Buzzin F1 – Formula One Blog

Rubens Barrichello - European Grand Prix - Valencia 2009

The Brawn GP driver Rubens Barrichello, claimed the win at the European Grand Prix in Valencia yesterday, 2 seconds ahead of pole man Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren.

With Barrichello running on a heavy fuel-load from third on the grid behind the two McLarens, it was expected to be a race of  strategies, and one which paid off for the Brazilian driver after a problem with a tyre on the car of Hamilton caused a delay of several seconds on his final pit-stops.

As the race got underway, Kimi Raikkonen moved his Ferrari up into fourth position after starting from sixth on the grid while the Brawn GP car of Jenson Button, lost places at the first corner. Button got a good start as the lights went out and headed into the first corner alongside Sebastien Vettel but backed off seeing four cars slip past him.  Button then passed Mark Webber but the move was seen as having gained an unfair advantage by cutting the chicane and he was advised to let Webber back in front.

Hamilton led the pack followed by Heikki Kovalainen in the second McLaren, ahead of Barrichello, Raikkonen, Vettel in the Red Bull Racing car, Nico Rosberg in the Williams, Fernando Alonso in the Renault and Button in eighth.

Sebastien Buemi suffered a damaged front wing on the Scuderia Toro , after a coming together with Timo Glock in the Toyota and had to return to the pits for a replacement.  Jarno Trulli in the second Toyota also had an incident on the first lap with newcomer Romain Grosjean in the Renault but both drivers continued. Grosjean had a huge spin on lap 10 but again managed to continue without problem.

Hamilton went in for his first pit stop on lap 17 along with Vettel, who had suffered a problem with refueling and Robert Kubica in the BMW Sauber. On lap 18, Kovalianen and Alonso entered the pits as Vettel returned after a very slow lap, to once again try to take on fuel.

Barrichello was now leading the race as Raikkonen and Button took their first pit stops on lap 20 and on lap 21 the Brazilian entered the pits for his stop followed by Rosberg.

Barrichello rejoined in front of the McLaren of Kovalainen, moving him into second place and closer to the leading man.

Sebastien Vettel’s race was over on lap 24 as he stopped on the side of the track with smoke coming from the Red Bull engine, a disaster for the German driver who is currently running at third in the championship.

On lap 32, Luca Badoer, the replacement driver for the recuperating Felipe Massa in the Ferrari,  was given a drive through penalty after crossing the white line when he exited the pits, which he took on the following lap.

By lap 35, Barrichello had recorded the fastest lap of the race as he got his head down to close the gap between himself and the McLaren of Hamilton.  He needed to be closer to the British driver if he had any hope of jumping him in the next round of pit stops.

Hamilton made his second pit stop on lap 38 but what a disaster, it appeared that the front left tyre was not ready, losing valuable seconds for the McLaren driver as Barrichello set another fastest lap on track.  Kovalainen then entered the pits for his second stop on the following lap.

On lap 40, Kazuki Nakajima in the second Williams car suffered a left rear puncture and struggled back to the pits which he had left only a few minutes earlier on a scheduled stop.

Barrichello came in for his second stop on lap 41 and rejoined the track in front of Hamilton, while Raikkonen and Kubica entered the pits.

On lap 43, Button, Rosberg and Webber took their second stops with Button and Rosberg both managing to rejoin ahead of Webber.  Sebastien Buemi suffered a spin in his ToroRosso on lap 44 after struggling with what was left of his brakes, finally retiring from the race.

By lap 45, Barrichello had increased the lead between himself and Hamilton, to 6 seconds with Raikkonen up to third place after passing Kovalainen in the second stop.  Rosberg was in fifth in the Williams followed by the Renault of Alonso, Button and Kubica.

Barrichello, wearing a crash helmet in support of his fellow Brazilian Felipe Massa, took the tenth victory of his career and his first win since 2004, moving him up to second place in the championship and only 18 points behind his team-mate Jenson Button.

The Formula One teams and drivers now head to the Spa Francorchamps circuit for next weekends Belgian Grand Prix.

Here are the results:

1. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Brawn-Mercedes 57 laps 1hr 35m 51.289s
2. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes +2.3s
3. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari-Ferrari +15.9s
4. Heikki Kovalainen Finland McLaren-Mercedes +20.0s
5. Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Toyota +20.8s
6. Fernando Alonso Spain Renault-Renault +27.7s
7. Jenson Button Britain Brawn-Mercedes +34.9s
8. Robert Kubica Poland BMW Sauber +36.6s

9. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault +44.9s
10. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes +47.9s
11. Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber +48.8s
12. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Force India-Mercedes +63.6s
13. Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota-Toyota +64.5s
14. Timo Glock Germany Toyota-Toyota +86.5s
15. Romain Grosjean France Renault-Renault +91.7s
16. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
17. Luca Badoer Italy Ferrari-Ferrari +1 lap
18. Kazuki Nakajima Japan Williams-Toyota +3 laps

Rtd. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari +16 laps
Rtd. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 23 laps completed (engine)

Fastest lap:

Timo Glock Germany Toyota-Toyota 1m 38.683s