session of qualifying.
Jensen came out this weekend saying he was going to play it safe – seven points in two races really is not that many – especially for a car as reliable as the Brawn GP ones. However, you may remember Hamilton blowing a 17 point lead with two races to go in 2007, the McLaren team opting to ‘play safe’ in China and Brazil. Button needs to use his calm head and driving instinct to see him through – he has scored points in every race he has finished, why stop that trend now.
The one thing that will be playing on his mind is that this year is likely to be his best chance, if not his only chance, to win the title. It almost appears fairy-tale-esque for the Brawn team, who only managed a couple of hours practice before the season, to win six races out of first seven and have both their drivers in first and second position all year. Next year many are expecting the big names of McLaren and Ferrari to come back into contention, meaning that this might very well be Brawn’s only year in the sun. Button has had a tough time in F1 since his first race in 2003, but his move to Brawn a year ago is already proving to be the best decision of his career. Those stating that he is only going to limp across the line to the title should realise that it matters not how you cross the line, as long as you are top of the pile at the end of the season.
However, just like Mansell did in 1992 and Hill in 1996, Button needs a ‘champion’s drive’ in Brazil or Abu Dhabi to convince the tough English crowd that he is a truly deserving champion. Finishing fifth and sixth will see him lift the crown in two weeks, but a win tomorrow in Sao Paulo will seal it without any doubt. Hamilton won fewer races in 08 than second place Massa, but headed the table by a solitary point after his dramatic fifth place finish in the final race last year. Button has already won twice as many races as his closest rivals, but a tenth podium finish of the season will surely be the sweetest of all, and satisfy the critics that he is the world champion we all know he is.
