Jenson Button has joined the elite group of race drivers to have won the world championship. His fifth position in Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix was enough to clinch the 2009 title from Sebastian Vettel and Rubens Barrichello.

Button is the tenth British champion following in the footsteps of Mike Hawthorn, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, John Surtees, Jackie Stewart, James Hunt, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and the out-going 2008 champion Lewis Hamilton.

His string of six wins from the first seven races equaled a record set by Clark and Michael Schumacher and formed the foundation of his championship campaign. While his final win of the season came at Istanbul in June, he was able to score points on a regular basis much to the frustration of his rivals.

Button has had his fair share of critics for his performance in the second half of the championship, but had he started the season with points paying finishes and ended the season with a string of victories, his success would have, arguably, been seen in a differing light.

He may not have the flair of some of his rivals and may not put the car right on the limit week in week out, but with more points than his rivals, he has achieved his career objective of championship success following many years of loyalty to Honda and its new successor, Brawn GP.

In view of his team having taken the constructors’ crown as well, Button’s title caps what has been a fairytale success story for the Brawn team, an outfit which came close to shutting its doors mere weeks before the 2009 championship began. The BGP001 completed its first on-track testing only a month before the season’s first race.

With Rubens taking the win at Monza on Sunday and Button following him across the line in second, Brawn GP has all but won the 2009 World Constructors’ Championship.  The Brawn teammates had another phenomenal outing, finishing 1-2 and securing the maximum amount of points possible while simultaneously turning the Drivers Championship into a 2 pony race.  While theoretically there are 4 drivers still mathematically alive, the 2 previously mentioned as well as the Red Bull Racing duo, the 2009 season is moving away from Europe and back to lower speed, aero-demanding circuits where Brawn has shown strength all year long.

So the question is, after Rubens strong showing in Italy today, who would you take to win it all in Abu Dhabi?

Sunday Race Results:

Position (Points)	Driver	Team	Laps	Time	Gain/Loss
1 (10)	Barrichello	Brawn GP	53	1:16:21.706	+4
2 (8)	Button	Brawn GP	53	1:16:24.572	+4
3 (6)	Raikkonen	Scuderia Ferrari	53	1:16:52.370	-
4 (5)	Sutil	Force India	53	1:16:52.837	-2
5 (4)	Alonso	Renault	53	1:17:20.888	+3
6 (3)	Kovalainen	McLaren Mercedes	53	1:17:22.399	-2
7 (2)	Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	53	1:17:44.118	+8
8 (1)	Vettel	Red Bull Racing	53	1:17:47.113	+1
9	Fisichella	Scuderia Ferrari	53	1:17:48.562	+5
10	Nakajima	Williams	53	1:19:03.869	+7
11	Glock	Toyota	53	1:19:05.631	+5
12	Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes	52	1:14:59.622	-11
13	Buemi	Scuderia Toro Rosso	52	1:16:18.421	+6
14	Trulli	Toyota	52	1:16:27.945	-3
15	Grosjean	Renault	52	1:16:59.720	-3
16	Rosberg	Williams	51	1:17:07.169	+2
17	Liuzzi	Force India	22	31:59.464	-10
18	Alguersuari	Scuderia Toro Rosso	19	28:22.878	+2
19	Kubica	BMW Sauber	15	22:48.793	-6
20	Webber	Red Bull Racing	0	N/A	-10