Setanta.com goes through the drivers who have some hope of preventing Jenson Button from lifting the 2009 Formula 1 Drivers’ World Championship title and rates their chances accordingly.
Please scroll to the bottom of the page to offer your opinion on this article.
Button is in command of the battle for the crown. At the time of writing, he has won five of the six events so far this season, but stranger things than someone usurping the Englishman have happened in Formula 1.
But who has the car, pace and resolve to take it to the man of the moment?
1. Kimi Raikkonen
Ferrari have been in the news, for mostly the wrong reasons, since from before the beginning of the season, but things are finally beginning to look up for the Italian giants, on the track. Third and fourth places in Monaco must have brought with them a huge collective sigh of relief in Mugello and now that the Scuderia have started to move in the right direction, they are likely to continue to do so unabated for the rest of the year.
Raikkonen could have gone even better than finishing on the third step of the podium in Monte Carlo if not for a lightening start from Rubens Barrichello, but the Finn has shown that he is willing to fight it out alongside his Ferrari crew to make the best of the campaign.
Raikkonen remains one of the best drivers on the grid, with arguably more pace than anyone given the right machinery, and there would be no better way to bow out of F1 – if indeed it is his final season – than to win his second title against the odds.
Ferrari are ahead of most when it comes to KERS too, and the device should be a big help at some of the circuits on the horizon.
Championship odds: 33/1.
2. Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel is a future World Champion, or so half the paddock has stated at some point or another, and the relatively young driver still has some chance of realising his full potential this year. He is, up to now, the only racer to have won in 2009, other than Button.
Red Bull put together a very good package for the beginning of the season and Vettel should have started the campaign with a blast, only to clash with Robert Kubica, when in second place, or at least third, was on the cards.
Following Vettel’s win in China and second place in Bahrain, it was felt by many that Red Bull had fully caught Brawn, though the Milton Keynes-based team looked a touch shy of the championship leaders once again in Spain, despite Mark Webber’s third place and Vettel’s fourth. A further step back came in Monaco, before the former Toro Rosso driver crashed out due to a driving error.
Nevertheless, Red Bull have done the ground work to make their car work well at more tracks than less over the course of the season, and Vettel certainly has the talent and calmness under pressure to put Button under just that.
Championship odds: 8/1.
3. Rubens Barrichello
Barrichello may be second to Button in the drivers’ standings, but he is probably more unhappy about how things are going than the drivers closely behind him. The Brazilian ace has stated that he would walk if he discovered that Brawn were favouring Button, and was reassured otherwise by his bosses, but he appears to simply not have what it takes to live with the 29-year-old.
In terms of who can challenge Button, Barrichello has it better than most, in that he has the same tools to work with as the current dominant force does. But soon enough, if it has not already started to happen, the team will begin to see Barrichello as a rear-gunner, a help in wrapping up the constructors’ title and a chance to ensure a one-two result in the drivers’ battle. That will not please him, especially after so many years looking at the rear wing of Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari, if indeed the German was even within eyeshot, but it is going to happen unless he starts to win, and soon.
In the end, perhaps Brawn’s inevitable lean towards Button, particularly if the fight does begin to hot up, may cost Barrichello more than the others in the battle to be the title favourite’s main rival.
Championship odds: 10/1.
4. Felipe Massa
Ferrari’s drivers are fairly closely matched, but it appears to be Raikkonen with slightly more of the bit between his teeth at the moment. The Italian outfit's improvement will benefit Felipe Massa as it does the Finn, clearly, but Massa is the one without the world title on the mantelpiece, and he already seems to be looking towards next season, when he can begin another shot at his ultimate goal.
Naturally, there could well be little to choose between Massa and Raikkonen, it is just that the latter may well feel he has more to play for and a little less to lose, with the Brazilian keeping a firm eye on March 2010.
Championship odds: 33/1.
5. Mark Webber
A fine competitor, Webber has worked long and hard to get into a car capable of battling for victories, but in a straight fight, Vettel will come out on top. The Australian’s younger team-mate has an appetite for a fight that could prove to yield crucial points, though it did just the opposite in Melbourne.
Webber has never quite looked like World Champion-material, as he continues to chase a maiden victory, and to get near Button, he is likely to have to defeat his team-mate, something which does not seem entirely likely over the course of the whole year.
Championship odds: 33/1.
6. The Others
Going outside of Red Bull and Ferrari, it gets even harder to even suggest a title rival for Button.
Toyota, at a couple of stages, looked to have something special on their hands. But two poor showings in a row seems to suggest that they will struggle to get back to their best and allow Jarno Trulli or Timo Glock a chance of achieving the illusive first win for the Japanese outfit, never mind a title tilt.
Lewis Hamilton, as the outgoing champion, is worth mentioning, because McLaren have upped their game and if not for the Englishman’s qualifying slip, a podium finish was a realistic hope in Monaco. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that Hamilton will be handing over his title at the end of the season.
Fernando Alonso almost always gets the best out of what he has been given, but Renault have not provided him with the car even he needs to retain some hope of making 2009 the year he wins his third F1 championship.