Button clinches F1 title ahead of Abu Dhabi finale

Another great year for British motor sport is slowly drawing to a close. On Sunday, Britain’s Jenson Button and the Brawn GP team successfully secured both the Drivers and the Constructors F1 title in a dramatic race finale at Brazil’s Interlagos track. After 9 years of F1 racing and at the age of 29, Jenson Button achieved his dream of being crowned 2009 F1 Champion with a stunning drive that saw the Brit climb from 15th to 5th place. The weekend had started off poorly for the new world champ as his team-mate and closest rival, Rubens Barrichello, had managed to secure pole in the torrential rain during Saturday’s qualifying session. With the season balanced on a knife-edge, Barichello only needed 5 clear points to ensure a nail-biting end to the series at the Abu Dhabi grand prix to be held in a fortnight’s time. But luck was not on the Brazilians side as a puncture on 63rd lap effectively ended his chance of securing enough points to stop Jenson taking the title.

Both Jenson and the former British Champion, Lewis Hamilton, engaged in an aggressive race on Sunday. Both drivers endured terrible conditions during qualifying and both were forced to push hard from the back to finish up in the points. Hamilton showed true guts and mettle by ending up on the podium having started the race back in 17th place. His team-mate Heikki Kovalainen was involved in a dramatic pit accident after driving off with the fuel hose still attached to his Mercedes. The excess fuel leaking from the trapped hose sprayed into the trailing Kimi Raikkonen’s face and ignited, engulfing his car in flames, luckily no-one was hurt, but Kovaleinen received a 25 sec penalty dropping him from 9th to 12th place. A crash between Sutil and Trulli also ended in an extremely heated debate between the two drivers by the roadside. All in all thou, it was a fantastic race and Mark Webber deservedly won 1st place on the podium by producing a faultless drive in his Redbull.

In two weeks time the inaugural Abu Dhabi grand prix will be held in a newly designed and constructed race track. Sadly the track will not witness the crowning of a champion, but it will be the final race for BMW Sauber who announced their retirement from F1. The race will also be the first ever day-night race held and the location itself will pose a series of sandy problems for all teams involved. A number of operators are offering packages to the race which include accommodation, car rental and flights to Dubai or to Abu Dhabi depending upon preference and price range.