Motorsport: Victorious Brawn GP 'crying like little girls'

While his son Jenson was still trying to take it all in, it was down to his father, John, to sum up their feelings: "I'm a bit drained," he said with an element of understatement.

"The last seven or eight laps, we were all crying like little girls. I'm all washed out at the moment, I've got to accept where he is now, up there with all those great names. I haven't got my head round it."

It was a long road Button had to take to victory, and even after being crowned World Champion he admitted: "The last few races have been a bit stressful for me. I didn't win the race today but I came through."

He added: "Yesterday after qualifying I felt sick because of how tough it was but it made it all better today."

Team manager Ross Brawn broke down in tears after the race, barely able to comprehend the size of his achievement. A choked Brawn said: "It's still got to sink in. It will take a while. It's just special. Very special."

Lewis Hamilton graciously acknowledged Button's achievement as he said: "I must say congratulations to Jenson. A great job. A great season."

Ever since the British Grand Prix in July, Button has carried a monkey on his back. That was when he ceased to be the pacesetter in Formula 1, having won six of the opening seven races in such devastating style that the world championship seemed such a foregone conclusion.

On his home turf he was beaten soundly, not just by Sebastian Vettel but also by team-mate Rubens Barrichello, whom he had so easily vanquished previously.

The more they raced, the more he seemed to struggle, only Monza in September bringing a valid performance with second place in the Italian Grand Prix.

Most of the time it was seemingly feeble fifths, sixths, sevenths or eighths places - hardly the stuff of true champions. From being the man who had so dramatically redeemed himself at the start of the season, Button had become a figure for whom respect seemed to disappearing as fast as the cars ahead of him.

When he qualified only 14th here in the rain on Saturday, as Barrichello took pole, even his most ardent supporters were embarrassed.

His Brawn team owner Ross Brawn admitted: "We are just not seeing the magic from him that we did in the first half of the season."

Part of it was Brawn's difficulty in generating good tyre temperatures at cool weather races. Part of it was Button's innate smoothness, which failed to heat the rubber as effectively as did Barrichello's more aggressive style. Button, it seemed, could not change his style.

"I'm very disappointed to be down where I am," he had admitted, and he had never looked more depressed. "Vettel is behind me, but Rubens is on pole. It was a terrible qualifying and very frustrating. It makes tomorrow very interesting. It is going to have to be a hell of a race from me, and I don't want to just be picking up a couple of points. I want a much better result than that, so I am going to be fighting tomorrow."

And he did fight. Yes, he was lucky with some of the carnage ahead of him on a dramatic opening lap but he also made his own luck with some feisty moves on Romain Grosjean, Kazuki Nakajima and Kamui Kobayashi.

It was as if the real Jenson Button turned up, and there was nothing feeble or insecure about the way he went about cementing his title with a race to spare. The confidence was back, in spades, and he got the job done in style.

"Jenson deserved the championship," said race winner Mark Webber. "He drove beautifully in the first part of the season, and he's driven well elsewhere during stints when he's been on his back foot, too.

"I'd like to congratulate him, he's done a great job. I think he'll sleep better now!"

- THE INDEPENDENT

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