'I'm world champion baby!' - how Jenson Button fulfilled his lifelong Formula 1 dream in 2009

The 2009 Formula 1 season will always be remembered as a fairytale season for the ages. Jenson Button, who up until that point had never come close to challenging for the title, was crowned world champion.

What’s even more amazing about that title win was the team he won it with. Brawn GP, the team that was once Honda’s works team, came into the season under a cloud of uncertainty.

With Honda pulling out of the sport at the end of 2008, doubts remained as to whether Button and teammate Rubens Barrichello would even have a drive. In the end, both would drive for a team now owned by Ross Brawn.

Brawn was the team principal at that point, and would end up purchasing the team for a token sum of one GBP. Yet the team would go on to seal both championships by the end of the year.

With 12 years having passed since the day, let us look back at how Brawn GP and Jenson Button conquered the odds.

The background

The Brazil GP had, in recent years, become the race to crown new title winners. Fernando Alonso twice won the title at Interlagos in 2005 and 2006. 2007 saw Kimi Raikkonen cap an epic season by winning the title by a single point.

It would become even more dramatic in 2008. Lewis Hamilton got his required fifth-place finish with an overtake on Timo Glock on the final corner of the race. And in 2009, the stage was once again set for a title to be won at Brazil.

The title fight was largely between the two Brawn drivers at that point; however, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was still very much a contender. The equation for Button was simple – finish within four points of Barrichello and the title was sealed.

Barrichello, for his part, needed to not only score maximum points but also hope Button slipped up. The equation for Vettel was tougher; he needed a win just to stay in contention going into the final race.

It was hometown hero Barrichello who took pole position on Saturday, putting himself in a good position to win on Sunday. It helped considerably that Button only qualified fourteenth.

Barrichello had the advantage going into race day. But as we all are only too aware, good qualifying doesn’t win you races.

Jenson Button fulfills his boyhood dream

There were incidents aplenty on the first lap of the race itself, although Barrichello remained unscathed in the lead of the race. However, the drama of the opening laps saw Button climb up to ninth spot.

Overtake on Romain Grosjean as well as Kazuki Nakajima put him into seventh place and into the points. However, he was held up by Kamui Kobayashi.

Once Button did get past Kobayashi, he showcased his pace by building a three-second lead over the Japanese driver – in the space of one lap. Button was keen to wrap up the title at Brazil itself, and it showed.

He was helped considerably by the fact that Barrichello did not have the pace to keep the lead. He was eventually passed by Mark Webber after the second round of stops.

As the race went on, Barrichello faded into the back of the points positions. Given Button was ahead of him and Vettel nowhere near the lead, the crowning of another British world champion seemed all but a given.

It became even more certain where the race was headed after an incident involving Barrichello and Hamilton. The Brit, who was the defending world champion, made a pass on Barrichello that seemed clean.

However, he inadvertently clipped the Brazilian’s tyre and caused a puncture. This caused Barrichello to pit and he rejoined the race in eigth position, well behind where he needed to be.

In the end, Button would become world champion as he crossed the line in fifth. Webber won the race, with Williams’ Robert Kubica in second and Hamilton third.

“I’m world champion baby”, Button bellowed on team radio after the race. The joy in his voice was simply impossible to miss.

The numbers behind a fairytale season

That Jenson Button and Brawn GP were champions was a minor miracle in more ways than one. They had a competitive car, but lacked the budget needed to make too many changes or upgrades.

Indeed, the chassis on Button’s car was the same one he started the season with. Drivers are usually known to change the chassis several times over the course of a season. This meant that Button had literally the oldest car on the grid.

There were other statistical talking points over the title win too. This was the first time since 1969 that one British world champion succeeded the other. In ’69, Jackie Stewart had won the title from Graham Hill.

There were also other similarities to the way Hamilton and Button won their maiden titles. Both won it with a fifth-place finish at Interlagos. Both were crowned champion in a Mercedes-powered car. And both had the number 22 when they won the title (Hamilton took the number 1 for 2009, as was customary for defending world champions).

Brawn GP also became the only constructor to win both titles in their debut season. As it turns out, this would be the only year the team existed. Brawn GP would eventually go on to become Mercedes, the team which dominated the sport in recent years.