9 years in, Button meets F1 expectations

Newly crowned Formula One champion Jenson Button's season has been a contrast of a fantasy start followed by a string of lackluster results that tightened the title competition.

That ended Sunday at the Brazilian Grand Prix, when the Brawn GP driver, starting in the No. 14 position after a poor qualifying run, drove an aggressive, masterful race to finish in fifth and take the championship.

"I dreamt on Friday night that qualifying was going to be terrible, and it was," Button said after the win. "I also dreamt Friday night that I would be world champion this weekend."

Long burdened by unmet expectations and shots from critics who said he was more party boy than world-class driver, Button said that surviving the ferocious individual competition with teammate Rubens Barrichello this season was answer enough for his critics.

"None of it matters, because I'm sat here as world champion and that is something you can never take away," he said. "I've had an up and down season, but I've come out on top and I'm world champion. I don't need to say anything."

Button, 29, came into Brazil with a 14-point lead over teammate Barrichello - a comfortable margin that became less so after his poor qualifier and Barrichello's winning the pole position.

"After qualifying I really struggled. I sat in my room and saw the worst thing that could possibly happen for me, which was my teammate put on pole.

"I felt sick, I really did. For a little while that stayed. Then I went and saw the boys. I had a couple of drinks and I was ready for action today," he said.

Button gave Britain back-to-back F1 titles for the first time since Graham Hill won in 1968 and Jackie Stewart in 1969. British driver Lewis Hamilton won last year for McLaren.

Button's father John, a former rally driver, celebrated his son's victory in the paddock and was teary-eyed with relief at Jenson winning the elusive title.

"Since he was 8-years-old he wanted to be a Formula One world champion. And now he is, forever," the elder Button said. "The last seven or eight laps, we were all crying like little girls. He was crying on the radio in his car!"

Button made his F1 debut in 2000 touted as the next British star, but his only highlight season until now had been in 2004 with BAR-Honda. He finished third in the standings behind Ferrari drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello thanks to one pole position and 10 podium finishes.

His first F1 win came at the Hungarian GP with Honda in 2006, and his other six career victories came in the first seven races of this season.

He struggled to maintain the same dominance in the final part of the year as Brawn GP's superiority diminished, but was consistent enough to arrive at the final two races with a solid lead in the drivers' standings.

As the season neared its end, tensions within the Brawn garage understandably grew. But both Button and Barrichello put on affable faces this week and had only compliments for one another.

"If Rubens won the championship I would absolutely hate him," Buttons good-humoredly told reporters on Thursday.

Both Button and Barrichello were lucky to find seats for this season.

Less than a year ago, Button was without a ride, as Honda yanked its team from F1 in response to the global financial crisis.

But in March longtime F1 figure Ross Brawn took over the team, just three weeks before the season-opening Australian GP.

For Button, the months between Honda's December announcement it was pulling out of F1 and the finalization of the Brawn deal was brutal, but ultimately worth the wait.

"It was a tough winter. I didn't know if I'd be racing in F1 this year, and that's the truth," he said. I'm happy that we've been able to turn it around - this is the end of the fairy tale."