Formula One news
Vettel leads magical Red Bull 1-2
19 April 2009 / Results / PhotosSebastian Vettel has brought Red Bull Racing its first Grand Prix victory in the Chinese Grand Prix, as the German crossed the line ahead of team-mate Mark Webber in an historic 1-2 result. Jenson Button finished on the podium for Brawn ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello, with McLaren bringing both cars home in the top six.
 |
|
Vettel crossed the finish line 45 seconds ahead of the opposition, in a Red Bull sporting neither a double diffuser nor KERS. Webber was 11 seconds behind his team-mate, as Red Bull Racing celebrated heading an impressive 1-2 result in their fifth season of competition. Jenson Button lead before his final pit stop, but was past by Vettel even before coming in.
"The rain wasn't really in our plan, with the visibility the way it is," Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said before the start. "But we're in a good place, so we're just going to go for it!" With a 3pm start for the race, temperatures had dropped to just 20°C (68°F) this afternoon in comparison with highs of 29°C(84°F) on Saturday. As heavy rain had begun falling at the Shanghai International Circuit earlier on in the morning, the safety car toured the track to observe conditions. With the cars on the grid and Malaysia still fresh in the mind, race director Charlie Whiting elected to start the race under safety car conditions.
 |
| Kovalainen scored McLarens first top five results of the season |
With more heavy rain still expected for at least half an hour, a number of cars had already experienced off-track excisions before the safety car had even stopped circulating, with both Ferraris running wide at the final corner as well as Sutil, who spun and grazed a barrier. With the safety car coming in on lap 8, Fernando Alonso's Renault pitted from second place at the last possible moment, to refuel what was an extremely light car; having required a good start and healthy lead early on, his strategy was seriously comprised. Nico Rosberg also refuelled, but remained at the tail end of the field for most of the afternoon, which ended for him 12 laps from home after a big spin across the infield at Turn 6.
With the cars up to racing speeds and the spray in abundance, Vettel was already ahead by over two seconds as many laps into the first restart, with the advantage of a clear track infront of him. Behind, in the absence of Alonso, Jenson Button passed team-mate Barrichello to move up into third position on lap 11. Vettel continued to stretch his lead with a fastest lap as Webber pitted on the 14th tour, with the German following suit a lap later.
Jarno Trulli was in the mix and going backwards, as a whole host of cars past him including team-mate Glock, before the Italian was rear-ended by Kubica's BMW at the final corner. As the Toyota retired, Kubica narrowly avoided collecting the pit wall as the second of three safety cars was deployed. The next big casualty was Ferrari's Felipe Massa, whose car ground to a halt on the back straight. With his team-mate eventually finishing tenth, the team has now failed to score in the first three races for the first time since 1981.
 |
| 2009 has seen the worst start for Ferrari since 1981 |
With Alonso recovering back through the field, his progress was halted when he reached a duelling Hamilton and Räikkönen, as the three World Champions ran together on the road. Aquaplaning proved a real problem for everyone, as Nakajima found himself travelling backwards at Turn 1 as well as Piquet at Turn 6, floating sideways through a polystyrene track sign.
Adrian Sutil had an impressive race, having finished ninth in practice on Friday. The German, who pitted during the safety car period at the start of the race, made the most of his strategy despite spinning and clipping a wall early on. After nearly running into team-mate Fisichella on lap 25, he found himself 6th after another spin from Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages of the race. Sutil was taken out and lost points in Monaco with just four laps to go last year, but here in China was looking to take a possible sixth place and three points, as Hamilton caught him. Like Monaco though, his race ended again with four laps remaining when Adrian lost control and crashed at Turn 6 in what was a truly disappointing end to his race.
 |
| Vettel and Webber celebrate with team principal Christian Horner |
McLaren, despite Hamilton spinning no less than three times, benefitted from the drama to finish fifth and sixth with Kovalainen leading the charge. Timo Glock, as he did in Australia, scored points again having started at the back and Sébastien Buemi showed an impressive performance again, to score another points finish for Toro Rosso in eighth.
Vettel's superlative victory sees him move to third in the drivers' championship, 'best of the rest' behind the Brawns, which lose their 100% success record. Red Bull is now second in the constructors' table, one point ahead of Toyota but 16.5 behind Brawn. Jenson Button has finished the first three races on the podium and leads his team-mate in the championship by six points, heading into Bahrain next weekend.
more news
- 28 Nov.
- 27 Nov.
- 26 Nov.
- 25 Nov.
- 24 Nov.
- 23 Nov.
Homepage
Jerez