Championship points after Japan
Drivers’ championship standings
| Driver | Points | |
| 1 | Jenson Button | 85 |
| 2 | Rubens Barrichello | 71 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | 69 |
| 4 | Mark Webber | 51.5 |
| 5 | Kimi Raikkonen | 45 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | 43 |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | 34.5 |
| 8 | Jarno Trulli | 30.5 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | 26 |
| 10 | Timo Glock | 24 |
| 11 | Heikki Kovalainen | 22 |
| 12 | Felipe Massa | 22 |
| 13 | Nick Heidfeld | 15 |
| 14 | Robert Kubica | 9 |
| 15 | Giancarlo Fisichella | 8 |
| 16 | Adrian Sutil | 5 |
| 17 | Sebastien Buemi | 3 |
| 18 | Sebastien Bourdais | 2 |
| 19 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | 0 |
| 20 | Kazuki Nakajima | 0 |
| 21 | Nelson Piquet Jnr | 0 |
| 22 | Romain Grosjean | 0 |
| 23 | Luca Badoer | 0 |
| 24 | Jaime Alguersuari | 0 |
Constructors’ championship standings
| Driver | Points | |
| 1 | Brawn | 156 |
| 2 | Red Bull | 120.5 |
| 3 | Ferrari | 67 |
| 4 | McLaren | 65 |
| 5 | Toyota | 54.5 |
| 6 | Williams | 34.5 |
| 7 | Renault | 26 |
| 8 | BMW | 24 |
| 9 | Force India | 13 |
| 10 | Toro Rosso | 5 |
Drivers’ championship battle
Drivers' championship battle (click to enlarge)
Japanese Grand Prix
- Button, Barrichello, Alonso, Sutil and Buemi get five-place grid penalties
- Vettel has slight strategy advantage (Japanese Grand Prix fuel weights)
- Japanese Grand Prix grid (updated)
- Sebastian Vettel takes pole in crash-hit session (Japanese Grand Prix qualifying)
- Crashes for Alguersuari, Glock and Kovalainen halt Japan qualifying (Video)
John H said on 4th October 2009, 8:21
If we get rain at Interlagos, Vettel might just have a tiny chance of snatching it.
TommyB said on 4th October 2009, 8:26
A Button DNF is needed and with the reliability of the Brawn GP car there is 0.01% chance of Button not finishing
steph90 said on 4th October 2009, 11:13
Look at Spa, someone could smash into him. Car isn’t everything and he could make a mistake.
Scribe said on 4th October 2009, 9:06
Button needs to finish fourth…
well Barrichello’s probably going to win it, so I’d say Brawn 1-2 at a track where they should be strong to wrap up the season.
Harv's said on 4th October 2009, 9:55
if Mclaren want to beat Ferrari, kovi needs to step up! big time! its so close but you never know when fisco might start scoring points
pitt layne said on 4th October 2009, 11:02
Vettel squashed everyone in Japan. Why wouldn’t he have a similar car, mechanically, at Interlagos. The backend of the track might suit some other cars but from the final turn to the first half, I don’t see a lot of difference. The Brawns need to band together or have the drivers go against each other. Rubens should get a mental boost from his home track. Button is too English to go rogue and do something extreme. Either way, they better wake up. Or else we’ll see another British driver choke at the last second.
Mcclaaren (Y) said on 4th October 2009, 11:36
Anytime Brawn Say The Next Circuit Will Suit Them, Mclaren Always Win Or On The Podium!
Hungary
Valencia
Singapore
I Really Hope It Goes To The End Of The Season With Jenson Winning But After A Champions Display In Abu Dhabi.
If He Doesnt Produce A Champions Display Then He Shouldnt Win
Ok Winning 6 of the first 7 Races Is Amazing, But Since Then Hes Been Shambles! A Point There Another Here
:/
Id Love Vettel & Ruby To Be Within 10 Points Of Button In Abu Dhabi. Would Be Very Interesting!
Nitpicker said on 5th October 2009, 13:31
Winning six out of seven races isn’t a champion’s display?
SaloolaS said on 5th October 2009, 15:30
Those 6 races he had by far the fastest car and the easiest one to drive.
Kovy said on 8th October 2009, 1:30
And Barrichello has driven better over more races, it just so happened he didn’t have a dominant care when he was on form.
Prisoner Monkeys said on 4th October 2009, 13:17
Vettel really needs some results to go his way if he wants to win. On the other hand, if Button gets fourth or fifth in Interlagos, it’s pretty much his regardless of where the others finish.
First of all, posting entirely in caps isn’t on. It’s against etiquette and the forum’s software prevents it, but capitalises every first lett, which makes things hard to read.
Secondly, people are being too critical of Button simply because he’s been off-form in the second half. If this were Hamilton, Alonso, Raikkonen or Massa that we were talking about, you’d all be commending them for holding onto their title chances so well.
steph90 said on 4th October 2009, 16:27
PM I think you are now secretly supporting Barrichello
;)Mikeduke said on 5th October 2009, 7:54
I don’t really get what all this extra talk about the title race being more open now.
Before Japan, Button needed 15 points to guarantee the championship.
After Japan, Button only needs 6 points to win!
Job done!
kallan said on 6th October 2009, 7:54
So mathematically Vettel needs a win and second place without Button scoring? Sounds very unlikely now