
Jenson Button extends his championship lead with another one-two result for Brawn GP, his fourth victory out of five races.
Team-mate Rubens Barrichello was disappointed to finish in second despite making a better start and leading the opening laps at the Circuit de Catalunya, but in the end, the Brazilian was unable to match the remarkable and consistent pace from the Briton.
Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber benefitted from a lengthy first stint to score a great third while his team-mate Sebastian Vettel had his race compromised by getting stuck behind Felipe Massa’s Ferrari off the line.
While all attention was focused on the KERS-powered Ferrari of Massa, who would benefit the most at the start due to the long rundown into the first corner, it was actually his fellow countryman Barrichello who made the best getaway off the grid. The Brazilian swept around the outside of Button into Turn 1 as Massa squeezed past Vettel to take third position.
Behind it was chaos with four cars eliminated just after the start of the Spanish Grand Prix. The accident started as Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg clashed into the first corner. Jarno Trulli was forced to run wide into the gravel to avoid the Williams and spun back across the track.
Adrian Sutil (Force India) couldn’t react in time to avoid the Toyota and the pair made heavy contact, showering the first two corners with broken pieces of expensive carbon fibre.
Meanwhile Sebastian Buemi slowed to avoid the spinning Toyota and was collected by team-mate Sebastien Bourdais, putting both Toro Rossos out on the spot.
This led to a four-lap safety car period, after which Barrichello and Button pulled away from Massa, Vettel and Webber in unison through the opening stint.
Although Button was the lighter car at this stage of the race, the Brawn GP team decided to switch pit-stop strategies between their drivers with Jenson on two while Rubens on the normal three stops.
In theory, stopping three times is the quickest strategy to win the race and initially both drivers stuck to the plan. But after the first rounds of pit stops made by Brawn GP, a sound clip from the team’s radio broadcast told that Button had switched “to plan A.” It soon became clear that Rubens Barrichello was running a three-stop strategy, while Jenson Button would only be stopping twice.
This was a strange decision made by the team. Could it be that Brawn GP deliberately opted to switch the number of stops in a way of backing Button for the championship?
Well, according to team boss Ross Brawn, Jenson Button was switched to the two-stop strategy “to avoid leaving him behind Rosberg”. This makes sense, as Nico was only 18.646 seconds behind Button when the championship leader made his first pit stop on lap 17. So whatever happens, the Briton was going to come out of the pitlane behind the Williams. So opting for a two-stop strategy ensured Rosberg did not hold him up.
Barrichello stuck to his three-stop strategy and came out narrowly ahead of the Williams. But Button was able to stay close enough to Barrichello during his second stint to move ahead of his team-mate after the final pit stops.
This series of pit stop tactics and driving flat-out won the race for Jenson. You can see his relief in winning this Grand Prix immediately after taking the chequered flag. Compare the body language on his Brawn GP team-mate…
As for Massa and Vettel, the pair pitted in together at both their stops, and on each occasion the Ferrari managed to stay ahead of the Red Bull.
This was deeply frustrating for the young German as he was tipped to score another race victory for Red Bull Racing. But yet again, a KERS car halted his progress and ultimately it compromised Vettel’s race for victory honours.
Sebastian eventually got passed the Ferrari with four laps remaining when Massa was forced to back off and save fuel, as too little was delivered at its final pit stop. The Brazilian fell back down to sixth, running out of fuel just after taking the chequered flag.
But the pair missed out on the podium spot, which went to Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber. The Australian was very aggressive in this race and one key moment was that overtaking manoeuvre on double world champion Fernando Alonso on the main start/finish straight just after the restart.
Alonso was in the slipstream and pulled to the right to pass the Red Bull. Webber was having none of it and nudged his rival to the grass but the Renault was still coming through. As soon as the home crowd favourite was ahead, the Australian darted to the right and out-braked his rival into the first corner, getting his place back. This was a spectacular move from Webber and to come home third was a rich reward for his driving.
As for Fernando, he did well to finish in fifth despite starting this race with lightest fuel at the top end of the grid. He gained an extra championship point when he passed the slowing Massa on the final lap and it was great to see his fighting spirit when battling with Webber at the restart.
BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld used a long middle stint to beat Nico Rosberg’s Williams to seventh, while the second BMW Sauber of Robert Kubica was only eleventh after losing ground on the first lap.
As for Lewis Hamilton, this was a difficult race for the world champion. He dropped to last avoiding the first corner crash, then made good progress in the middle of the race before severe tyre wear saw him fall off the pace. Lewis eventually beat Timo Glock to ninth, with the Toyota never recovering from falling into the midfield thanks to an earlier first stop compare to the others.
Both Finns had a weekend to forget with Kimi Raikkonen and Heikki Kovalainen forced to retire with mechanical problems (throttle and gearbox issues respectively).
So, another fantastic result for Brawn GP and Jenson Button. He leads the drivers’ standings with 41 points with team-mate Barrichello on 27 followed by Vettel on 23 and Webber on 15.5. In the constructors’ stakes, Brawn have 68 compared to Red Bull Racing’s 38.5.
Monte Carlo is the next round in this highly exciting Formula One season and it will be fascinating whether the Brawn GP can maintain this winning momentum. The other teams are hoping more upgrades in particular the double diffusers and making the KERS unit reliable will close the gap, but in this competitive sport, everyone really needs to perform better if you want to beat the Button and Brawn combo.
Race Results from the Spanish Grand Prix, 66 laps:backgammon free casino money free craps game play free black jack craps video poker strategy play black jack online how to win video poker casino game online uk best casino online casino secure online gambling jackpot casino online casino black jack learn to play craps how to win at video poker craps online blackjack casino game online casino betting free on line video poker casino games no download casino online gambling casino play free casino slots video poker machine bonus video poker free on line slots double bonus video poker free video poker games free casinos roulette online craps rules free on line casino rules of craps online casino free money blackjack 21 internet casino how to play craps free casino game download fortunelounge online casino free casino download free casino card game free roulette game free casino play no deposit free money casino internet casino online
1. Button Brawn GP-Mercedes 1h37:19.202
2. Barrichello Brawn GP-Mercedes +13.056
3. Webber Red Bull-Renault +13.924
4. Vettel Red Bull-Renault +18.941
5. Alonso Renault +43.166
6. Massa Ferrari +50.827
7. Heidfeld BMW Sauber +52.312
8. Rosberg Williams-Toyota +1:05.211
9. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes +1 lap
10. Glock Toyota +1 lap
11. Kubica BMW Sauber +1 lap
12. Piquet Renault +1 lap
13. Nakajima Williams-Toyota +1 lap
14. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes +1 lap
Fastest lap: Barrichello, 1:22.762
Not classified/retirements:
Raikkonen Ferrari 18 laps
Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 8 laps
Trulli Toyota 1 lap
Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1 lap
Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1 lap
Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1 lap
World Championship standings, round 5:
Drivers:
1. Button 41
2. Barrichello 27
3. Vettel 23
4. Webber 15.5
5. Trulli 14.5
6. Glock 12
7. Alonso 9
8. Hamilton 9
9. Heidfeld 6
10. Rosberg 4.5
11. Kovalainen 4
12. Massa 3
13. Buemi 3
14. Raikkonen 3
15. Bourdais 1
Constructors:
1. Brawn GP-Mercedes 68
2. Red Bull-Renault 38.5
3. Toyota 26.5
4. McLaren-Mercedes 13
5. Renault 9
6. BMW Sauber 6
7. Ferrari 6
8. Williams-Toyota 4.5
9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 4
Next race: Monaco Grand Prix, Monte Carlo. May 21-24