Button may seal it in Brazil

SAO PAULO – Jenson Button can clinch his first Formula One title by playing it safe at Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix.

With a comfortable lead in the drivers’ standings, Button only needs to avoid disaster and stay near the front to lift the trophy with one race to go in the season.

A third-place finish at the 4.3-kilometer (2.6-mile) Interlagos track will be enough to put the title out of reach for Brawn GP teammate Rubens Barrichello and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, the only other drivers still in contention.

Button arrives in Brazil with 85 points, 14 more than Barrichello and 16 more than Vettel.

Button can secure the title even if he finishes out of the top three. A fifth-place finish will do if Barrichello fails to win in front of his home crowd. Button can actually finish worst than fifth and still win the title as long as he crosses the finish line in front of his opponents.

He can also lift the trophy if he finishes out of the points or fails to finish the race, but then Barrichello and Vettel also would have to falter.  (AP)