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May 19th
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Button calls title "totally amazing"

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Jenson Button described the feeling of being world champion "totally amazing" after he clinched the title in Brazil, while team boss Ross Brawn heaped praise on his team after the "very special" experience of winning both titles.

Button wrapped up the 2009 drivers championship at Interlagos, finishing 5th in the race while his rivals Rubens Barrichello and Sebastian Vettel failed to secure the results they needed to keep the championship alive to the final round.

Barrichello finished 8th after a late puncture forced an unscheduled pit stop, while Sebastian Vettel could only manage 4th place after qualifying 16th.

And after the race, a hoarse Button, fresh from an unfortunate rendition of 'We Are The Champions' on his slowing-down lap, bellowed that: "It's really amazing. After the last few races I've had this makes up for it. It was a totally awesome race, I'm world champion!

"It's 21 years since I first raced a kart. I love winning, I never expected to be world champion in F1, because you think racing drivers in F1 are different from you. But I did it today."

The team boss of Brawn GP, Ross Brawn, was happy to pile praise on his winning driver, along with the team members of his eponymous squad. The team, which was born out of the ruins of Honda's failed F1 effort at the start of the year, also added the constructors championship to the driver's crown with the points they picked up in Brazil.

"We made hard work of it over the second half of the year," he blubbed to the BBC, "But we've done it, and it's very special. It's going to take a while to set in.

"As for Jenson, he's a fantastic racer and on the day he had a great race. He knew what he had to do. We've lost a little bit of pace in the car compared to some of our rivals over the second half of the season, but he's stuck with it and deserves everything he's got."

Brawn continued to shower praise on the team, as well as members of the team that lost their jobs at the start of the year when Brawn was forced to scale back the size of the team.

"The work they [everyone] did over the winter was sensational," he gushed, "And I have to say to all of those that couldn't be with us because we had to resize the team, my thanks goes out to them because they worked so hard.

"I hope they can be very proud with what they achieved for the team because they've been a part of everything we've done."

Perma-smug Brawn CEO Nick Fry, meanwhile, also took time to praise the new champion for his drive to clinch the title.

"Jenson knew what he had to do today and he just went out and did it," Fry grinned inanely, "and I think it shows that he is a worthy champion. That first stint today, overtaking under those circumstances when he had everything to lose, really showed his true mettle.

"Jenson's taken a lot of bullet wounds over the last few years, and when you get into that situation and you've got the bruises, then it makes it much easier to handle the success."