Who do you want to be champion? (Poll)
Button leads by 14 points but hasn't won a race since Turkey
There are two races to go and three drivers left in the championship. Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello and Sebastian Vettel have all won at least two races each but they’ve all made mistakes and they’ve all had bad races.
Which of the three do you want to win the drivers’ title? Do any of the deserve the crown? Cast your vote and have your say below.
Who do you want to be champion?
- Jenson Button (37%)
- Rubens Barrichello (31%)
- Sebastian Vettel (24%)
- I don't care (8%)
Total Voters: 4,305
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This time last year there were three completely different drivers in the running: Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa and Robert Kubica. The latter was the driver most people wanted to win the championship, and not just because of the potential for a late upset in the championship – Kubica was also voted the best driver of 2008 by F1 Fanatic readers.
My favourite for the title this year is Button, simply because he’s won more races than the other two put together.
What’s disorientating about Button is how much poorer the second half of his season has been than the first – which has already provoked some people on the forum to ask whether he deserves the championship.
He is, however, driving the shrewd late-season camaign that Hamilton completely failed to do in 2007, and nearly failed to do last year. Athough Button’s qualifying performance at Suzuka wasn’t up to scratch, he almost overcame it with a race drive that blended patience, speed and opportunism.
This is not a vintage title battle. Whichever of the three wins the title, I don’t think any of them have consistently dominated the opposition in such a manner that it might count among on of the all-time great championship wins.
But perhaps you see it differently. Who do you want to win the championship this year – and why?
Read more: Championship points after Japan
Drivers' championship battle (click to enlarge)
Paul said on 7th October 2009, 17:11
Vettel id like to win we know what Vettel is all about. Rubens id like to win because he is lovable, fustratable(sp?), seen as the no. 2, Rubens. Button gives me nothing as a viewer he doesn’t have that calculated win at all costs mentality or those spurts of genius you see from champions, fair play if he wins it, but i’m no fan.
Lobo said on 7th October 2009, 17:15
This season reminds me 1999, the season nobody wanted to win. Both McLaren and Ferrari (even Jordan) tried so hard not to win that at the end they split championships. This year we have had the same. Even tough I voted Vettel for egoistic reasons (I’d like to see more WCD on the long run). The one who “deserves” not to lose it is Jenson, only because he took advantage of the machinery at the beginning of the season and because of the errors the other teams/drivers have made.
Hallard said on 7th October 2009, 18:37
Interesting that this has become more of a debate on whether or not Jenson “deserves” the title, or if he’ll make a “worthy” world champion. You cant deny the fact that he dominated the first half of the season and has done enough to hang onto his lead, but I think in evaluating Button we should take Ross Brawn’s opinion into account. He clearly understands Button’s performance better than just about anyone. And Ross seems to be willing to drop button over minor money squabbles, even though it is likely he will be world champion. Money talks…
StrFerrari4Ever said on 7th October 2009, 18:43
I personally want Vettel to win as I like him the most out of all 3.
His clearly got the speed and potential to win multiple world drivers titles & if he manages to get this year’s one he’ll show people his a serious threat.
Yes he may have made errors which could ultimately cost him but so has Rubens & Jenson it’s going to be a case of who wants it the most and who goes all out to get it and I believe Vettel has the mentality to do that.
ashes1991 said on 7th October 2009, 19:45
I would like to see Button win it, I know that he has had his problems this last half of the season, but he has won 6 races more than Hamilton did last year and the same as Raikkonen in 2007.
I think what he said about Hamilton is wrong and disappointing and if Button does do a Hamilton I would much rather see Barrichello win it over Vettle, sadly one day vettle will win it, but this could be one of Rubens last chances if not his last.
So even though I’m a fan of Jenson, I would be more than happy to see Barricehllo do the Job.
