Race: Button and Barrichello assert their dominance in Spain

The Spanish Grand Prix provided its share of surprises today. Even though Brawn GP secured another one-two finish, with Button ahead of Barrichello; Webber made it to the podium, achieving the best outcome of the Grand Prix. Ferrari fell victim to reliability issues once again, while Alonso, racing at home, managed to snatch the 5th position at the very last second.

The start of the first European Grand Prix of the 2009 season is officially underway. Glock seems to stall on the grid, Alonso behind him moves aside as quickly as possible. He battles further ahead at the entrance of turn 1 with Rosberg and takes the advantage with some difficulty. Up front, Barrichello got a better start than Button and overtakes him. The two Brawn GP cars lead after the first corner. Vettel also has a poor start and falls behind.

Behind, many drivers reach turn number 2 together. Trulli goes wide into the gravel and tries to get back on track. He then forces half the pack to brake. Trulli is then hit by Fisichella and a Toro Rosso, Buemi’s. The Swiss driver couldn’t avoid the Toyota, while Bourdais also tries to evade it. Both Toro Rosso cars are out by the second turn. Trulli’s Toyota is destroyed, as well as Sutil’s Force India. The German also went too wide and re-entered the track to collide with the other German. The Safety Car is deployed with four cars already out of the race.

A lot of carbon debris is on the track, and she only comes into the pit on the 5th lap. The new start is launched and the Brawn GP keep the advantage.

First reliability incident and it’s McLaren that is affected. Kovalainen is slowing down on the Circuit de Catalunya from the 7th lap, and he will abandon his MP4 a few corners later. He will later comment on English television that he was a victim of a gearbox problem.

Timo Glock is the first to make a pit stop. He comes in on the 18th lap and is followed on the next lap by Button and Alonso. The Spaniard was ultimately able to do more laps than expected despite his reduced fuel load at the start.

Suddenly, the director shows Kimi Räikkönen in slow motion. The Finn appears to be affected once again by mediocre reliability at Ferrari. The KERS might be the issue; it seems, in any case, that the Ferrari is stuck due to its gearbox. He abandons his F60 on the 19th lap.

Rosberg pits on the 25th lap. He comes out just behind Fernando Alonso. The two drivers are close, but Alonso manages to gain a bit of a lead. After two laps, he holds the German with a 4-second advantage.

On the 32nd lap, Button is ahead of Massa and Vettel. Barrichello is in 4th after making his second pit stop. Webber is 5th, in front of Alonso and Rosberg. Heidfeld is currently making a good move by virtually scoring a point. Hamilton is 10th, Piquet in the second Renault R29 is 13th and second to last.

For the eleventh position, Glock tries to hold off Kubica, who is pushing more and more. He attempts to overtake him but with one wheel on the grass, he doesn’t tempt fate.

There are less than thirty laps remaining in the race, and the battle for victory appears to be shaping up between the two Brawn GP drivers. Barrichello has a pit stop advantage, but the team seems to want to favor Button. The Brit is on the attack, but Barrichello still holds the fastest lap of the race with a 1:22.762.

The trend reverses a few laps later. Button fails to pull away from Massa and Vettel, but it’s Barrichello who loses some ground on the leading trio. On lap 40, the cameras show yet another problem for Ferrari. Massa loses a wheel fairing. The piece flies off, but shouldn’t disrupt the F60 more than necessary.

On lap 42, Massa and Vettel, who are currently fighting for 2nd place, both enter the pits at the same time. Massa exits as he entered, in second place. The following lap, Alonso also comes in to refuel. He was 6th and returns in 8th, fighting against Hamilton. The Spaniard holds his position but McLaren is putting on the pressure. Kubica and Piquet pit a lap later.

There are 19 laps remaining in this 5th Grand Prix of the season, and Button laps Fisichella and Kubica. The English driver goes into the pits immediately after. He puts on hard tires, and Barrichello takes the lead again. Webber is second without having made a second pit stop, so Button comes out third. Rosberg and Nakajima also refuel. Everyone has made two stops, except for Heidfeld and Webber, currently in 2nd and 7th place.

The teams had warned that strategies would be important in the race, especially if the rain did not appear. Everyone made two stops, but Barrichello eventually came in for a third time. There are 18 laps to go, and Button retakes the lead of the Grand Prix. He is followed by Barrichello for a Brawn GP double?

Behind, Webber, who is also refueling, surprisingly emerges in third place. He is virtually on the podium and ahead of Massa and Vettel. The German continues to put pressure on Massa. The F60 has KERS and is very difficult to overtake. There are 10 laps remaining, and Alonso leads by 20 seconds. His team asks him to overtake the Ferrari to reclaim the 4th position.

There are 8 laps remaining. The positions are stabilizing. Hamilton manages to gain the advantage over Glock for 9th position. Rosberg is 23 seconds behind, points are out of reach.

There are 4 laps to go, and Massa is in trouble. He’s running out of fuel, and his team is asking him to ease off if he wants to finish the race. He’s much slower than Vettel, and the German easily overtakes him on the straight. Massa was 5 tenths slower, and he’s only 16 seconds ahead of Alonso. He’s ordered to push. In the 63rd lap, Massa is almost 5 seconds slower than everyone else. Alonso believes he can catch up and is now only 8 seconds behind the Spaniard. The final lap begins, but Alonso is now in the Brazilian’s mirrors. Just after the timing line, Alonso is in the F60’s diffusers, still slowing down. He has 10 corners to overtake and quickly gets rid of him by going around the outside. The crowd is ecstatic, Alonso is in 5th place. At the same moment, 10 corners ahead, Button crosses the checkered flag in the lead of a Grand Prix once again. It’s his 4th victory. Barrichello crosses the line 13 seconds behind him for a one-two finish.

In a surprising turn of events, it’s Webber who takes the podium at the expense of Vettel. The German benefits from Massa’s problem to finish 4th. Alonso is 5th. Massa crosses the line 6th, but 7 seconds behind Alonso and abandons his car at the side of the track after two corners. Ferrari’s strategy fails once again.

Heidfeld scores points with BMW by finishing 7th. He had started 13th. Rosberg also scores a point, while Hamilton finishes 9th. One lap behind his British compatriot, Button. The image was symbolic. Glock finishes less than a second behind Hamilton. Kubica is 11th, ahead of Piquet and Nakajima. Fisichella is dead last in 14th position nonetheless.

Hamilton, interviewed, is disappointed with his car but could not do better.

Results of the Spanish Grand Prix – Sunday, May 10, 2009