Delayed Race Notes: European Grand Prix 2009

[Preface - Due to studies I fell behind with the editing of these posts. They were written live as usual, but needed a lot of work to make readable. Anything in italics in square brackets was written during the edit, just like this paragraph.]

2009 Formula 1 Telefonica Grand Prix of Europe
Date: 23 August 2009
Circuit: Valencia Street Circuit
Location: Valencia, Spain
Distance: 57 laps

Coverage: BBC One / BBC Radio 5 Live[*]
Anchor: Jake Humphrey
Analysts in the paddock: David Coulthard (DC) and Eddie Jordan (EJ)

R5 commentary[*]: David Croft (Crofty) and Anthony Davidson (Ant)
R5 pitlane[*]: Holly Samos

Tyre selection (red): SS / S / M / H

[*for many years the BBC has held the UK radio rights to F1. In '09 they also picked up the TV rights and they now offer an alternate feed on digital television, combining TV pics with radio commentary. I tend to use this feed.]

Coverage begins at 12.10pm.

We start with a recap of the title race so far. Button leading early, but Vettel and Webber are catching up but the McLaren resurgence is helping Button retain his lead.

JH, DC and EJ are chatting. JH and EJ in pink shirts, which has been the theme for every Button win so far. John Button wears a pink shirt 'for luck' and early in the season Jake followed his lead.

Just over their shoulder the RTL guys are talking with Niki Lauda. M Schumacher is walking around - Eddie tries to grab his arm, misses, gestures to him, then runs off and grabs him and brings him to the camera!
MS is disappointed that he's not in the car, say his fitness was far below the level to withstand the forces in the car. We can hardly hear him because of the engine right behind him.
Just a quick chat. Jake says we are all keen for him to get back in a car sooner rather than later.... errr, no Jake.


Quali recap.
Story of qualifying: Badoer is subbing for Massa, leading to a Ferrari qualifying slowest on merit for the first time - they've been last before due to crashes/penalties, but not lack of speed;
Badoer says he'll be better at the next race;

Webber's car overheated the soft tyres. What's the problem? "laptimes of other people";
Alonso isn't happy with 8th but says they did the maximum they could do;
Button says he's not in a bad position, Vettel just in front, not too bad;
Barrichello thought he could put the car on pole;
Hamilton got pole position - a grinning Lewis says it has been a long time since they've battled for pole, this time they had the pace and were able to do it but the Brawns are still quick;


Grid:
Hamilton, Kovalainen
Barrichello, Vettel
Button, Raikkonen
Rosberg, Alonso
Webber, Kubica
Heidfeld, Sutil
Glock, Grosjean
Buemi, Fisichella
Nakajima, Trulli
Alguersuari, Badoer


Now live with Lewis.
- Great feeling, very relaxed and casual for the team. Still very tough as always, Heikki did an excellent job next to me. Clean side of the grid, drag race with Heikki 'cos he has KERS, same power same everything. He generally gets a good start so I have to make sure I start well.

Now a recorded segment with Lewis. Gushing platitudes for team. He's visibly proud of having his own 'bay' in the factory for his car, says he came here as a kid and saw Mika, David, Juan's bays and wanted his own. He reckons he notices each upgrade, asks when things will be tested, why haven't things been tested yet.. Says he gets really involved with the team, learning about the car, can talk for ages about the car. Ropes Jake into doing pull-ups in the gym!

Martin Whitmarsh, first win a weight off your shoulders?:
"When you've got one win you want more. We've already forgotten what happened in Hungary, we feel we can win here. We hope we can win this afternoon."
Jordan apologises for calling his car a dog earlier in the year. Whitmarsh says he always enjoys Jordan's apologies." From this evening after this race we'll be looking at Spa, we need to win at a high-speed circuit, it is a great circuit and we are looking forward to it."

He talks about drivers as well but we can't hear him because engines are firing.


12.30 UK time. Pitlane is open.

Focus switches to Jenson, pre-record with Lee:
"I've got a 19 and a half point lead still. Its not easy, not a walk in the park as some people might think it is. We did a better job but I don't think we had the best car all the time. Rest of the season will be very competitive. Red Bull are challenging, McLaren are very strong."
He did a triathlon in London during the summer break, then went on holiday. It took his mind off it, and he says if you don't take your mind off it you'll go mad. He's nice and refreshed now.


Jump into a Martin Brundle package on pit stops, a running feature for some races now. This time we're looking at the layout of the pit lane. Fast lane for entry/exit, inner lane where work is carried out. 26 men waiting for the driver when he arrives. Tyre changers, jackmen, fire extinquisher, fuellers. We know all of this Martin, tell us something we don't know.


Gridwalk!
Martin Brundle
- Expected the Safety Car last year, didn't happen, maybe we'll see it today.
We find Eric Clapton - "I don't know what to make of [Badoer]. He's got the experience but its going to be tough for him. If he can stay with the field its a great thing."
MB - "I find it bizarre. Give him an Enzo for a month and put someone quick in."
EC - "With the rules he's just dropped in it so I thought he did really well considering - even if he gets around in one piece its a result."

Martin says it feels like Bahrain temperature and humidity.

Bernie with the president or mayor or something, via translator.
Valencia has re-signed for a further 5 years.
Dignitary: "We'd like to make this one of the best Grands Prix in the world. We are very pleased that Alonso has made it after the penalty was rescinded."

Rubens would love to win the race. He's wearing a 'cool suit' which extracts the warm air away from his body. Ahem.
Barrichello: "Would you rather be less fuel on pole or not? We thought about it, the guys in front have KERS and they'd just overtake me, so it is a bit of a game in a way. I would love to win the race today and I think it's my best chance."

There's a queue for Seb.. haha, Brundle pushes in front of Sky Germany to get to Vettel! She's not impressed...
Vettel: "Not a secret that this track is not the best for us. 4th is not a disaster. Our focus is on Rubens, Jenson, Kimi."
Martin walks away and apologises to German TV as he leaves..

Horner: "Our priority is to beat both Jenson and Rubens. Mark isn't happy with the car, the stop/start nature of the track doesn't suit our car."

Rosberg says he has more fuel than the guys ahead of him, is worried slightly about Kimi and his KERS but may be saved by the short run to turn 1.


Anthem

Err, we stop for the Spanish national anthem but are unable to hear it, it fades up a little but very quiet. Shouldn't it be the European anthem? This is the European GP. We can now hear the Spanish anthem in the background but enough time has passed that maybe they played the European song first.

Jake says Martin is in serious trouble with Tanya from German TV, he'll be lucky to make it out alive..

Fuel-corrected quali report with Ted - to the tune of Push It by Salt'N'Pepa! I am not making this up! Haha.
Rubens would have been quickest on equalised fuel, so he has the best strategy. Kovalainen looks better than Hamilton on strategy. Both McLarens (and Vettel) are stopping ahead of the rest. He tips Barrichello for the win with a slightly later stop.

Ross Brawn: "The start will be what it is, thereafter it'll be making the tyres last. It'll be marginal for us with our fuel load."

Pundits, pick a winner: EJ says Hamilton by a big margin. DC says McLaren.

Grid Recap
Hamilton (pole), Kovalainen
Barrichello, Vettel
Button, Raikkonen
Rosberg, Alonso
Webber, Kubica
Heidfeld, Sutil
Glock, Grosjean
Buemi, Fisichella
Nakajima, Trulli
Alguersuari, Badoer


FORMATION LAP
Switching to 5 Live audio. I love the 5Live coverage of the formation lap. BBC1 is just the two guys filling to almost dead air while they wait for the cars to come around. 5Live has music, rapid-fire scene-setting, a real tension-builder.


GRID


Lights are 1.2.3.4.5...GO!!

Badoer up four places before turn 2!
Someone loses part of the front wing.
5Live says Grosjean,
Button runs off course.

Button tries to repass Alonso, goes too deep.

Grosjean, Glock and Buemi all pit for damage repairs.

L3 (2 laps done, we're on lap 3) Badoer is now 17th, he's fallen back behind the guys he beat at the start.

L5 Badoer spun?
Webber on the radio, he says Button should be behind him because Jenson cut the chicane.

L8 Things settled down really early. Not much going on. I didn't expect it to be this boring so early!

L10 Grosjean has a half-spin.

L14 According to official live timing at f1.com there has been no change of position since lap 5. Literally NOTHING has happened.

L17 Here we go, Hamilton pits. Vettel and Kubica are also in.
L18 Kovalainen and Alonso pit.
Vettel is also in again, looks like the rig may have failed on the last stop!!

Fastest Lap from Rubens Barrichello on lap 18. The BBC guys tipped him for the win earlier, said he had the best fuel load / position.

L20 Raikkonen and Button pit.
L21 Barrichello pits and he's out between the two McLarens!
Webber also pitted, he's out in front of Fisichella and Button but Giancarlo has yet to stop.

L22 Rubens has gone for another stint on the harder of the two tyre choices. Hamilton is on the softer tyre.

L23 Heidfeld and Sutil pit. Confirmation from Holly Samos that Vettel had a fuel rig problem and didn't get any on that first stop. Ant says this has cost him 20-30 seconds.

Hamilton told to 'lift and coast' to keep rear temps low

L25 ANOTHER engine failure for Vettel!
He manages to pull over to the side of the road and into an escape road, track is clear although there may be oil.

L29 The heavier runners are about to make their stops.
Badoer and Grosjean pit. Clean stops, but Badoer pulls to the right and isn't accelerating, Grosjean drives past him!! Badoer then momentarily puts his wheels over the white line where the pitlane joins the racetrack. Big no-no!

Grosjean not at fault there, clearly if a car slows and pulls to the side he's in trouble (even if he wasn't really).

L32 Drive-thru penalty for Badoer for crossing the white line on pit exit.

Rubens told he must cut the deficit to Hamilton from 4.5sec to 2sec in 8 laps.

L33 Glock has pitted and Badoer takes his penalty. Luca is 18th.

L34 New FL from Rubens. Button is also fast, catching Webber.

L37 Badoer spins..again.. Braked too late at turn 17.

L38 Hamilton in. Early stop? Pit stop is slow, tyres were not ready! He's lost a place to Rosberg, and lost a good 4 seconds on a usual stop time.
Rubens needs to PUSH HARD now to take advantage of this.

RB sets another fastest lap of the race.

L39 Kovalainen pits.

L40 Puncture for Nakajima, rubber everywhere. SC?
Rubens should pit now just in case of Safety Car..

So far it is covered with a waved yellow flag, and white flag. Rubens does pit.

RB is back out, wow that's a huge gap to LH.

Nakajima makes it back to the pitlane for a replacement set of tyres. Yellows clear.

Message from Holly in the pits, the pitwall called in Hamilton but the garage was not ready..

L43 Button and Alonso pits. Kimi has passed Heikki, was that through the stops? I missed it.

L44 Rosberg is in. Webber and Heidfeld in, a spinning Toro Rosso! We cut away to see the stop of Webber, who rejoins the track some way behind Button. Jenson's quick laps and shorter stop really gained him some ground.

The spinning STR was Buemi, Ant says it looks like his brakes were too hot...

Barrichello, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Kovalainen, Rosberg, Alonso, Button, Kubica! Where'd he come from?

New Fastest Lap from Button. 1:38.874 Catching Alonso.

10 laps to go.

Rosberg is setting personal best times, so is Webber, and Button is still catching Alonso. They are going to run out of laps.

