Sport: Jenson Button's road to the title

Jenson Button is seen on the grid before the Australian grand prix – the first race of the season. The Somerset-born driver shocked the world of motor sport by qualifying in pole position in his new Brawn GP car Photograph: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

The 29-year-old led the race from start to finish, with team-mate Rubens Barrichello taking second spot. It was the first time a new F1 team had finished one-two in a debut race in 55 years. Incidentally, the race finished under the control of the safety car (for only the second time in GP history) after Sebastian Vettel's crash on lap 56 had strewn debris across the track Photograph: William West/AFP/Getty Images

Second race, second pole, second win. However, Button only received five points for this victory at the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia as the race was curtailed at the three-quarter mark due to torrential rain Photograph: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

The first eight laps of the Chinese grand prix are held under the safety car due to more wet weather. Vettel and his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber eventually break the Brawn monopoly as they finish first and second. Button finishes third almost 45 seconds off the pace Photograph: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images

Out in the desert in Bahrain, Button reasserts his authority, jumping from fourth on the grid to a first-placed finish. Despite it being his third victory of the season, it was the first in which he had been able to cross the finish line under regular racing conditions Photograph: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Button is hugged by his girlfriend Jessica Michibata – a prominent fixture in the pit-lanes this season – after qualifying in pole position at the Spanish grand prix in Barcelona Photograph: Crispin Thruston/Action Images

Barrichello took the lead at the first corner and dominated the early part of the race, but his three-stop strategy proved costly and Button took the chequered flag Photograph: AP

A stunning last-gasp qualification lap helped Button to his fifth win of the season in the opulent environs of Monaco Photograph: Paul Gilham/Getty Images

Button overtook Vettel on lap one in Turkey to claim his sixth triumph – an astonishing return for a driver who, until this season, had only one GP victory to his name in nine seasons. Button leads the driver's championsip on 61 points, while his nearest rival, Barrichello, is already 26 points behind Photograph: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

The stage is set for Button to become a hero on home soil - surely he'd win at Silverstone in front of his own fans? But it turns out to be a forgettable weekend for the Brit, starting and finishing in sixth place. This was the first race of the season in which he'd not earned a place on the podium; Barrichello, meanwhile, was third Photograph: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Red Bull's Australian driver Mark Webber leads Button at the Nürburgring racetrack in western Germany and is eventually followed home by his team-mate Vettel. Button ends up a frustrating fifth Photograph: Torsten Silz/AFP/Getty Images

A spring from Rubens Barichello's suspension breaks off and causes a horrifying accident for Felipe Massa during qualifying in Hungary. Consequently, Button only gets one qualifying run and lies eighth when the race begins. Button finishes the race seventh and Webber cuts his lead to just 18.5 points Photograph: Bela Szandelszky/AFP/Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton takes pole at the European grand prix in Valencia, but Barrichello beats him to the line. Button, down in seventh, is thankful that neither of Red Bull's drivers score points Photograph: Action Images

Button's first retirement of the season comes at Spa in Belgium as he tangles with Romain Grosjean of Renault at Les Combes corner on the first lap Photograph: Clive Mason/Getty Images Europe

Back to winning ways - for Brawn at least - as Barrichello takes first and Button second at the Italian GP. Team principal Ross Brawn vows after the race to allow his drivers to fight it out for the title without any interference or team orders Photograph: Mark Thompson/Getty Images Europe

A fifth-placed finish at at the Marina Bay street circuit in Singapore is better than it may at first seem as Button once again keeps pace with his nearest title rivals, earning just one point less than Vettel and one point more than Barrichello. A lead of 25 points over the Brazilian with three races remaining means that Button is now, mathematically speaking, within one race of the title Photograph: Vladimir Rys/Bongarts/Getty Images

Button needs to beat Barrichello by five points at the Japanese grand prix to become world champion, but he insists: "My dream is not to win [the title] in Suzuka, my dream is just to win it." Photograph: Franck Robichon/EPA

The autograph of a champion? Photograph: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

... not yet it's not ... Button only takes a point at Suzuka, while Barrichello earns two and Vettel claws his way back into contention by winning the race. That leaves Button on 85 points, Barichello on 71 and Vettel on 69 Photograph: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Button's chances of winning the title in Brazil are hit as he can only claim 14th place on the grid in a rain-hit qualifying session Photograph: Vladimir Rys/Bongarts/Getty Images

But a series of shrewd over-taking manoeuvres during the race, including this one over Jaime Alguersuari of Toro Rosso, lifts Button up to fifth place Photograph: Crispin Thruston/Action Images

And with Barichello having dropped well down the pack from pole position, Button cruises through to his maiden world title... becoming Britain's tenth F1 world champion Photograph: Vladimir Rys/Bongarts/Getty Images

After such a scintillating drive, Jenson has every right to wave a 'Great Button' flag Photograph: Mark Thompson/Getty Images