There is no getting around it, Jenson Button and Brawn GP has dominated the year so far. As Jenson and the boys from Brackley turned up for their home grand prix this weekend, expectations were high and what a better place to put a stamp on their season than dominating the British Grand Prix. Except that actually didn’t happen. The Brawn GP team had a troubled weekend with Rubens Barrichello placing third and holding the flame for the disgruntled squad. Jenson Button, left sliding around the track on a hard-compound long stint, finished sixth and only recognized former form on his last set of option tires.
The weekend was literally dominated but not by the Brawn GP team. It was dominated by the Red Bull’s of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber who finished a 1,2 for the second time this year. Today’s performance was a class in pure domination and excellence. Sebastian Vettel was brilliant and Mark Webber, stuck behind Rubens Barrichello, may have just officially been released of his tutelary duties with his Young German teammate. Red Bull brought some significant upgrades this weekend from the master of aero, Adrian Newey. Adrian’s handy work may have propelled Red Bull to a level capable of making the remainder of the season more interesting for the fans. What seemed to be heading for a sure walk in the park for Brawn GP may have just turned in to an uphill slog for the Brackley-based team.
The race, for this fan, was a terrific race. Lots of on-track battles with some of the best moments midfield between Fernando Alonso, Nick Heidfeld, Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa, Nico Rosberg, Robert Kubica and Nelson Piquet. The Toyota’s had poor starts and that soiled an otherwise promising weekend for the Japanese team but their sister team, Williams F1, had a very promising weekend with a fifth place finish by Nico Rosberg.
Look for our full race recap on Monday’s podcast with special guests Paul Charsley and European Contributing Editor Mark Hallam. That is if all this long distance technology stuff works.
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1h22:49.328
2. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) + 15.188
3. Barrichello Brawn GP-Mercedes (B) + 41.175
4. Massa Ferrari (B) + 45.043
5. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) + 45.915
6. Button Brawn GP-Mercedes (B) + 46.285
7. Trulli Toyota (B) + 1:08.307
8. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) + 1:09.622
9. Glock Toyota (B) + 1:09.823
10. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) + 1:11.522
11. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) + 1:14.023
12. Piquet Renault (B) + 1 lap
13. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) + 1 lap
14. Alonso Renault (B) + 1 lap
15. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) + 1 lap
16. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 1 lap
17. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) + 1 lap
18. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 1 lapFastest lap: Vettel, 1:20.735
Not classified/retirements:
Driver Team On lap
Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 25
Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 24
