Race: In Valencia… Barrichello honors Massa

Rubens Barrichello won his 10th career Grand Prix this Sunday, in Valencia, Spain, at the 2009 European Formula 1 Grand Prix. The Brawn GP driver capitalized on a pit-stop error by the McLaren-Mercedes team to overtake Lewis Hamilton, who had started in pole position. Kimi Räikkönen in the Ferrari also finished on the podium. Brawn GP thus made the best move of the weekend, while McLaren failed to capitalize on their strong qualifying positions and benefited from the mistakes of their direct competitors: Red Bull, struggling, scored no points.

For more than half of the European Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton held the leading position. The British driver, starting from pole position, could have claimed victory if he hadn’t encountered an issue in the pits: his team poorly prepared his second refueling stop, causing the world champion to lose over 5 seconds and his lead to Barrichello, who was on his heels. Barrichello thus clinches the 10th victory of his career, but more importantly, it is his first win in five years of challenges for the 37-year-old Brazilian. Ross Brawn once again enables him to shine, while Button was on the back foot all weekend. A very emotional Barrichello dedicated his victory to Massa, his compatriot who was seriously injured in an accident four weeks ago in Hungary.

More than a success, it’s the return of Brawn GP to the forefront that’s taking shape. The team has overcome its tire warming issues and has strongly competed with McLaren and Ferrari. Red Bull was much more behind than expected and will leave Valencia without any points. Sebastian Vettel broke one engine during qualifying and broke another during the race. The German retired halfway through the race, with the Renault engine being strongly suspected. As for Mark Webber, he was unable to finish in the points due to lack of performance.

Once again, the starting strategy influenced the outcome of the Grand Prix. Hamilton, starting from pole position with a very light car, quickly pulled away from Kovalainen. Only Barrichello could catch him thanks to several qualifying laps before his first pit stop.

Kimi Räikkönen, who started from 6th place, showcased the full potential of Scuderia Ferrari by securing another podium and salvaging the honor of the prancing horse. The Finn finished ahead of his compatriot Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren). Under pressure from his team to retain his seat next year, Kovalainen couldn’t maintain a consistent pace to hold onto the second place he had after the first lap. He finished just off the podium with severely damaged brakes, and somewhat incidentally ahead of Rosberg, who might move to McLaren in his place in 2010.

The German driver once again demonstrated his speed in the race and his consistency. In the Williams, he had an error-free Grand Prix and managed to keep Fernando Alonso (Renault) in his rearview mirrors. Alonso was motivated in front of his home crowd to score big points. Far from his performance in Hungary, where he was leading before retiring, he managed to score three points. His teammate at Renault, Romain Grosjean, also had a good first Grand Prix. Despite a shaky start, a clash with Luca Badoer, and having to change his front wing on the first lap, the Frenchman held his ground for the 57 laps at 46°C on the track in the European Grand Prix. He finished 15th, very close to Timo Glock, with the 5th fastest lap in the race just a few hundredths ahead of Alonso!

In 7th place, Jenson Button manages to score two points, which are crucial at this stage of the season. The Brit had a very poor start and being caught in traffic throughout the race did not climb up the ranks. He could only close in on Alonso in the last quarter of an hour of the Grand Prix by tenths, to no avail. In the early laps after the start, Button was battling with Alonso and Webber. Alonso and Button then cut the chicane to avoid taking risks while Webber overtook Button. By retaining his position, Button had to yield his place a few laps later to Webber, believing that the Australian had gained the advantage before the maneuver was completed.

In the end, Webber was overtaken a few minutes later during the first round of pit stops. He finished the Grand Prix in only 9th position, behind Kubica and the first BMW. The Pole thus scores a point, a rare performance since the aerodynamic difficulties of the German team. Heidfeld, for his part, held 11th place in a nondescript race.

This is not the case for Adrian Sutil. The Force India driver is once again close to scoring points with a 10th place finish. The VJM02 is fast at the moment, and Fisichella confirms this with a 12th place. The team is on par with BMW today.

The Toyota team was in great difficulty during qualifying. But with grip regained at the end of the race, the drivers were able to climb up the ranks. Trulli is 13th, ahead of his teammate Timo Glock. Both drivers are not certain to remain with the Japanese team next year and will therefore need to perform better at Spa for the Belgian Grand Prix next week.

Romain Grosjean finishes 15th, having made a few minor mistakes without consequences, proving that Renault made the right choice. He leads ahead of the Spanish Toro Rosso driver, Jaime Alguersuari, and Luca Badoer. The Italian had a race without pace; spinning at the 35th lap and narrowly avoiding an accident with Grosjean as they exited the pits. By crossing the line, Badoer will even receive a drive-through penalty.

Kazuki Nakajima finished 18th, two laps down from the leader after suffering a puncture at the end of the Grand Prix. The Japanese driver hit an overly sharp curb and returned to the pits slowly. Another mechanical problem for Sébastien Buemi, who retired due to brake issues—the Spanish circuit being very demanding on this aspect.

Results of the European Grand Prix – August 23, 2009: