Formula One news
Button leads Brawn 1-2 in Spain
10 May 2009 / Results / PhotosJenson Button confirmed his status as World Champion elect by winning the Spanish Grand Prix from Brawn team-mate Rubens Barrichello. Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel brought the Red Bull cars home third and fourth, as Felipe Massa's Ferrari slipped behind Fernando Alonso with a shortage of fuel in the last laps of the race.
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| Barrichello takes the lead from third on the grid |
More fine weather conditions graced the Circuit de Catalunya for Round 5 of the 2009 World Championship although, with Fernando Alonso out of race-winning contention and the ongoing swine flu situation deferring some, the grandstands were distinctly less full in Barcelona than in recent years. Button started on pole position after a fine lap in qualifying on Saturday afternoon, although team-mate Rubens Barrichello was the heavier Brawn in third on the grid.
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| Four cars retired from the Turn 2 carnage |
The Brazilian made the most of a great start to fly past Vettel, starting on the dirty side of the track, to take the lead from Button at the first corner. Felipe Massa used all of the racetrack and his KERS system to take third from Vettel, as Lewis Hamilton suffered from a bad start and skipped down the grass alongside the pit wall. The safety car was immediately deployed as a big accident involvingTrulli, Sutil and both Toro Rossos put all four cars out of the race at Turn 2. Running close with Nico Rosberg, Trulli ran wide before spinning infront of the Force India as the subsequent compression of the field saw Bourdais climb over the top of team-mate Buemi.
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| Räikkönen and Kovalainen suffered from equally miserable afternoons |
All eyes were on Ferrari in Spain, as the two cars have clearly benefitted from an updated aerodynamics package for the European season. A mix of technical problems and tactical errors compromised the Italian team's weekend, however, as Kimi Räikkönen - with no working KERS - retired from the race in the opening stages having made a superb start from 16th to 10th. Massa, on the other hand, had a chance to snatch the lead from Button in the final third of the Grand Prix although a shortage of fuel by one lap resulted in the loss of fourth and fifth places to both Vettel and Spanish hero Alonso.
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| Brawn and Red Bull locked out the top four places |
The Red Bull team confirmed itself as the second fastest to Brawn with a podium result for Mark Webber and fourth for Vettel, although Toyota have slipped back with only a tenth position for Timo Glock, who finishes outside the points for the first time this season. McLaren, as predicted, experienced a large lack of downforce in Spain as Lewis Hamilton missed the points by one spot; team-mate Heikki Kovalainen had no chance to challenge, however, as gearbox failure left him stranded in the pit lane.
Button's fourth win of the season from five races translates his 12-point lead over Barrichello to 14, as the Brawn team leads the constructors' championship by 29.5 points from Red Bull. The next action will be taking place in Monaco in a fortnight's time - the race every driver wants to win.
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