5 laps now. The only action in this race was during the pit stops, the intervening parts have been pretty dull... Not for the drivers who have been pushing like hell, drivers who have been pushing like hell, unforunately that's not very interesting when they are running by themselves.

3 to go.

Drivers are setting the odd personal best sector here and there as the fuel loads come down and the rubber is being laid on the track. The gaps aren't really changing much, we're talking tenths.

Glock sets Fastest Lap! He did pit a 3rd time so maybe down to low fuel and new tyres.. He is 14th and 22sec down on Trulli in 13th.

Final Lap

Rubens Barrichello WINS!

Brawn on the radio: "Fantastic, just like the old days, fantastic."
I can't make out Rubinho's response! He's crying??


Parc Ferme

Applause in the pit lane for Rubens.
Congratulates the mechanics.. up the stairs, kisses the camera, little dance on the way to the podium!

Brazilian national anthem.
British anthem for Brawn.

Another stealthy podium from Kimi. We hardly saw him all race.

Trophies.
Champaaggggne!


Whitmarsh denies the pitstop was the reason for losing the race, and says it was down to race pace. The error only lost 2 seconds, he says, they weren't quick enough on race pace.
I don't agree with that! They lost more than 2 seconds and there would have been a fight, Lewis may not have won it without it, but he may have done....

Brawn says it was one of Barrichello's best races. Could have been more aggressive on strategy, worked for Rubens not for Jenson.


Conference with James Allen:
(ex-ITV commentator Allen now does the conference, Peter Windsor has his USF1 job so can't work for F1/FOM due conflict of interest)

Rubens:

"It's been fantastic, a weekend I will never forget. After 5 years you don't forget how to do it. The car has been perfect, I want to thank the team for that."

Lewis:

"We win and we lose together. We've had a tremendous effort to get us here, we had extraordinary pace in the last 2 or 3 races, it was a tremendous race for everyone. We'll keep pushing, we need to catch these guys."

Kimi:

"We needed to go 100% all the time, we knew on Friday I had a good feeling from the car. We know we are not where we want to be, we're not bringing new parts to the car but usually we can fight for 3rd place and if something weird happens we can fight for the win."

Kimi is happy with a podium.

Okay, that's all from me. Here are the stats:


Race Result

Pos	Driver	Gap	Pts
1	Barrichello	57 laps	10
2	Hamilton	2.3sec	8
3	Räikkönen	15.9sec	6
4	Kovalainen	20.0sec	5
5	Rosberg	20.8sec	4
6	Alonso	27.7sec	3
7	Button	34.9sec	2
8	Kubica	36.6sec	1
9	Webber	44.9sec
10	Sutil	47.9sec
11	Heidfeld	48.8sec
12	Fisichella	63.6sec
13	Trulli	64.5sec
14	Glock	86.5sec
15	Grosjean	91.7sec
16	Alguersuari	1 lap
17	Badoer	1 lap
18	Nakajima	retired
DNF	Buemi	brakes
DNS	Vettel	engine

Drivers

Pos	Driver	Prev	EUR	Total
1	Button	70	2	72
2	Barrichello	44	10	54
3	Webber	51.5		51.5
4	Vettel	47		47
5	Rosberg	25.5	4	29.5
6	Hamilton	19	8	27
7	Räikkönen	18	6	24
8	Trulli	22.5		22.5
9	Massa	22		22
10	Glock	16		16
11	Alonso	13	3	16
12	Kovalainen	9	5	14
13	Heidfeld	6		6
14	Buemi	3		3
15	Kubica	2	1	3
16	Bourdais	2		2

Barrichello makes a big gain on Button, and both Brawns extend their advantage over the Red Bulls.
Hamilton and Raikkonen are well and truly up and running with big scores now expected at every race, they ought to reel in Rosberg fairly soon (even with Nico scoring well) and then set about closing the gap to the Red Bull drivers.
Kovalainen is starting to make his presence felt in the middle order now.


