Red Bull’s Vettel wins 2009 British F1 GP

After qualifying at the head of the class, Sebastian Vettel readily launched his Red Bull RB5 into the lead of the 2009 British F1 Grand Prix. In a dominant drive that highlighted Red Bull Renault’s strength on high-speed circuits, Vettel pulled away from Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn GP car by as much as a second per lap in a series of quick moves, and never looked even close to being challenged.

Red Bull teammate Mark Webber got ahead of Barrichello during the first round of pitstops and likewise had no trouble staying ahead thereafter. But Vettel was still 15.1 seconds ahead when the chequered flag fell.

The Brazilian held on to take third place, 25.9s adrift, while the race was enlivened in the closing laps as Jenson Button’s Brawn began to develop decent tyre temperatures. The world championship leader had run between seventh and ninth places for much of the race but vaulted ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Toyota’s Jarno Trulli during the two pit stops, and launched a blistering attack from sixth place on Felipe Massa in the other Ferrari and Williams’ Nico Rosberg, who were running fourth and fifth respectively. By the last lap, 0.8 seconds separated the Ferrari from the Williams and 0.3 seconds split the Williams and the Brawn.

On a day when damage limitation mattered the most, Button lost only three of his 26-point advantage over Barrichello. He now has 64 to the Brazilian’s 41, Vettel’s 39 and Webber’s 35.5.

Trulli hung on for seventh for Toyota, while Raikkonen fended off the Italian’s team mate Timo Glock, but only just. Behind them, Giancarlo Fisichella took a fighting 10th place for Force India ahead of Kazuki Nakajima in the second Williams.

Lewis Hamilton had an awful race. It was compromised early on as Renault’s Fernando Alonso slid off the track ahead of him but obliged him in turn to go off in avoidance as he jerked back on to the tarmac. That left him embroiled in a fight with the Renaults and the BMW Saubers, which saw all of them lapped.

In the end, Nelson Piquet emerged in 12th place, just ahead of BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica and Alonso. Nick Heidfeld in the second BMW Sauber was 15th, some way ahead of Hamilton after he spun his McLaren at Vale on the 43rd lap.

Adrian Sutil and Sebastien Buemi completed the finishers after Sebastien Bourdais misjudged an overtaking move at Abbey on the 34th lap on McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen, and both subsequently retired because of the damaged caused.

RESULTS

1. Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault
2. Mark Webber RBR-Renault
3. Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes
4. Felipe Massa Ferrari
5. Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota
6. Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes
7. Jarno Trulli Toyota
8. Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari
9. Timo Glock Toyota
10. Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Mercedes
11. Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota
12. Nelsinho Piquet Renault
13. Robert Kubica BMW Sauber
14. Fernando Alonso Renault
15. Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber
16. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
17. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes
18. Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari
Ret. Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari
Ret. Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes

POINTS TO DATE

1. Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 64
2. Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 41
3. Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 39
4. Mark Webber RBR-Renault 35.5
5. Jarno Trulli Toyota 21.5
6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 16
7. Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 15.5
8. Timo Glock Toyota 13
9. Fernando Alonso Renault 11
10. Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 10
11. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 9
12. Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 6
13. Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 4
14. Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 3
15. Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 2
16. Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 2
17. Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 0
18. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 0
19. Nelsinho Piquet Renault 0
20. Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 0

CONSTRUCTOR POINTS TO DATE

1. Brawn-Mercedes 96
2. RBR-Renault 56.5
3. Toyota 32.5
4. Ferrari 20
5. McLaren-Mercedes 13
6. Williams-Toyota 11.5
7. Renault 11
8. BMW Sauber 8
9. STR-Ferrari 5
10. Force India-Mercedes 0