Just imagine his dance on the podium or in the paddock if Barrichello won it :)
ashes1991 said on 7th October 2009, 19:48
I can also say one thing, I highly doubt we will see these teams competing for the title next year. Next season will be awesome, Ferrari vs McLaren, may get a little boring but I Think we will see a few different drivers win races, so will be better than 07&08 :)
Hallard said on 7th October 2009, 20:25
I think you are right. I dont see any of these guys competing for the title next year when the playing field is more level (maybe Vettel), but I’d love to be proven wrong!
ashes1991 said on 7th October 2009, 20:54
So would I it would be amazing if it was three or four different teams fighting for the title?
Simon said on 7th October 2009, 21:36
If Jensen has the most points at the end of the championship then as others have said, he will be a deserving champion. I would rather he win it than any of the other contenders, since he has so far out-performed them all. Having said that, I just don’t find myself getting as excited about the prospect of him winning the Championship as I was for Hamilton in the previous 2 years.
The argument that if you “reverse Button’s results this season”, we’d all be talking about how great a champion he would be is non-sensical. We know the reason he won the first 6 out of 7 races is largely due to the car. Now that other teams have caught up, he has not stood out much at all. Whilst the car is probably the main factor (as always) in the drop back, comments from Ross Brawn saying that Jensen has under-performed in qualifying sometimes don’t completely support that view point.
Even if it’s not an entirely rational position, I would not consider Button’s victory this year to be on par with previous years. I want to see him perform in a front-running car without a huge performance benefit during the first half of the season. That is not his fault of course, but as a spectator I want to see competitive racing, not a host of forgone conclusions.
The Hamilton / Massa duel of last year was more exciting because neither car had an absolute performance advantage for a long period of time. There was not so much talk of the car being the defining factor in that season, but this year it is hard to look past.
Pink Peril said on 9th October 2009, 0:17
Exactly. Really, the championship should always be a close contest – you have the so-called 20 best drivers on the plant duelling it out, & theoretically all of them should be in for the win, and have a car capable of winning. To have one driver dominate completely can only be down to two things. Sheer brilliance (a la Schuey) or a far superior car – a la Button.
If Button wins, it’ll only be because of the car & his floundering less than those around him. Hardly the stuff of legend, is it?
Personally, I’d like to see Rubens win. For a host of reasons, really, but mostly because I’d love to see the oldest man in the field with the most race starts to his name have the one stat that really matters next to his name. And what a boon it would be for old guys everywhere !
No Brainer said on 7th October 2009, 23:23
I think that the FIA should change the rules for the last two races and award 40 points for a win and that’s it!!!! Then we may end up with a deserving champion.
Go Lewis
Hallard said on 8th October 2009, 0:07
Im sure youre not serious but that is a pretty terrible idea. Raikonnen and Hamilton would drive the wheels off their cars for a 40 pt victory. Can you imagine the first-corner mayhem? Button would be screwed!
Dennis said on 8th October 2009, 1:00
Tough one! I don’t like Rubens that much (there I said it!) because he does act like a crybaby occasionally. “boohoo the team mademe loose, it feels just like the Schumacher years :(“, Rubens shut up and drive faster if you don’t want to be second. On the other hand, he does shut up and he is driving faster so I’ll give him that..
Button drove a dream car and he doesn’t make many mistakes but that’s it. If he can dominate a race he’ll win, if he can’t he’s struggling.
Vettel is my favourite driver of those three but I really feel that he’s going to be a world champion at one point in his carreer. The guy is unbelievably fast and he seems to be tremendous at setting up cars (RB already has doubled the points they had in the years before together since Vettel came along, also of course Adrian Newey’s design helps!), if he can get more consistent in the next years he will be champion. I’d still pick him!
Dennis said on 8th October 2009, 1:01
oh yeah, Vettel is going to be world champion at some point where I feel that for Button and Barrichello it’s kind of their last chance ever.
Alex 3 said on 8th October 2009, 1:27
Come on folks let’s be realistic here.
Vettel has to hope Button scores no more points and he scores at least 17 points in the next 2 races which means a win and a second. If he wins both races and Button scores but 4 they end up tied and Button wins on race wins.