Constructors

Pos	Constructor	Prev	EUR	Total
1	Brawn	114	12	126
2	Red Bull	98.5		98.5
3	Ferrari	40	6	46
4	McLaren	28	13	41
5	Toyota	38.5		38.5
6	Williams	25.5	4	29.5
7	Renault	13	3	16
8	BMW	8	1	9
9	Toro Rosso	5		5
10	Force India	0		0

Brawn now have a 27.5 point lead over Red Bull, not insurmountable but we will quickly run out of races to pull that gap back over the coming stretch.
Ferrari and McLaren have overtaken Toyota, and given Toyota's current form it is unlikely they will mount a challenge. Realistically this table has broken into a series of team vs team battles. Brawn & Red Bull, Ferrari & McLaren, Toyota & Williams (along with maybe Renault), then the tail-enders.


The next race is the Belgian Grand Prix at the fantastic Spa-Francorchamps, the middle of the 3-race close to the European F1 season before the flyaways resume. I hope to have notes up soon.

Delayed Race Notes: F1 Spanish Grand Prix 2009

2009 Formula 1 Gran Premio de Espana Telefonica
Circuit: Circuit de Catalunya
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Coverage: BBC One
Distance: 66 laps

Anchor: Jake Humphrey
Analysts in the paddock: David Coulthard (DC) and Eddie Jordan (EJ)
Race commentary: Jonathan Legard and Martin Brundle
Pit and paddock reports: Ted Kravitz and Lee McKenzie

Tyre selection (red): SS / S / M / H

** Disclaimer - These are notes taken during the race. They may or may not make any sense and I have only edited them for brevity, punctuation and grammar. **

** Apologies for the delay in writing up my notes, I have been insanely busy! **


BBC coverage is a GO at 12.10pm UK time. 50 minutes to race start.


We're straight into a Button pre-recorded package.

Qualifying recap with Ted:
- The last 8 races here have been won by the driver on pole - but KERS may have an effect this year.
- Onboard lap with Button, a very smooth lap. I remember that I didn't post an onboard lap in the preview because I didn't write a preview. Oops.

Kimi Raikkonen at the official opening of the Ferrari Store in London. I was in that store a month ago! Not sure why they held the official opening a month after the real opening. He is interviewed while sat in a F430.
- "Not as strong as we should be. You can't expect anything in Formula 1 it changes so quickly."
Its quite hard to know what he is saying here.. He says the ice cream thing in Malaysia was a big story out of nothing, he was retired already. Also saying that a budget cap would mean it is not Formula 1 any more.

12:30pm / 1:30pm local time and the pitlane is open for 15 mins to allow cars to run the recon laps and make their way to the grid.

Package: Martin is walking the track with Rubens Barrichello.
There is a big bump on turn in to turn 9 (Campsa), this is where Heikki crashed last year.

Lee is with Alonso: 'Long race anything can happen.'

Martin is on the grid, a little early perhaps?
He's noticed the track is more black with rubber on the right-hand side, though the other side is the racing line and supposedly has more grip - says the support race drivers may have laid rubber for their start.

Nicole who is Lewis Hamilton's girlfriend says lots of words but doesn't add to the sum knowledge of F1 fans the world over so we'll gloss over this bit.

Martin is at the back of the grid for some reason.

Bourdais: 'It's a tough race here especially to pass, when you start 17th it doesn't make it easier. Keep plugging away, keep doing what we do, there's a lot of potential but we didn't use it this weekend. We'll try to hang on and do our best.'

Fisichella, how's it going?: 'Not great, I had a bad qualifying session with the traffic and the tyres locking. We have some new bits here. I still love this sport, love to drive a Formula 1 car.'

Martin: It's just as intense down here as it is at the front.

Sutil: 'Bit difficult here in Barcelona to do anything in the race. Try to push as hard as possible. I'm so happy to race with this team and we're doing progress.'


