Jenson Button has managed to finish atop the podium in four of the last five contests this season. His success, and that of Ross Brawn's 'Brawn GP' team have come as a bit of a surprise to many in the motorsport community. With Mercedes power and a chassis that was faster then most even in early testing, Brawn GP look to have the 2009 Drivers Championship in their pocket... [read more]
When the green flag waved over the Circuit de Catalunya, Rubens Barrichello in the BGP001 sprinted ahead of the crowd taking an early lead. Felipe Massa also managed a triumphant start, powering ahead of Sebastian Vettel in the RB5 to claim third.
As Nico Rosberg and Fernando Alonso entered the first corner, Alosno forced the young Williams driver to the outside, leaving Rosberg with no choice but to head off track as to avoid a collision. When Rosberg re-entered however, he forced Jarno Trulli to swerve into the Force India of Adrian Sutil. The collision caused Sebastien Bourdais to stand on the brakes, which caused his teammate Sebastien Buemi to collide with the backside of his Scuderia-Torro Rosso. The safety car was deployed and the next go around, the field had to avoid a track littered with debris.
After qualifying a disappointing 16th, Kimi Raikkonen's F60 suffered gearbox trouble, taking him out of the race after the Finn had managed to capture six positions.
Fernando Alonso, seemingly motivated by his home crowd, battled Mark Webber for fifth, cutting off the Australian as they headed into turn one. Not to be outdone, Webber somehow managed to slow his RB5, diving to the inside of Alonso to regain the position.
Felipe Massa hoped he might redeem himself following a disappointing start to the season, as the Brazilian qualified fourth and managed to capture third place as the Spanish Grand Prix got underway. The F60-B, Ferrari's new, lightened chassis, proved a formidable foe for the ever dominant BGP001's of Button and Barrichello, however a short-fill during Massa's last pit stop left him with a light fuel load, forcing him to slow his pace. The fueling error allowed both the RB5 of Sebastian Vettel and the Renault of Fernando Alonso to pass Massa in the final laps of the race, leaving the Brazilian to finish sixth.
Following a controversial change to Buttons pit stop schedule, Barrichello, who had managed to acquire an early race lead, was forced to take on a heavy fuel load late in the race, which in turn allowed Button to move into first. Struggling to keep pace, Barrichello finished the race in second, some 7.1 seconds behind his Brawn GP teammate.
Button's fourth victory this season means he now holds a 14 point lead over his teammate Rubens Barrichello, and an 18 point lead over Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.
Complete Results // 2009 Spanish Grand Prix:
1: J. Button - Brawn GP Formula One Team 1:37:19.202
2: R. Barrichello - Brawn GP Formula One Team 1:37:32.258
3: M. Webber - Red Bull Racing 1:37:33.126
4: S. Vettel - Red Bull Racing 1:37:38.143
5: F. Alonso - ING Renault F1 Team 1:38:02.368
6: F. Massa - Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 1:38:10.029
7: N. Heidfeld - BMW Sauber F1 Team 1:38:11.514
8: N. Rosberg - AT&T Williams 1:38:24.413
9: L. Hamilton - Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 1:37:20.216 1 LAP
10: T. Glock - Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:37:20.990 1 LAP
11: R. Kubica - BMW Sauber F1 Team 1:37:23.811 1 LAP
12: N. Piquet - ING Renault F1 Team 1:37:26.107 1 LAP
13: K. Nakajima - AT&T Williams 1:37:37.113 1 LAP
14: G. Fisichella - Force India F1 Team 1:37:50.740 1 LAP
DNF:
K. Raikkonen - Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
H. Kovalainen - Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
J. Trulli - Panasonic Toyota Racing
S. Buemi - Scuderia Toro Rosso
S. Bourdais - Scuderia Toro Rosso
A. Sutil - Force India F1 Team
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