Motor Sport:David Coulthard fears the unthinkable for Jenson Button is not beyond the realms of possibility. Button requires just six points from the final two races in Brazil this weekend and Abu Dhabi on November 1st to be crowned Formula One world champion.
The 29-year-old holds a 14-point cushion over Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello, with Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel two points further adrift.
Lewis Hamilton knows all too painfully how to lose a title from such a position of strength, as he did two years ago when he was 17 points clear of Kimi Raikkonen with two races remaining.
It is the kind of fact Button has been forced to push to the back of his mind over the past few weeks as he has stumbled towards the finish line.
Coulthard, a winner of 13 grands prix during his career, said: “In Brazil, I’ll put my money on Rubens.
“It’s his home track, he’s even had a Stewart Grand Prix car near the front there (in qualifying). I’d be amazed if he doesn’t ace it there. But you have to imagine Jenson will hold on and get across the line, although if he bins it in Brazil and Rubens were to win, he’d be down to a four-point gap.
“It would be terrible to imagine him losing it after leading all season, but he could.”
Despite Vettel being in the mix after his win in Japan 10 days ago, Coulthard feels the Brawns may have the edge over his old team at the last two races.
The Scot, who sampled the new Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi first hand last week by driving a two-seater F1 car, is in a position to offer his feedback to Red Bull.
However, Coulthard added: “If it goes to the wire you would have to say Brawn possibly have more of an advantage than a Red Bull.
“But Red Bull had a development for Singapore. Had Sebastian not had the pit lane speeding fine — where he didn’t speed it was to do with the line he took through the corner — he would have won.
“Lewis won it fair and square on the day, but he didn’t have the quickest car. As for Brazil, I see that being more a Brawn type circuit than for Red Bull, but it has been so close this year, it’s really difficult to tell.”