PARIS: Jenson Button, who began 2009 in danger of becoming a dole queue millionaire, ended it as world champion after a year where Formula 1 lurched from one drama to another.

LONDON: Formula 1 champion Jenson Button says his move to McLaren will take him outside of his comfort zone so he can truly measure himself against Lewis Hamilton. The Briton said this morning he had felt he needed to find a fresh challenge after winning the title.

LONDON: Formula 1 champion Jenson Button cannot expect to cash in from the Mercedes takeover of Brawn even though the team want him to stay, Brawn chief executive Nick Fry said this morning.

“We’ve had discussions with Jenson which we think are a sensible salary and this is not going to change anything in that respect,” Fry told BBC radio after the takeover was announced.

AN emotional Jenson Button was only capable of saying the obvious after clinching the 2009 title in Brazil this morning: “I am the World Champion, baby!”

SAO PAULO: Brazilian Grand Prix victor Mark Webber paid tribute to newly-crowned world champion Jenson Button this morning, admitting the Brawn driver was a worthy title winner.

Red Bull driver Webber said Button, who charged from 14th on the grid to finish fifth, deserved his championship.

The Australain said: “He drove very well in the early part of the season. It was not easy to have error-free weekends.

“He has driven very well. Brawn had some strengths and weaknesses, but JB did a good job so I want to congratulate him.”

LONDON: Prime Minister Gordon Brown yesterday congratulated Jenson Button on becoming the 10th British driver to win the Formula 1 world title.

“I want to send my warmest congratulations to Jenson Button for clinching the Formula 1 drivers’ championship today in Brazil, on the same circuit that Lewis Hamilton won the drivers’ championship last year,” Brown said in a statement. “We can be proud that Jenson is the 10th British driver to win the title.

INTERLAGOS, Sao Paulo hosts the penultimate round of the 2009 Formula 1 World Championship. It has been the scene for memorable title deciders in the last two years, with Kimi Raikkonen snatching the title from the McLaren duo (Lewis Hamilton & Fernando Alonso) in 2007 and Hamilton winning the 2008 title on the very last corner.

 

BRAWN GP’S Jenson Button insists he is “feeling positive” despite claims from others that he is a man under pressure. Button’s early-season charge towards Formula 1 world title glory has faltered alarmingly over the last five Grands Prix, in which he has taken only 11 points.

 

AUSTRALIAN ace and Red Bull’s Mark Webber has refuted claims that championship leader Jenson Button is cracking under pressure after the Briton registered his fi rst ‘DNF’ of the season in Belgium last Sunday.

Button headed to Spa on the back of four Grands Prix without a win — a marked difference to his earlier form that had seen him claim six victories in seven races.

LEADER Jenson Button is confident he can return to winning ways at this weekend’s German Grand Prix. Button’s storming run of four successive victories was brought to a halt in disappointing fashion on home soil last month when he could only manage sixth place at Silverstone.

The 29-year-old Brawn GP driver bemoaned the English weather as cool conditions meant he was unable to get sufficient heat on his tyres around a notoriously fast circuit. The climate in the Eifel mountains, home of the Nuerburgring, will not be too far removed from those experienced in Northamptonshire.