"McLaren driver Jenson Button says he is not giving up on defending his F1 crown ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix."

Well that's not what he alluded at the end of the Korean race.

"McLaren's Jenson Button admits his title chances are all but over after finishing 12th in Korea."

Brazilian Grand Prix

Interlagos, Sao Paulo, 5-7 November 2010

Fri 5 Nov: Practice 1 1200-1330; Practice 2 1600-1730

Sat 6 Nov: Practice 3 1300-1400; Qualifying 1600

Sun 7 Nov: Race 1600

 

Sounds like it could be a fairly wet qualifying session in Sao Paulo.

Downpour overnight, dry just now, but the clouds are looming and looking quite ominous.

It all seems to be going Red Bull's way just now.

Button, in fifth place in the championship, has the slimmest chance of the title.
He needs a win and a second place, as a minimum....and at the same time Vettel, Hamilton, Webber, and Alonso would all have to get few or no points in the last two races..

Alonso (currently leading) is 42 points ahead.

Vettel, in fourth place, is in a stronger position than Button as he is currently only 25 points off the lead, but like Button, he needs Hamilton Webber and Alonso to NOT get too many points.

Hamilton, in third place, is in a similar position to Vettel, as he is only 4 points ahead of Vettel and 21 off the lead. So he needs to worry about Vettel's performance as much as Webber's and Alonso's.

Webber, in second place, being only 11 points behind Alonso, is in a fairly strong position.
He is the only driver, behind Alonso, who would not have to worry about the others' points if he won both of the last races.

Any other combination of points and he too would need to rely on others getting a lesser amount of points.

Alonso, being in first place, only needs to score more points than the rest, in order to take the title.

Doesn't necessarily NEED to win, doesn't even NEED to finish ahead off them ALL both times.

If Button Won the last two races....any of the other four could still win as he would only be 8 ahead of Alonso's current position, 19 ahead of Webber's, 29 ahead of Hamilton's and 33 ahead of Vettel's, with any of them being able to win a maximum of 36 points.

If Vettel won the last two races....Alonso is the only one who could still beat him.
He would have the same points as Webber, but he would be given the title as he would then have one more wins than Webber.

If Hamilton won the last two races .... Alonso would be the onlt one who could still beat him as he would be  40 points ahead of Webber's current position, but only 30 ahead of Alonso's.

If Webber won the last two races....He will have won the title, as that would put him 39 points ahead of Alonso's present position, with Alonso now only able to get a maximum of 36 points.

Remember, the Drivers' Championship only determines who gets car number one next year, no matter what team he's driving for....and his partner will drive car two, even if he's a rookie. All other car numbers will be dependent on the positions of the teams in the Constructors Championship.

Two of the minor place cars are carrying '5 position drop' penalties from Korea.

Rain is expected soon after the start - thus several cars are queued up to go right away.

It's raining now. Most cars are on intermediates. There's a lot of spray.

Webber, Buemi and Alguersuari respectively, set the first three times.

The bottom 7 are changing rapidly - quick snapshot:-

di Grassi
Liuzzi
Sutil
Barrichello
Klien
Senna
Rosberg

Kobayashi, Hidfeld, Trulli and Kovalainen are now in the drop zone as Liuzzi Sutil Barrichello and Rosberg improve

Kobayashi
Heidfeld
Trulli
Kovalainen
di Grassi
Senna
Klien

Heidfeld goes up and  drops Glock down.

Liuzzi goes up and Sutil goes down.

Glock and Rosberg slide off track. They're ok, but it does nothing for their chances.

4 of the 5 Championship contenders are holding the top 4 positions. Button is not one of them.

We are getting conflicting forecasts. Some are saying there will be more rain soon,but others are saying there will be no more rain for the duration.

Sutil goes up again and puts Liuzzi in the drop zone again.

Senna spins off, but gets going again.

Liuzzi and Senna change places for a third time.

Sutil has another run, but stays in the drop zone.

Final Q1 Drop Zone:-

18. Sutil
19. Glock
20. Trulli
21. Kovalainen
22. di Grassi
23. Klien
24. Senna

Q2

Two or three cars go out immediately, but there are 14 out now. Jostling, trying to find space.

Kubica sets the first time.

Barrichello gets told the forecast is for no rain.

Webber, Alonso and Hamilton are the fastest three.

Current Q2 drop zone:-

Barrichello
Button
Petrov
Kobayashi
Rosberg
Massa
Liuzzi

Heidfeld and Vettel are briefly in the drop zone.

Heidfeld drops into it again.

Q2 drop zone now:-

Hulkenberg
Petrov
Buemi
Alguersuari
Heidfeld
Liuzzi
Rosberg

Petrov goes up and Kobayashi goes down

Rosberg goes up and Massa is down

Alguersuari goes up and Petrov goes back down

Alguersuari goes up to P9 leaving Button in danger in P10

Hulkenberg goes up now and Button is in the drop zone.

Q2 Drop Zone:-

Button
Petrov
Massa
Kobayashi
Buemi
Heidfeld
Liuzzi

Massa goes up and Alguersuari goes down again.

Now Button, Petrov and Kobayashi move up and Massa Schumacher and Rosberg are in the Drop Zone, but Button's now in P10, so is still in danger.

Current Q2 Drop Zone:-

Massa
Schumacher
Rosberg
Alguersuari
Buemi
Heidfeld
Liuzzi

Massa's last lap gets him into the top 10, but Button's doesn't and Kobayashi is in the drop zone again.