Rubens has much the same problem but could do it with 2 second place finishes if Button scores no additional points and Vettel fails to score more than Rubens.
Sentimentally I would like Rubens to win but realistically that won’t happen.
Maybe Vettel should get Webber involved assuming he is high enough on the grid to take Button out in both races.
The Limit said on 8th October 2009, 15:43
I am not so sure you can compare this year’s title race to that of 2007, or in that case 2008, so simply.
In 2007, the battle between Hamilton and Alonso was far more intense, close, and ill natured more consistent than this year. No driver that season enjoyed the power performance advantage that Button did at the beginning of 2009.
It is true that Hamilton cracked under the pressure when 2007 reached its climax, but Keith forgot to mention several factors in his article. Hamilton was in his first season in F1, going head to head with one of the fastest and complete drivers this sport has seen in decades. In the same car!
Add to the equation the Raikkonen factor, in a Ferrari that had rapidly improved over the summer months, and we had a battle royale no one had seen since 1986.
In 2008, Felipe Massa surprised everyone with winning more races than anyone else, in a car that was clearly the overall best of the field. Hamilton, on many occasions, suffered due to penalties, some deserved and some beyond dubious.
Lets not forget, if Hamilton had not been punished for the events that occured at Spa, 2008 would have looked alot more convincing a victory.
Jenson, on the other hand, along with Barrichello, are some of the most experienced F1 drivers of this era. Both are alot more experienced than Vettel. When Rubens first raced a Jordan F1 car in 1993, Vettel was just six years old!
The advantage Brawn Gp gained at the season’s opening seven races has proved almost decisive, and Barrichello’s inability to make the most of that may well cost him his last realistic chance of becoming champion.
My gut instinct is that Jenson Button will prevail, and I bear him no ills in doing so. But to suggest that his situation is the same as Lewis’ in 2007 would only be true if Alonso was driving a Brawn Gp car.
In Vettel, we have without a doubt the ‘next big thing’ in F1 racing. The boy has champion written all over him, and is popular amongst the F1 fraternity.
Bernie Ecclestone himself has endorsed Vettel as a ‘fast, approachable, and well spoken’ young man. We will see!
rampante said on 8th October 2009, 22:39
some of these comments are just wonderful, love the 40 points last race. How about they have to run to the cars like they used to at Le Mans and are allowed to trip eachother up. I would like Rubens to win for very personal reasons even though I don’t think he is WDC quality.Can’t remember who said that it is as poor as the Hill/vileneuve title and there I have to agree. JB had a car at the start that was so far ahead of the rest due to Honda giving up on the 08 car after 3 races. That will never hapen again. Vettel is good but not yet WDC. normal service will be resumed next year.
David Pedro said on 13th October 2009, 16:06
Amazing how british patriotism works: most of the votes for Button (at least by the time of this comment)!
The start of the season was good, but he’s done nothing but crap ever since…
Paul Glucklich said on 18th October 2009, 21:43
I don’t think Button was a deserving champion. He has a very cocky attitude – full of himself and the only reason he has won the championship is because his car was way ahead of the rest of the field at the start of the season and managed to build up a good lead. I also wonder if Barrichello really did have a puncture at the end of the race or was it team tactics coming in to play to get him off the track and give Button a bigger chance of winning the championship. Think next season with Hamilton, Massa etc back in the thick of it, it will be a very different season for Button.
antonyob said on 19th October 2009, 9:25
A stunningly sour post Glucklich
God help us from armchair fans sneering at world champs because they dare to say they’re happy they’ve won. At a guess apart half if not more of all the 60 or so winners have owed something to luck, a superior car and or favouritism.
Buttons drive yesterday was as good as ive ever seen in 30 years of watching the sport and whilst he has a flaw in his make up, id hardly say that makes him unworthy. In fact quite the reverse, despite him getting the yips he carried on getting points when he was hopelessly out of form.