This weekend in Japan, Sebastian Vettel showed why he is one of the hottest young motorsport stars with a commanding win. Leading from start to finish, Vettel dominated, finishing 4.8 seconds ahead of second place finisher Jarno Trulli, and last year';s champion, Lewis Hamilton, finished in third place, 1.5 seconds later.
With his win, Vettel was able to ensure that he still has a shot at winning the F1 Championship, though he is third in points with 69, trailing behind Jenson Button, who has 85 points and is currently the leader, and his Brawn GP teammate Rubens Barrichello with 71.
Button started the year in dominating fashion, winning 6 of his first 7 races, after having only won one race in the entirety of his F1 career to this point. Though he has cooled down since, Button has still been consistent enough to maintain his points lead. Barrichello has been competitive all year, winning both the European and Italian Grand Prix.
Though the F1 championship is still up in the air, Brawn GP, in their first year in Formula 1, has managed to win the builder's trophy already this season, with two races left to go (the Brazilian Grand Prix and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix). Brawn was born from the ashes of the old Honda F1 team, who never performed nearly as good as their successor. With their win of the builder's trophy, look for Brawn GP to have another competitive year next season to make their name as one of the sport's best.
It's been a disappointing season for 2008 Champion Lewis Hamilton and the McLaren F1 team. After 5 wins and 5 other top 3 finishes last season, Hamilton managed only 2 wins and two other top 3 finishes this season and currently sits 6th in the driver standings.
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