Final Q2 Drop Zone:-

11. Button
12. Kobayashi
13. Rosberg
14. Alguersuari
15. Buemi
16. Heidfeld
17. Liuzzi

Q3

7 cars pile out right away.

Forecast says there'll be no rain for the next 30 minutes.

Alonso sets the first time.

Top 5 are now:-

Petrov
Kubica
Hulkenberg
Massa
Barrichello

Hamilton, Vettel and Webber now take the first three places.

Schumacher goes P2

Alonso goes P4

Most cars now dive in for slicks.

Order:-

Hamilton
Schumacher
Vettel
Alonso
Webber
Hulkenberg
petrov
Kubica
Massa
Barrichello

Kubica slides off.

Webber slides off at the same place a bit later. both are unscathed and rejoin the track.

Hulkenberg pulls off a great lap and goes P1.

Hamilton goes P1 again.

Vettel only manages P3.

Alonso now P1.

Hulkenberg pulls off another blistering lap to go P1 again.

Hamilton goes P2.

Webber now P2.

Vettel now P2.

Hulkenberg, already P1, beats his own time.

Final qualifying positions

1. Hulkenberg
2. Vettel
3. Webber
4. Hamilton
5. Alonso
6. Barrichello
7. Kubica
8. Schumacher
9. Massa
10. Petrov
11. Button
12. Kobayashi
13. Rosberg
14. Alguersuari
15. Buemi
16. Heidfeld
17. Liuzzi
18. Sutil
19. Glock
20. Trulli
21. Kovalainen
22. di Grassi
23. Klien
24. Senna

However Buemi will start 20th and Sutil 23rd because of their penalties from Korea.

This news from the BBC may have quite an impact on today's race. Luckily no-one was harmed.

Jenson Button unhurt after armed men threaten him

Formula 1 champion Jenson Button has praised the quick actions of his police driver after armed men threatened him in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Button called him a "legend" for fleeing through traffic after six men brandishing machine guns approached.

Button, his manager and trainer all escaped unharmed as they were driven to their hotel after practice for Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos.

Brazil's major cities have a bad record for serious crimes of violence.

"Would-be assailants made an attempt to approach the car that was carrying Jenson Button" on Saturday, said the statement from McLaren.

Button, 33, was quickly driven away by an armed policeman in the reinforced armoured vehicle provided by McLaren.

Button's manager Richard Goddard and trainer Mike Collier were also in the vehicle.

Extra security

Mr Goddard said: "We were about three or four minutes away from the circuit when the incident took place.

"I would suggest there were more than four or five guys, something along those lines, who emerged from a block of flats.

"I initially saw one guy carrying this piece of wood, a baseball bat kind of thing, but I didn't spot the one who had a gun until someone pointed it out.

"It was pulled, and that was it really. You didn't really have time to think about what was happening.

"You hear about these kind of things in Sao Paulo, and because they don't come home to roost, you don't think about them. But when it almost happens to you then it's fairly worrying."

He said they were lucky to have a police driver on hand to force his way through the traffic and get them out of what could have been "quite a frightening situation".

A McLaren spokesperson said: "The police driver of Jenson's vehicle reacted swiftly and, using avoidance techniques, rapidly forced his way through the traffic, taking Jenson and the other occupants of the car immediately away from any danger and back to their hotel."

The spokesperson added the Sao Paulo authorities had also acted efficiently and would provide additional security for Button and other team members on Sunday.

Previous attacks

BBC Formula 1 commentator David Croft said Button reported seeing six men all brandishing machine guns approach his car.

The reigning world champion, who will start 11th on the grid on Sunday, described his driver as an "absolute legend".

Three years ago members of Toyota's F1 team escaped a similar situation when they were also approached by gunmen, Mr Croft said.

Formula 1 commentator Murray Walker told the BBC that gunmen previously had attempted to attack him in the same area.

He said: "There are parts of Sao Paulo which are extremely violent, and [the city] has extremes of great wealth and extreme poverty."

He said parts of the circuit were close to favelas, or shanty towns, where there was a lot of deprivation.

He said: "I suspect that's where it happened to Jenson, and naturally the people who are in the favelas see these obviously very wealthy people driving away from the circuit and they know they've got a lot of money, and they know they've got watches and things on them and that's what they're after presumably."

Hulkenberg and Vettel get away well, but Vettel storms past Hulenberg by the first corner....and he's away!

The rest get away reasonably well, though someone goes a bit wide in the lower positions.

Webber also passes Hulkenberg fairly easily by the fourth corner.

Hulkenberg then does Vettel and Webber a big favour by keeping Alonso behind him until lap 7, despite several attempts by Alonso.

Now Hamilton, who went wide earlier and let Alonso pass him, is being frustrated by Hulkenberg.

Klien starts from the pit lane, but long after the race gets underway'

Button pits first for new tyres. Gets him out of the crocodile that is forming behind Hulkenberg.

Several cars are pitting now.
Barrichello has a longish stop, Massa also has a bad pit stop.,,,and has to come in again as his wheel is loose.

Button wasp16 after his stop, but is now P8.

Hulkenberg pits and so do a few others around Hamilton, but Hamilton stays out and is now 4th.

Hamilton pits now and exits just ahead of Button.

Order:-

Vettel
Webber
Alonso
Rosberg
Kobayashi
Hamilton
Button

Alonso pits from P3 and exits P3

Vettel pits from P1 and exits P2

Webber now pits from P1 and exits P2

Top 3 back to the pre-pitting order.