Jenson Button left trailing in his Brawn GP during practice

Jenson Button's first serious drive in his new Brawn GP ended in disappointment this morning as he trailed in fifth fastest during the two free practrice sessions ahead of Sunday's Australian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button go head to head

With Jenson Button setting the pace during testing in Spain this month and Lewis Hamilton floundering in what seems to be an uncompetitive McLaren Mercedes, Formula One fans could be about to witness the most dramatic role reversal since Dustin Hoffman donned a wig in Tootsie.

Jenson Button's chance of winning drivers’ world title could be over before it has begun

Jenson Button is facing the real possibility that his best chance of winning the Formula One drivers’ championship could be over almost before it has begun.

Jenson Button visits McLaren HQ

• World champion given a guided tour round McLaren HQ• Button would share equal billing with 2008 world championMcLaren have teed up Jenson Button to partner Lewis Hamilton in their 2010 Formula One line-up and the world champion could be close to turning his back on the Brawn team for whom he won this year's title. Button and his manager, Richard Goddard, today visited the McLaren headquarters at Woking, where they were given an escorted tour of the facilities by Martin Whitmarsh, the team principal. A contract could be signed as early as next week if terms can be finalised, creating the first team with two world champions competing alongside each other since Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were team-mates at McLaren in 1989."As I've said many times before, Jenson wants to drive a car which is capable of winning the next world championship," said Goddard. "We've been talking about possible terms for 2010 with Brawn for months and we're not being difficult or unreasonably expensive in our demands for Jenson. In fact we've given up quite a lot of negotiating ground in our discussions with them."McLaren have made Kimi Raikkonen their second choice if the Button approach fails, with Nick Heidfeld third favourite.Goddard made it clear that Button was not aiming for the £10m annual fee that drivers such as Hamilton and Fernando Alonso have under the terms of their existing agreements. But it is clear he wants more than the bargain-rate, reputed £4m deal he agreed with the emergent Brawn team before the start of last season to stay on the Formula One grid in a year when he was almost left kicking his heels in the pits with nothing to drive."I think it's also important that Jenson wants to feel valued in whatever situation he finds himself next season," Goddard added. "He needs to explore all the feasible options." A McLaren spokesman said: "Having just arrived at Heathrow, Jenson made a small detour to Woking to say hello."It is understood that Button has moved to the top of McLaren's wish-list over the past couple of months, with Whitmarsh and his fellow directors impressed by his tenacity in regaining his form to round off the season with two outstanding drives in the Brazilian and Abu Dhabi grands prix.However, Niki Lauda, who won the last of his three world championships with McLaren in 1984, and was paired there with Prost for two years, believes that Button would be best served in the long run by continuing to negotiate with Brawn. "One of the problems faced by drivers today is that there is generally less money around in the business than there was," he said. "So if I was Jenson, I would try to stay with Brawn even if Ross might pay him slightly less than McLaren. Of course, if McLaren are going to pay a lot more, then he must go."But the other thing he must consider is that it is Lewis's team and he needs to be sure he has the confidence to deal with this. It is a tough decision for Jenson and he needs to think it through carefully."McLaren also played host to Raikkonen on Wednesday when the 2007 world champion visited their base with his managers, David and Steve Robertson. The Robertsons – father and son – have an impressive reputation as negotiators, having not only secured Raikkonen an income of around £27m from Ferrari in 2008 but also cleverly inserted a clause in his contract whereby Ferrari were obliged to exercise their option to keep him in 2010 if he scored a certain number of championship points by the middle of 2008.That led to the current situation whereby Ferrari have chosen to pay off Raikkonen's contract for a figure believed to be between £15 and £17m to make room for Alonso. Raikkonen previously drove for McLaren from 2002-06.If Button should eventually join McLaren he would do so on equal footing to Hamilton as the team have always given absolute parity of equipment to their drivers and both would be permitted to race unfettered for grand prix wins and the world championship.Heidfeld, who was a McLaren test driver in the late 1990s, and the incumbent Heikki Kovalainen are also under consideration as potential candidates for the seat alongside Hamilton, although very much as outsiders.Formula OneJenson ButtonMcLarenBrawnAlan Henryguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Interlagos will be a pain in the neck for some drivers, says Jenson Button

