For the third year in a row, we are all set for a showdown at Interlagos. Though this time the chasing pack need a result to keep them in the hunt for the final race in Abu Dhabi, while Jenson Button stands on the verge of finally securing the title.
Talking Points
- Last Chance Saloon
The Brazilian Grand Prix is not quite win-or-bust for the plucky but points-deficient pair of Rubens Barrichello and Sebastian Vettel, but it almost may as well be. In particular, for Vettel to retain any hope of winning the title after this weekend, he will need to finish in top two places, though should Button conspire to finish 5th or higher, nothing the German can muster will be able to take his hopes to a final round shootout. Although the chances of Button doing that well are rather improbable given his and the Brawn GP car's performance in the latter stages of the season, Vettel himself will face a real battle for the victory, from the resurgent form of Lewis Hamilton and the likes of Toyota and Ferrari. Still, he knows that he needs to be at the front to have any chance, so his approach can be absolutely on the edge of "ragging it".
For Barrichello, a podium finish will be needed if Button scores any points at all, which again may be something of a tall order. The main issue he will have to overcome, along with the fact that his car is likely to be far from a shoe-in for a podium spot, is his own miserable form in front of his home fans. In all of his long F1 career, Barrichello has a best finish of third in 2004, the only time he has stood on the podium in front of his home fans in 16 years of trying. But realistically he'll need to at least match that result this weekend in order to stand any chance of playing his own part in a last-race decider. At least he won't have to suffer the ignominy of fellow Brazilian Felipe Massa showing him up a treat this season, except at the end of the race, when Massa will wave the chequered flag to end the race, and possibly Barrichello's title dreams.
- Button Pushing?
For Jenson Button, of course, his destiny couldn't be more in his own hands if he had some sort of God-like control over his fellow men, allowing him to smite Vettel with a series of large painful boils on his backside and give Barrichello a heavy dose of man flu for the race. While pottering around for the miserly amount of points you need to secure the title may not be the most glamorous way of securing a world championship, Lewis Hamilton proved last year that this doesn't mean it doesn't end up being a memorable occasion.
Given that Button hasn't led a lap now for over half of the season, his title credentials have come in for all sorts of questioning, and he may be tempted to try and silence his critics with some sort of stunning display in Brazil. But given the often-dismal pace of the Brawn car in the second half of 2009, the likelihood is that it will be a circumspect approach taken by the long-time championship leader. Still, maybe he'll find the time to lead a lap or two in Abu Dhabi instead.
- Whether the Weather
Last year's crazy Brazilian title showdown (see below) was largely made as chaotic as it was by a pair of sudden and largely unexpected rain showers right at the start and the end of the race. This year, though, teams have got a bit more notice about the wet weather that may potentially blight this weekend's action. Heavy intermittent showers are predicted for Friday and Saturday, with the prospect of rain receding slightly for Sunday, giving the tantalising possibility of a mixed-up wet weather affected grid for the race that is as tinglingly exciting as it is unlikely to happen. Still, the prospect of a few weather-based curveballs to spice up the action this weekend will probably be music to the ears of the championship outsiders, so don't be surprised to spot Barrichello and Vettel dancing a rain dance in the paddock on Saturday.
- Best of the Rest
While the improbable likes of Button, Vettel, Barrichello, Red Bull and Brawn GP fight over the big prizes this weekend, the more familiar faces of McLaren and Ferrari have a scrap of their own developing, albeit for the slightly naff prize of "third place in the constructors championship". Still, third is a place too, and the meagre bragging rights from one of the big guns finishing ahead of the other is probably enough to spur the pair of them on. Or at least, it seems to be enough to spur McLaren on. Ferrari are a sitting duck on current form, and only two points separate them in the standings.
Realistically, though, this seems largely to be a battle between Hamilton and Raikkonen, with Heikki Kovalainen continuing to drift aimlessly towards the job centre and Giancarlo Fisichella still redoubtably refusing to get the hang of his "dream drive".
The All-Important Championship Information
Jenson Button will be crowned world champion in Brazil if:
- He finishes in the top three.
- He finishes 4th or 5th and Barrichello doesn't win.
- He finishes 6th or 7th and Barrichello doesn't finish in the top 2 AND Vettel doesn't win.
- He finishes 8th and Barrichello doesn't finish on the podium AND Vettel doesn't finish in the top two.
- He finishes out of the points and Barrichello doesn't finish in the top 4 AND Vettel doesn't finish in the top two.
