Racing | Formula 1 | 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix — Button Clinches His First Championship at Interlagos

On 18 October 2009, Formula 1’s championship contest reached São Paulo’s Autódromo José Carlos Pace with two rounds remaining. Rain-disrupted qualifying had put Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn-Mercedes on pole and Mark Webber’s Red Bull-Renault second, while title leader Jenson Button started fourteenth and Sebastian Vettel fifteenth.

Barrichello led the start, but first-lap incidents eliminated Jarno Trulli, Adrian Sutil and Fernando Alonso and brought out the safety car. Button emerged from the opening lap in ninth. Once racing resumed, he advanced with passes that included Kazuki Nakajima, Kamui Kobayashi and Sébastien Buemi, turning a poor grid position into the finish he needed.

Webber moved ahead through the first pit-stop sequence and controlled the 71-lap race. He won in 1:32:23.081, 7.626 seconds ahead of Robert Kubica. Lewis Hamilton finished third, followed by Vettel, Button, Kimi Räikkönen, Buemi and Barrichello. Webber also set the fastest lap, 1:13.733 on lap 25.

Fifth place gave Button 89 championship points. Vettel’s fourth place raised him to 74, while Barrichello’s eighth left him on 72. With only ten points available at the final round, Button had secured his first Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship. Button and Barrichello’s combined score also clinched the Constructors’ Championship for Brawn GP in the team’s first season.

The official final classification includes a post-race change: Heikki Kovalainen received a 25-second penalty for an unsafe pit release and was classified twelfth. The sanction did not affect the podium, Button’s fifth place or either championship result.

The pin marks Autódromo José Carlos Pace, widely known as Interlagos. The 2009 Grand Prix used its 4.309 km, 15-turn, anti-clockwise configuration, with 71 laps producing a race distance of 305.909 km. The accompanying diagram shows that Grand Prix layout and its named corners.

Sources: Formula 1 official race result, starting grid, fastest laps, 2009 standings and title-decider retrospective; Grandprix.com’s contemporary race notes and final results; Autosport’s contemporary race and championship reports; Toyota F1’s 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix venue guide. Image: Will Pittenger, “Autódromo José Carlos Pace (AKA Interlagos) track map,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, a route diagram created in 2009 for the 1999-present configuration.