It’s getting closer to the end of the 2009 Formula 1 season and the great lead Jenson Button had in the drivers championship in F1 is diminishing race by race. The drivers title is really starting to heat up now, not far behind is Rubens Barrichello but Sebastian Vettel is coming up very fast from behind in the Red Bull.
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel brought his world championship hopes alive again with a superb victory in Japan on Sunday afternoon, winning as he pleased and leading Jarno Trulli’s Toyota home by 4.8s despite a late safety car intervention. Lewis Hamilton was third for McLaren, another 1.5s adrift, after losing out to Trulli in the second pit stops.
Seventh place for Rubens Barrichello, just ahead of Brawn team mate Jenson Button, leaves the championship points table as Button 85, Barrichello 71, Vettel 69 with two races remaining.
Ahead of the duelling Brazilian and the Englishman, Kimi Raikkonen brought his Ferrari home fourth after a fighting drive, while Nico Rosberg made some amends for his Singapore error by taking fifth for Williams. Nick Heidfeld was sixth for BMW Sauber.
| Pos | Driver | Nationality | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jenson Button | British | Brawn-Mercedes | 85 |
| 2 | Rubens Barrichello | Brazilian | Brawn-Mercedes | 71 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | German | RBR-Renault | 69 |
| 4 | Mark Webber | Australian | RBR-Renault | 51.5 |
| 5 | Kimi Räikkönen | Finnish | Ferrari | 45 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | British | McLaren-Mercedes | 43 |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | German | Williams-Toyota | 34.5 |
| 8 | Jarno Trulli | Italian | Toyota | 30.5 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | Spanish | Renault | 26 |
| 10 | Timo Glock | German | Toyota | 24 |
| 11 | Felipe Massa | Brazilian | Ferrari | 22 |
| 12 | Heikki Kovalainen | Finnish | McLaren-Mercedes | 22 |
| 13 | Nick Heidfeld | German | BMW Sauber | 15 |
| 14 | Robert Kubica | Polish | BMW Sauber | 9 |
| 15 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Italian | Ferrari | 8 |
| 16 | Adrian Sutil | German | Force India-Mercedes | 5 |
| 17 | Sebastien Buemi | Swiss | STR-Ferrari | 3 |
| 18 | Sebastien Bourdais | French | STR-Ferrari | 2 |
| 19 | Kazuki Nakajima | Japanese | Williams-Toyota | 0 |
| 20 | Nelsinho Piquet | Brazilian | Renault | 0 |
| 21 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Italian | Force India-Mercedes | 0 |
| 22 | Luca Badoer | Italian | Ferrari | 0 |
| 23 | Romain Grosjean | French | Renault | 0 |
| 24 | Jaime Alguersuari | Spanish | STR-Ferrari | 0 |
As the drivers’ world championship heats up, Brawn have all but settled the constructors’ with 156 points to Red Bull’s 120.5, placing the latter within half a point of clinching that crown.
