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For the second consecutive year an English driver in a British-built, Mercedes-powered car carrying the number 22 won the Formula One world title with fifth place at the Brazilian GP. Jenson Button certainly did it the hard way, having started from 14th on the grid. With his teammate and main title rival Rubens Barrichello on pole, Button delivered a champion’s drive with several dazzling overtaking moves in an era where such things are rare.

In the aftermath, Button admitted, as many had believed, that he had been feeling the pressure of leading the championship all season. He should be on the stage because he made a convincing job of maintaining a confident and happy-go-lucky facade. Understandably, he didn’t want to feed the opposition, especially Red Bull drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, who were circling like hungry wolves on occasion.

The stopwatch doesn’t lie and neither does the on-board camera. Button’s performances in qualifying in the second half of the season were frequently tentative, leaving him to scrape home in many races. He was lucky that none of his rivals were able to put together a strong sequence of results. Button is not the first championship-leading driver to stumble within sight of the finish line. We’ve witnessed even seven-time champion Michael Schumacher making errors with the championship within his grasp.

Button admitted that he felt physically sick after qualifying. That’s powerful. I have experienced this after a disappointing race, but, in today’s F1, qualifying is so inextricably linked to race performance that it’s understandable. During qualifying, he stuck with wet weather tyres, which burnt out as the track began to dry. He should have been much more decisive in controlling the situation as only the drivers really knew how the changing track conditions were affecting the cars. It’s such a contrast to the calm, commanding way he drives the car. In free practice in Brazil, he was consistently in the top three come rain or shine. The qualifying gremlin had struck again. Come race day, however, he had erased all negative thoughts. Before getting into his car, he said to his father John: “You’re going to enjoy this one dad.”

It is a pleasure to watch him drive a racing car. The precision with which he sweeps the steering wheel to exactly the right angle to hit the apex and unwinds it while squeezing on the throttle is like the finest ballroom dancing. He carries a high momentum through the braking zone and into the corner without the car seeming to notice. The downside is that he needs the car to handle in a specific way and finds it difficult to manhandle it in the way Fernando Alonso or Lewis Hamilton can. I’d be proud to have on my CV any one of the four stunning passes he pulled off in Brazil. Like Hamilton, he has a very special ability when it comes to late braking.

Button clearly hadn’t given much thought to what he was going to say should he win the title. He is a sensitive soul and admitted to having read too much of the media debate on his worthiness as champion, and it had clearly stung him.

So plenty to learn for the future both on and off the track, but can he win the title again? He’s certainly capable of it, but he will have to raise his game to beat Hamilton in a strong McLaren, Alonso in a resurgent Ferrari, and Vettel in an improving Red Bull. That is without considering the likes of Webber, Nico Rosberg, Rubens Barrichello, Felipe Massa and Robert Kubica.

At 29, Button must resist the temptation to chase big dollars at the cost of performance. Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost and Damon Hill all left Williams immediately after being crowned world champion, and, in 2007, Alonso went from Renault to McLaren. All of them struggled.

As Button’s father said: “The world champion title is for life, not just a season.” Team Button is negotiating partly via the media, which is a mistake because it damages all concerned. I am not convinced that Button wants to move to McLaren and race Hamilton in “his” team. And I don’t see two British drivers being attractive to the commercial requirements of McLaren. It’s simply spoiling tactics and, as I learnt to my cost on a few occasions when playing this game, team bosses talk much more openly to each other than one might imagine.

Ross Brawn told me yesterday: “We are very motivated to do a deal with Jenson behind closed doors.” Brawn GP would probably not have won the drivers’ and constructors’ championships with their original Honda engine; the game changed when they installed the top-performing Mercedes-Benz unit.

The ground rules have changed, too, on F1 budgets, but in my 25 years of experience in these matters.the total amounts of money handed over in the sport’s contracts rarely match the figures quoted in the media. Whatever the numbers, Button pleading poverty about such things as having to pay to wash his own overalls isn’t going to convince anybody in the know, or gain him any sympathy.

Button staying

Jenson Button is on the verge of resisting McLaren and signing a new deal to keep him at Brawn GP, according to reports last night. The new world champion is believed to be close to accepting a deal worth £8m a year. ‘I understand the team are about to make us an offer and, as previously stated, Jenson wants to stay with Brawn,’ Button’s manager, Richard Goddard, said. ‘We expect the matter to be resolved in the next few weeks.’