Final 2009: like a déjà-vu feeling

16 points behind Jenson Button, fewer victories in a season, and only two races left to go… doesn’t that remind you of something? Sebastian Vettel could already congratulate Jenson Button on the upcoming championship title, especially since Rubens Barrichello, with only a 14-point gap, is also in pursuit of the Englishman.

But history has already shown us, and not just two years ago, that in F1 everything remains possible even when the numbers weigh heavily against you.

Two years ago, Kimi Räikkönen had 32 points after the USA GP, Lewis Hamilton 58. With 6 races to go before the end of the championship, the Finn was 20 points behind the Englishman, and still 17 points down with 2 races to go before the title. Yet, when it came down to it, Kimi Räikkönen won the title by just one point more than the McLaren driver, after a show of strength in China and Brazil.

At the time, in Lewis Hamilton’s position, everyone also thought there would be no problem winning the title.

At the end of the 2009 season, Vettel wants to take inspiration from the unflappable mentality of the Finn: “When you know Kimi, you know he’s not the type to brood but rather to go full throttle. That’s exactly what we need right now,” the German stated.

Indeed, while Jenson Button experiences increasing pressure from race to race and becomes more and more nervous, Vettel, on the other hand, has nothing to lose. “It’s still a long road, but we will fight to the end,” warned the Red Bull driver. And his boss Christian Horner added, “The fight continues. It’s still a steep mountain to climb, but Mount Everest has already been climbed!”

It is worth noting that 33 years ago, James Hunt made up the largest points gap to date in F1, when he closed a 37-point difference to the then-championship leader Niki Lauda. It is true that Hunt benefited from Lauda’s serious accident, which caused him to miss two races. In the end, Hunt still won the title with 69 points to 68.