Vettel Now Real Contender for Drivers Title

Vettel’s convincing win at the Grand Prix of Japan opens up the Drivers Championship and his chances of winning the title have improved from rank outsider to a real contender.

With Barrichello and Button stuck in mid field and only able to finish in seventh and eighth place respectively the race could hardly have been better for Vettel’s championship aspirations. Gaining 8 points on Barrichello and 9 points on Championship leader Button.

2009 F1 Drivers Championship after Suzuka

Position	Driver	Team	Nationality	Current Points
1	Jenson Button	Brawn GP		85
2	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn GP		71
3	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing		69
4	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing		51.5
5	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari		45
6	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren		43
7	Nico Rossberg	Williams		34.5
8	Jarno Trulli	Toyota		30.5
9	Fernando Alonso	Renault		26
10	Timo Glock	Toyota		24
11	Felipe Massa	Ferrari		22
12	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren		22
13	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber		15
14	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber		9
15	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India		8
16	Adrian Sutil	Force India		5
17	Sebastien Buemi	Torro Rosso		3
18	Sebastien Bourdais	Torro Rosso		2
19	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams		0
20	Nelshino Piquet	Renault		0
21	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India		0
22	Luca Badoer	Ferrari		0
23	Romain Grosjean	Renault		0
24	Jaime Alguersuari	Torro Rosso		0

However it is not going to be easy, even if Vettel were to win the next two races Button only needs to earn 4 additional points to eliminate him from the title race, and the same almost applies to Barrichello except that the number of points needed to eliminate his team mate and claim the title increases to 6.

So if Button finishes 3rd or better in Brazil he will be the 2009 Drivers Champion at that race no matter what position Vettel of Barrichello finish. If he finishes no lower than 6th he will still mathematically eliminate Vettel and depending on Barrichello’s position the title race may go down to the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi.

The Constructors Championship can also be locked up in Brazil as long as Button and Barrichello come in the points Brawn GP win win the Constructors Title in its first year of racing a truly remarkable achievement.

2009 F1 Constructors Championship After Suzuka

Position		Constructor	Engine Supplier	Points
1		Brawn GP	Mercedes	156
2		Red Bull Racing	Renault	120.5
3		Ferrari	Ferrari	67
4		McLaren	Mercedes	65
5		Toyota	Toyota	54.5
6		Williams	Toyota	34.5
7		Renault	Renault	26
8		BMW Sauber	BMW	24
9		Force India	Mercedes	13
10		Toro Rosso	Ferrari	5

Tagged as: 2009 Drivers Championship, Abu Dhabi, Barrichello, Brawn GP, Brazilian Grand Prix, Button, Vettel