Button signs up for 2009 Race of Champions
With the 2009 Formula One World Championship delicately poised, and potentially set once more to be decided at the final round, the Beijing fixture could offer an enticing ‘extra time’ duel between Button and Vettel, should the destiny of this year’s championship be decided by a showdown between the pair in Abu Dhabi.
Vettel will be paired with seven-times F1 World Champion, Michael Schumacher in an attempt to secure an unprecedented ROC Nations Cup hat-trick for Germany. The Race of Champions, which Button competed in at Wembley Stadium in 2007 and 2008, brings together the greatest drivers from the world of motorsport with stars of Formula 1, rallying, sports cars, touring cars and "It’s always a great event, it’s great for the fans but it’s especially good for all of us competitors," said Button, who won six of this year’s opening seven F1 races for Brawn GP.
“It’s pretty intense; it’s great to have so many different competitors from around the world. Really it’s a great end-of-season event to just chill out and enjoy yourself and I’m looking forward to this year because the Bird’s Nest is a pretty amazing stadium, it’s going to be a lot bigger than before, so it’s going to be a lot of fun."
Fredrik Johnsson, President of Event Organizers IMP, was delighted to confirm that the two drivers currently leading the F1 World Championship will both be racing in Beijing: “Jenson has been a great competitor in The Race of Champions over the past two years, and it’s been fantastic to see him leading the way in Formula 1 this year. With him and Sebastian Vettel already confirmed we have two of the leading drivers in this year’s championship, and whoever wins the title, they’ll be able to have one last battle at the end of the season."