Formula One championship leader believes not all drivers are fit enough to tackle the São Paulo circuitJenson Button today claimed that not all Formula One drivers are fit enough to tackle the São Paulo circuit, one of the most physically demanding on the calendar and host to the second-last race of a gruelling season. Interlagos, an undulating and bumpy track and one of just four on the calendar run in an anticlockwise direction, places high demands on a driver's neck muscles."I don't care what drivers say," said Button before taking part in today's practice sessions. "They think they're fit enough, but I don't think we are all fit enough to drive 100% every lap of this race. It's pretty tough physically at Interlagos even though there aren't many high-speed corners."Button's views on fitness were brought into perspective last week when he attended the Iron Man Triathlon in Hawaii. Button, who has taken part in the London triathlon, was impressed by the strength and resilience of elite competitors."Seeing the fitness, and also the pain they put themselves through, was inspirational," said Button. "It was the world championship; all the best people in the world. It was actually quite emotional, seeing what they go through to reach their goals. It's quite different to motor sport. When you get into the training side of the things which you need to do as a racing driver, you push yourself a little bit harder and know you're fit. But, physically, you really feel it round here. It's going to be quite a test for some drivers."Button was proved correct during morning practice when Vitantonio Liuzzi, short on Formula One race experience after being drafted into the Force India team four races ago, could be seen lolling his head to the right in left-hand corners after just 25 laps. Button, meanwhile, was dealing with brake problems and working on the handling of his Brawn while setting the seventh fastest time in the first 90-minute session. His championship rivals, Rubens Barrichello and Sebastian Vettel, were second and third fastest behind the Red Bull of Mark Webber.Morning practice was interrupted by occasional light showers which made the track even more treacherous than usual. Barrichello spun without harm, Sébastien Buemi damaged his Toro Rosso after spinning backwards into a barrier and Renault's Romain Grosjean brought practice to a temporary halt when he ran wide and destroyed a polystyrene marker board. Further rain affected the latter stages of the afternoon session, in which Fernando Alonso set the fastest time ahead of Buemi in his repaired car, with Rubens Barrichello third and Button fifth.If Button finishes on the podium after 71 laps on Sunday, the Brawn driver will become world champion by scoring more points than his team-mate Barrichello and Vettel of Red Bull. Button rejects the claim that he ought to take the title in champion style by winning the race at any price."Winning it like a champion is winning the championship," said Button. "Driving like a champion in this race would be to finish within a certain amount of points of my two title rivals. My intention is to win the race, as it always is. But winning the championship is about getting more points than anyone else over 17 races. Driving like a race winner is winning the race. I've won more races than anyone; no one can win more races this year. But the championship is what it's all about."Button won six of the first seven races but has not reached the top of the podium since the Turkish grand prix on 7 June. "I've not really lost any points since the Monaco grand prix [on 24 May]," he said . "You can say that people have done a better job than me from Monaco to now but when you look at the points, no one has really caught me in the championship and my lead has always been pretty much the same. Speak to any of the champions in the past; it's never a walk in the park unless you've got a much more superior car, like Michael Schumacher's Ferrari in 2004. But if you look back at the start of the season, the Red Bulls were just as competitive as us in Bahrain, Barcelona and a few other races, but we did a better job each time."Jenson ButtonFormula OneMotor sportMaurice Hamiltonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Jenson Button wins world title

• Briton seals championship after steady drive to fifth position• Pole-sitter and team-mate Barrichello suffers bad luckJenson Button has secured his maiden Formula One world championship for Brawn GP in the penultimate race of the season as Red Bull's Mark Webber won the Brazilian Grand Prix.Button took fifth place as his team-mate and rival Rubens Barrichello finished eighth and Sebastian Vettel - the only other driver capable of winning the crown - finished in fourth position."It's really amazing," said Button. "That was just such an awesome race - I deserve the title after that race! 21 years ago I jumped in a car and I loved winning. I never expected to be world champion in Formula One but I've done it today."Team boss Ross Brawn, who also watched the outfit secure the constructors' title in its first season, said: "Jenson's a fantastic racer and he knew what he had to do today. He deserves everything he's got."Webber, who had been running second in the early stages, took the lead after his first stop and did not relinquish it as the Red Bull proved the quickest car around Interlagos. Barrichello's grip on the race was loosened when he lost places after his first stop, crucially to BMW's Robert Kubica, who finished second. The Brazilian, who had started from pole position, lost third place with ten laps to go as a storming Lewis Hamilton - who started from 18th place after a disaster in the rain-hit qualifying session - benefitted from an early safety car period. Barrichello then suffered further disappointment with a puncture in the dying laps, being forced to pit and rejoin in eighth.Button had also benefitted from the safety car to make up places early on, showing his determination with a great move to pass Renault's Romain Grosjean after which he also picked off Williams' Kazuki Nakajima. Button pitted for the first time on lap 29, a clean stop bringing him out in tenth with two cars ahead still to pit. A fantastic move on Sebastien Buemi a few laps later, outbraking him into turn one, brought Button seventh place. Barrichello, lying fourth, had all the work to do but his race unravelled and he was unable to keep his title hopes alive.Vettel had done his best to stay in the hunt by taking a very long first stint and would be satisfied with his fourth place, even though Button's finishing position meant the title was out of his grasp. Given Barrichello's bad luck, it meant the Red Bull driver overtook him for second in the standings with a race to go.The opening laps of the grand prix were filled with incident as first an off-track fight almost erupted between Jarno Trulli and Adrian Sutil. Replays appeared to show Force India's Sutil forcing Trulli wide onto the grass, causing the Toyota to lose control and slide off into the barriers, tagging Sutil along the way. Sutil also ended up in the gravel trap and had to face a fuming Trulli in a discussion that almost became physical.A lap later Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was caught in a flash fire in the pit lane. The Finn had pitted to receive a new nose cone after tagging the back of Red Bull's Mark Webber. Ahead of him, earlier spinner Heikki Kovalainen was leaving the pits but with the fuel hose still attached to his McLaren. Fuel sprayed over the hot Ferrari, which was briefly engulfed in flames, although Raikkonen was unhurt and carried on.Final points standings:Jenson Button, 89Sebastian Vettel, 74Rubens Barrichello, 72Formula OneMotor sportJenson ButtonBrawnGemma Briggsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds