By Andy Hum

RED BULL RACING’S Mark Webber may have been victorious at the Brazil Grand Prix, but the biggest prize of the weekend went to Brawn GP’s Jenson Button. Button finished the race in fifth position to become the 10th British Formula One World Champion.

Interestingly, last year’s world champion title was also secured at this same circuit by a finish in fifth place, by McLaren-Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

Second on the podium was a surprising result. BMW’s Robert Kubica had qualified in eighth place. Kubica said, “Although some people were disappointed with eighth place yesterday, I was quite pleased. Today we had a good and consistent pace. I was surprised at the beginning that it was quite easy to follow Rubens Barrichello and Mark Webber. But I had to reduce the engine revs after about 15 laps because the water temperature was too high, and I had to avoid the tow of the guys in front of me.

“This is a great result in a difficult season, and I really hope that I will see this team on the grid next year,” he added.

Last year’s world champion, Lewis Hamilton, managed to finish in a better position – third – than he did last year, despite having started the race from 18th place. His result has been positive for the McLaren-Mercedes team, pushing them to third place in the Constructor’s Championship and just one point ahead of Ferrari.

On a less exciting note, though, was Heikki Kovalainen’s performance. The Finn had a spin after making contact with Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel during the first lap. But the drama did not end there. After diving into the pits after the spin, Kovalainen shot out from his pit stop with the fuel hose still attached, spilling some of the highly-flammable petrol onto the pit straights. Following closely behind him was Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. The fuel promptly ignited and Raikkonen was, for a split second, engulfed in a flash fire.

Fortunately, neither driver was injured and Raikkonen continued with his usual ice-cool demeanour, finishing the race in a respectable sixth place. Kovalainen was given a 25-second penalty for the unsafe pit stop release, dropping his result from ninth to twelfth.

Meanwhile, it was a disappointing day for Vettel, who had qualified in a disappointing sixteenth place, but managed to climb back up, not just into the points, but into fourth place. While his result has moved him up to second place in the current world champion points standings, even a single point scored by Button had effectively eliminated him from achieving the coveted title. He is now two points ahead of Rubens Barrichello.

Barrichello finished in eighth place, scoring just a single point, after what seemed like a potential podium for the home crowd favourite. But he had to head to the pits on lap 64, after being contacted by Hamilton from the rear and puncturing his rear left tyre, ending his title dreams.
Ninth place went to Kamui Kobayashi from Toyota, who is tentatively replacing Timo Glock. The Japanese driver had originally finished in a surprising tenth place, but was promoted after Kovalainen received his 25-second penalty. He drove spectacularly, even managing to hold back Jenson Button at one point, much to the current world champion’s displeasure. Kobayashi, who won the GP2 Asia Series and is 16th in the 2009 main GP2 Series’ standings, has been rumoured to be a hot pick as one of Toyota’s drivers for next year.

The next and final race this year takes place at the Yas Marina Circuit, in Abu Dhabi, also its inaugural race, on November 1.