Button becomes 10th Brit to claim F1 title
Published: 19 October, 2009, 11:04
Brazil, Sao Paulo : British F1 driver Jenson Button celebrates inside the box after winning the 2009 F1 World title in Brazil's Formula 1 GP, October 18, 2009, at the Interlagos racetrack in Sao Paulo (AFP Photo / Mauricio LIMA)
Jenson Button is the 10th British Formula 1 driver to claim the World Champion Title after his fifth place finish at the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix.
The 29-year-old dubbed it the race of his life after he advanced nine positions to finally end in fifth.
Title rival Rubens Barrichello literally went out with a bang when his tire exploded eight laps from the chequered flag after a collision with Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton, who finished third, now hands over his crown. The duo of Brits are the first to win back-to-back titles in 40 years.
“I'm world champion, baby, and I'm not going to stop saying it!” said a happy Button. “I didn't win, but it was the best race of my career.”
Afterwards Button admitted he almost left the sport a year ago.
“Last season was tough and the winter was very difficult after Honda left. I didn't know if I would be racing in F1 this year,” he said.
“I had a couple of options, but nothing that would further my career, and I thought about taking a year out.”
“But if you do that you get forgotten like so many have. This is the end of the fairytale. Twenty-one years ago, I jumped into a kart and I loved winning – but I never expected to be world champion.”
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