Last year’s Brazilian GP was a thriller. This year, for the first time since 2003, Interlagos isn’t the last race of the season, but it could still see title-deciding drama. So, who are the likely protagonists?
Sebastian Vettel (GER) – RBR-Renault
Current position in standings: 3rd, 69pts
It didn’t rain in Japan, but no matter. Seb looked like he’d been driving at Suzuka all his life. All the 22-year-old can do is try to win again and hope the two Brawn drivers ahead of him in the championship drop points at Interlagos. Japan was a great precedent, and Vettel might just have the momentum to take the fight to Abu Dhabi.
Rubens Barrichello (BRA) – Brawn-Mercedes
Current position in standings: 2nd, 71pts
A pole for Rubens in 2003 and third in 2004 for Ferrari are as good as it’s got in front of his home fans, but what a time this would be to get a Brazilian victory. With a switch to Williams looking likely for next year, rather than the enforced retirement otherwise predicted, this season still represents the veteran’s best chance of a maiden drivers’ title, and he must grab it with both hands this weekend.
Jenson Button (GBR) – Brawn-Mercedes
Current position in standings: 1st, 85pts
Penalised in qualifying in Japan, then unlucky at the start of the race, but despite seeing Vettel and his team-mate Barrichello close the gap at the top, Jenson did rescue a point for eighth. Many people – F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone among them – want the title fight to go down to the wire in Abu Dhabi, but Jenson will be doing everything possible in São Paulo to spoil that particular party.
Lewis Hamilton (GBR) – McLaren-Mercedes
Current position in standings: 6th, 43pts
Lewis’s Brazilian GP can’t possibly be as dramatic as last year’s, but a win in Singapore and third in Japan recently will have excited the reigning champ. Next year’s McLaren will be better, but with Kimi Räikkönen back at the team, and Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa in (surely also improved) Ferraris for 2010, Lewis could do with laying down a marker and banking another win now. The recovering Massa will no doubt be looking on with interest…
Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) – Toyota
Current position in standings: n/a, 0pts
One minute, Timo Glock was putting himself in the shop window for next season, the next he was in the barriers with a leg wound that kept him out of the Japanese GP. It turns out he also cracked a vertebra, so Toyota test driver Kamui Kobayashi gets a shot, becoming this season’s 25th participant and the fourth rookie in a season that began with just one. Inconsistent Toyota are either at the front or the back this season, but anywhere in the middle of the back would be a superb result for the 23-year-old Japanese driver.
Comments
Add a comment