Spanish National Anthem
FOM cutting to crowd, drivers on grid, atmosphere. Love it.

Ted's fuel adjusted qualifying round up.
Predicted stops: Alonso lap 14, Button 15, Barrichello and Webber 16. Massa looking good at lap 18. Hamilton on a 1-stopper.

Ted live with Rubens, you're faster than Ferrari: 'Yeah but I don't have their turbo button and it's difficult to pass a KERS car.'
Turbo button? Methinks Rubens needs a refresher on what KERS is.

12:50 / ten mins to go: drivers are getting in to their cars

About 5 to go: FOM sweeper logo, BBC hands over to Jonathan and Martin upstairs.

Very low flying by one of the helicopters. The pilot at Spa is a lunatic, wonder if it is the same guy...


START ORDER

Button (pole), Vettel
Barrichello, Massa
Webber, Glock
Trulli, Alonso
Rosberg, Kubica
Nakajima, Piquet
Heidfeld, Hamilton
Buemi, Raikkonen
Bourdais, Kovalainen,
Sutil, Fisichella

It is Nick Heidfeld's birthday.

Engines are firing and mechanics are clearing the grid, as the Alonso fans go wild at the back of the circuit somewhere.

Formation Lap

All get away cleanly.

Michael Schumacher on pit wall but away from the Ferrari prat perch and by the catch fence instead, sunglasses on, awaiting the cars.

Kimi radio but I really have no idea..

Grid

I still maintain a Formula 1 start is like no other form of racing and that includes the multitudes of other standing starts... Tension...

1.2.3.4.5.hold.GO!GO!GO!

McLaren on grass, Barrichello takes the lead, crash at turn 2!
Toyota spins around and gets hit. STRs involved. Lots of debris.


SAFETY CAR

It was Trulli. Replays. Both Toro Rossos are out and so is Sutil.
Sutil actually avoided another incident at turn one so was in the runoff area, just as he rejoined he had nowhere to go as Trulli speared in front of him. Sutil had no choice but to t-bone him.

Trulli was pushed on to the gravel and it spun him into the pack, which caused the STRs to perform evasise manouvres.. into each other.

4 laps complete (L4) - Safety Car in this lap

L5 RESTART

Alonso vs Webber, Alonso gets ahead briefly but Mark takes it back.

L6 Kovalainen is travelling very slowly. REPLAY of Hamilton passing Piquet for 12th.

L10 BMW is not running KERS at this race. They are running 9th and 11th.

L12 Buemi: 'I saw a car going over my head, that's more or less it.'

L14 Button sets fastest lap in 2nd place. Ted predicted Alonso to pit this lap but the Safety Car threw that out of the window.

L15 Ted is reporting now that Kimi's KERS has broken.

L17 Glock is the first to pit.

L18 Brawn guys are in the pitlane. Button had the lighter car in qualifying and he pits now.
Kimi Raikkonen is slowing! He's on tickover trying to find somewhere to park.

Only 14 cars remaining, already!

L19 Barrichello and Webber both pit. Where is Button? Miles away!
Rosberg was fuelled a long way from the start and he's just behind Barrichello in 4th now.

L20 Massa and Vettel both pit.
Order is now: Barrichello, Rosberg, Button, Massa, Vettel, Heidfeld, Kubica, Hamilton, Webber.
Some yet to stop. Webber had a slow out lap.

L22 Radio to Rubens: Jenson has switched to Plan A and you have to make this work.

L23 Kubica pits from 8th, should drop behind quite a few cars though.

L24 Heikki with Lee: Lost 1st-5th gear behind the Safety Car. Coming out of the last turn I lost 6th to 7th as well, I lose the drive of the car but 4th came back so I tried to get back to the pits but it was game over. I'm not going to let this get to me and I'll fight back even harder in Monaco.

L25 Hamilton radio: If you can keep up with the BMWs we can pass them on the pit stops for a points finish, but you need to keep up.

