rubens barrichello

With rain spoiling some drivers’ qualifying times in Brazil, the Driver’s Championship is still on the line heading into the penultimate race of the season. For the last few races it has all been about whether Britain’s Jenson Button can hang on to the big lead which he built up for himself at the beginning of the season. Slowly but surely his large lead has been whittled away, and now with just 20 points up for grabs, his title ambitions are hanging precariously. After struggling to cope with the rain sodden conditions in qualifying on Saturday, Button couldn’t shoot his way into the top ten, but has maintained a two place advantage over German Sebastian Vettel, one of only two men who can steal the title from Button.

Button’s main challenge is from his teamate, Rubens Barrichello, who the Brit is 14 points ahead of. Button needs to pick up points to ease some of the pressure ahead of the final race of the season. It could all be sealed in Brazil, but trying to hold on to a lead is something which is tactically harder than trying to eat into one by playing catch-up. Barrichello, in his native country, will be looking to pull out all of the stops to get one up on his teammate, and he gave himself the perfect opportunity by clinching Pole position after the top ten shoot-out to decide starting places.

That will be making Jenson Button sweat, and recollections of how Lewis Hamilton blew his first title charge will be in his mind. One thing which could work in Button’s favour is that he will not have to be cautious, for he cannot afford to be. He is not in a position where he has been where he may have been cautious about pushing on too hard, instead trying to protect a middle of the range poitential points place. Now he has to drive hard, attack and pull out one of the best drives of his career. Going to Abu Dhabi with just a four point lead, which is what the worst case scenario would be upon leaving Brazil, will require nerves of steel.

If one piece of history will be on Button’s mind, then it will be the fact that it was 14th place on the starting grid, from which he won his very first Grand Prix. Rubens Barrichello, has never finished better than third on his home track, either, after taking Pole Position.

Notable Qualifying positions:
Pole Position: Rubens Barrichello
5th: Kimi Raikonnen
14th: Jenson Button
16th: Sebastian Vettel
18th: Lewis Hamilton

EARLY PRICES TO WIN BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX
Rubens Barrichello: 19/13 at BetFair
Mark Webber: 21/10 at BetFair
Kimi Raikkonen: 10/1 at BetFair
Jenson Button: 21/1 at BetFair

TO WIN DRIVER’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Jenson Button: 1/14 at 888Sport
Sebastial Vettel: 9/1 at 888Sport
Rubens Barrichello: 16/1 at 888Sport

Britain’s Jenson Button has the chance to wrap up the Formula One Drivers title on Sunday, in the Japanese Grand Prix. He only needs to finish five points ahead of his team mate Rubens Barrichello to secure the title, but the British driver has admitted to finding the going tough at the top. The pressures that come with each race gets greater and greater until he can get over that finish line and secure enough points for the Drivers Championship.

With the two Brawn cars being in fine form he will be pushed by his friend and team-mate, but Button showed exactly why he is in with a shot at the title with an excellent drive in Singapore. Button has a 15 point lead over Barrichello with just three drives left in the season. With a maximum ten points up for grabs in each race, time is running out on the long season, and Suzuka’s famous figure-of-eight circuit could be the place where all the pressure turns into joy for Button. There will be no mercy shown by his team mate of course, not when he himself in the hunt for the coveted title. As Barrichello cannot match the amount of wins Button has accumulated over the season, at the end of the race in Japan, Button just needs to be twenty points ahead of his closest rival.

Barrichello has been turning up the heat on his team mate of late, having won two out of the last four races, and has been amassing more points than Button, which has seen the British driver’s lead being eaten away. It is one thing to dream about a title, it is another thing to actually win it. But Button is now on the threshold of doing just that. Even if it takes just the one, or even two or all three remaining races to achieve that goal, it is now his title to lose. Three steady drives will ensure that he picks up enough points to succeed Britain’s Lewis Hamilton.

Button’s best finish at Suzuka was a third placed podium appearance five years ago. Practice starts on Friday, with threats of heavy rain.

Japan Grand Prix Outright
Sebastian Vettel: 10/3 at Coral
Lewis Hamilton: 4/1 at Bet365
Mark Webber: 15/2 at Stan James
Rubens Barrichello: 9/1 at Bet365
Jenson Button: 10/1 at Bet365

Drivers Championship Outright
Jenson Button: 1/10 at Paddy Power
Rubens Barrichello: 7/1 at Extrabet
Sebastian Vettell: 100/1 at Ladbrokes