Formula One news
Vettel leads second Red Bull 1-2
21 June 2009 / Results / PhotosSebastian Vettel and Red Bull racing dominated the British Grand Prix to win in style at Silverstone on Sunday afternoon. Mark Webber completed a magical day in the team's home race as Rubens Barrichello completed the podium for Brawn. Championship leader Jenson Button had retained his grid position by the time the chequered flag fell, crossing the line in sixth place.
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| The Red Arrows and the band were just two of the highlights before the red lights went out |
After two principally cloudy days in the English countryside on Friday and Saturday, the sun finally made its first appearance of the weekend on race day, much to the delight of the thousands of campers and sell-out crowd at what could be the last British Grand Prix at Silverstone for some time. Vettel started the race from pole position with Rubens Barrichello, slower in qualifying but with significantly less fuel onboard, joining him on the front row. From the back half of Row 3, it was always going to be a task of damage limitation for championship leader Jenson Button.
With the Red Arrows entertaining those in the grandstands from above, the on-track drama came before the red lights went out, as Adrian Sutil's latest Force India chassis, brought in from the team's nearby factory after his heavy crash in qualifying, broke down and pulled off the track at Becketts on the reconoissance lap out of the pit lane. The German, who started the race from the pits for the Force India team, eventually finished ahead of Sébastien Buemi to claim 17th place and become the penultimate man to finish. Team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella had a highly impressive day, with a very solid drive to a top ten result, less than two seconds away from the points, as in Monaco.
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| Vettel leads at the start |
A strong start by Vettel's Red Bull saw the German chop across the Brawn Barrichello on the run down to Copse, as Kimi Räikkönen made the most of his Ferrari's KERS to zoom from ninth to fifth in the first seconds of the race. One man losing out as a consequence was Button, who had dropped from sixth to ninth place by the end of the first lap of the 60-lap race. Kazuki Nakajima moved up one position to fourth from his best ever qualifying result, but eventually finished the race in a disappointing 11th position after being the lightest car at the start and adopting a pit stratgey which saw several others take advantage.
Nakajima's Williams team-mate, Nico Rosberg - currently out of contract and available to other teams for next year - did nothing to harm his cause by driving to a top five result, overhauled by Felipe Massa who took fourth during the final pit-stops after starting back in 11th place, completing a swap of grid and finishing positions with Nakajima.
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| Hamilton fights Kubica |
Reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton had a difficult afternoon from 19th on the grid; the Englishman's McLaren, after being involved in a fanastic battle with former team-mate Fernando Alonso, eventually sunk to 16th position following an unforced spin and trip across the grass at Vale and Club corners. The crowd was pleased, however, to see the Englishman performing donuts at Club corner on the slowing down lap. Team-mate Heikki Kovalainen failed to finish the Grand Prix after being hit by Toro Rosso's Sébastien Bourdais at Vale, causing a puncture and off before joining the Frenchman in the pit lane.
Using pit-stops to his advantage, Jenson Button had recovered to his grid position at the chequred flag, pushing hard with the hope of forcing Rosberg into a mistake but to no avail. Finishing sixth, the Englishman's World Championship lead is reduced from 26 to 23 points from his team-mate, although Vettel has moved to within only a couple of points of Rubens Barrichello.
With the loss of the French Grand Prix from the calendar, there is now a 3-week break before the next encounter at the Nürburgring for the German Grand Prix on 12 July.
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