Teams’ title in hands of Suzuka stewards
Sunday's Suzuka event left Brawn half a point shy of pushing Red Bull out of mathematical contention.
But the outcome of a stewards enquiry could have sewn the title up for the Brackley based leaders, after Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button finished behind Williams' Nico Rosberg.
Rosberg was investigated by the stewards after the race for allegedly driving too fast when the safety car was deployed for the Jaime Alguersuari crash.
If he was demoted, Brawn could have picked up the necessary point and celebrated the teams' title in Japan.
But even though it was found that Rosberg went too quickly, stewards also ruled that he had been unable to watch his lap time because of a 'low fuel' message on his steering wheel display.
"The telemetry data shows that the driver from a safety point of view had reacted adequately to the yellow flags and safety car boards. In view of this the stewards intend to take no further action," read the FIA officials' report.
10/04/09 (GMM) The fate of the constructors' world championship is currently in the hands of the Suzuka stewards, after Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel won dominantly in Japan and the two Brawns managed just three points between them.
As it stands, Brawn GP missed out on wrapping up the title on Sunday by a mere half-point, but it has emerged that Williams' Nico Rosberg will be investigated by the stewards for driving too fast in safety car conditions.
The German finished the race in fifth place, but if he is demoted, Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button may move up the order and collect the point they need to push Red Bull out of mathematical contention for the teams' title.
"I have got one point, maybe two so we will see," said Button on BBC radio. "But either way I have only lost one point to Rubens so that is good and I can't imagine us not picking up another point each."
The British championship leader now leads Barrichello with two races to go by 14 points, while the gap to Vettel diminished by 9 points on Sunday to 16.
"He's (Vettel) got nothing to lose," said boss Christian Horner. "He just has to win the next two races."