Track Facts
Autódromo José Carlos Pace
Number of Laps: 71
Circuit Length: 4.309 km
Race Distance: 305.909 km
Lap Record: 1:11.473 (Juan Pablo Montoya - 2004)
2008 pole: Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
2008 winner: Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
Timetable
Friday 16th October
Free Practice 1 - 10:00 (Local Time) / 14.00 (BST)
Free Practice 2 - 14.00 (Local Time) / 18.00 (BST)
Saturday 17th October
Free Practice 3 - 11.00 (Local Time) / 15.00 (BST)
Qualifying - 14.00 (Local Time) / 18.00 (BST)
Sunday 18th October
Race - 14.00 (Local Time) / 17.00 (BST)
Race Revisited -2003
If proof were ever needed that F1 goes a bit mental when it starts raining, then that proof is all nicely wrapped up in a nice neat package called "the 2003 Brazilian GP". Heavy showers blighted race day, and a dodgy drain at turn three didn't help matters by sending a river of water across the track, causing a series of drivers, including Juan Pablo Montoya and Michael Schumacher (who recorded his first retirement since mid-2001 by ending in a soggy mess in the barriers) to spin into an early demise. All in all, four safety cars were needed during a chaotic, crash-filled race.
Before the spins though, the racing had already been electric, with cars struggling for grip given the varying track conditions and the fact that they were limited to a single type of wet tyre for that season. David Coulthard assumed a comfortable lead after Schumacher took himself out, but pitted for the final time and handed the lead to his team mate Raikkonen, who was immediately passed by the improbable form of Fisichella in his normally useless Jordan-Ford. At around the same time, Mark Webber lost control and slammed the barriers at the final flat-out kink, littering the track with Jaguar debris. Everyone got the memo to slow down except for Fernando Alonso, who ploughed into a strewn tyre at full speed and narrowly avoided serious injury.
The extra debris from Alonso's shunt, though, was enough to see the race red flagged, with Fisichella celebrating, even as his car set itself on fire in the pits. But then, on the podium, it was Raikkonen who got the top spot, handed the win back on countback after the red flag. The result was challenged, and bizarrely, at the next race at Imola, Fisichella was presented with the winners trophy after all, sealing Jordan's last ever GP win and rounding out a thoroughly mental grand prix story in the process.
Watch highlights of the carnage unfolding by going here.
One Year Ago
Last year's Brazilian GP featured, if you can just about recall, an almost ludicrous conclusion to the title battle between Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa, with the Brazilian Ferrari man dutifully dominating his home event, and left hoping Hamilton would fail to finish in the top five, while Hamilton embarked on a one-man entertainment mission, dropping back following a poor tactical call to change from intermediates to slick tyres early on, recovering to fourth, dropping to fifth after a late rain shower saw Timo Glock gamble on staying out on dry grooved rubber, sliding wide at Juncao with two laps to go and losing fifth to Sebastian Vettel's Toro Rosso, only to ghost past a floundering Glock on the final lap to secure the title at the last corner of the season.
Cue explosions of joy on ITV, beaming grins from Team Hamilton and shocked boos from the partizan Brazilian crowd. Not that McLaren's protege was complaining, securing a title he looked to have thrown away after choking at the same track spectacularly at the end of 2007. But as magical as the final result was for Hamilton, it was equally as sickening for Massa, whose family celebrated in the Ferrari pits as their boy took the chequered flag, unaware of the drama unfolding behind.
Relive the palpable tension of a surreal title showdown with Patty's lap-by-lap report on the action here or read Patronise's altogether calmer race review here.
Best Race Odds
Sebastian Vettel - 9/4 (Blue Sq)
Lewis Hamilton - 13/5 (Skybet)
Rubens Barrichello - 8/1 (888sport)
Mark Webber - 8/1 (William Hill)
Jenson Button - 12/1 (Skybet)
Patty's Tip - The bookies have the race win itself as a virtual two horse race between Vettel and Hamilton, leaving very little of any interest there. But as a novely bet, with the weather forecasting rain on the way, and chaotic Brazilian Grands Prix of the past as precedent, Bet365 offering odds of 5/2 for less than 15 cars making the finish seems more than a little generous. A first lap contretemps and a couple of Renault engine failures and you could be quids in. Go on, bet on it! You've got to pay the mortgage somehow!
On Patronise
Patty will be pushing the boat out for what could prove to be the title-deciding weekend of the 2009 season. By which we mean we'll be pretty much doing what we do every race weekend. Our intrepid writers will be here for every moment of on-track action, wittering away making live updates as the action happens, and then summing up the session in report form afterwards. Opinion, news and Fifth Column will all be here as well, so stick with PatroniseF1 for the Brazilian GP, unless you prefer one of the 21,987 more popular F1 sites out there on the internet.
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