L26 Kimi with Lee: Something wrong with the throttle control. A the start I couldn't see the lights because the rear wings are so high.
Rosberg has pitted but I missed it, was it shown? He's 9th now.

L27 Order: Barrichello, Button, Massa, Vettel, Heidfeld (not stopped), Hamilton (not stopped), Webber, Alonso, Rosberg, Fisi, Nakajima, Glock, Kubica, Piquet
Only 14 runners and Rubens just set the fastest lap.

L30 Bit processional now. We are waiting for strategies to play out.

L31 Barrichello pits from the lead, a very short stint for him. 3 stopper? Button now leads. 6.7sec for Rubens.
Heidfeld and Hamilton have pitted.

L32 Hamilton is out alongside Glock and Kubica and beats them. Kubica trying it on Glock! Martin Brundle says "that's a very unorthodox place to try a pass".

L37 Button has a 5 second lead over Massa, who is 1 sec over Vettel, who is 4.1 over Rubens. Webber is right behind Rubens.

L38 Team radio pushing Rubens for fast laps to beat Button.

L40 Ted with Brawn man, is it true you wanted Button to win the race?: ' No they have equal chance, their engineers are the ones making the calls this early in the year.

Someone please inform Martin Brundle of the correct way to say Sebastian Vettel's name. It is not Vett El. He's nothing to do with Superman.

L42 Hamilton on the radio saying the rear tyres are finished. Massa and Vettel both pit. Massa remains ahead and they rejoin to a clear track.

L44 Radio to Rubens: The two cars ahead stopped earlier than expected. Alonso pits from 4th (was 6th before Massa and Vettel stopped). He is out next to Hamilton - close! And Fernando beats him.
The crowd cheers.

L45 Onboard with Lewis with some dodgy looking front tyres too. He's faster than Alonso in a straight line but all over the road in the corners.

L46 Kubica and Piquet pit. Brundle says the hard tyres now fitted to Massa and Vettel "are costing them two seconds per lap", pitting early certainly did not help them. A gift to Brawn! They were close enough to challenge before, not now.

L48 Button pits from a lead of 10 seconds over Barrichello. Rubens leads but has his 3rd stop to make - what is interesting is Button has that lead but needs to spend longer on the hard tyres to Barrichello.
Hamilton pits as well.

L49 Rosberg pits from 6th. Chance of points!

L50 Barrichello pits suprisingly early as he catches traffic. Did he go long enough? Webber follows him in close behind.
Button retakes the lead and Rubens and Mark both take position from Massa and Vettel! That's the soft tyre for you. Now they are all on the same tyre and all fuelled to the end.

L51 order with 15 to go: Button, Barrichello, Webber, Massa, Vettel, Alonso, Heidfeld, Rosberg, Nakajima, Hamilton, Glock, Kubica, Fisichella, Piquet

L52 Massa is being told to save fuel despite Vettel being all over him.

L56 Radio again, Smedley: "This fuel consumption is too high, we won't get to the end, we'll have to pit again."
Massa: "Well what can I do??"

He might have to give up the place to Vettel to make the end!

L57 Webber slowly catching Barrichello?

L58 McLaren were to beat BMW. Hamilton is now 9th with Heidfeld 7th and Kubica 11th.

L59 Ted is at Ferrari, he says they didn't get enough fuel into Massa's car. The computer says they did but they measure the rig after each stop and it was too heavy!

L61 Vettel just can't get nearer to Massa anywhere. He's close behind but not close enough. On the plus side it does seem he is able to follow much more closely than the cars could with the old aero rules.

L62 Vettel passes Massa!
Felipe has backed off a lot now, has he given up the place to make the finish? There's a big gap to Alonso but with 4 laps to go and short-shifting already... hmm.

Jonathan: So they took your advice?
Martin: I hardly think so..

Replay with radio, Smedley: Let him go, let him go, we are a lap short.

Martin: A lap is a lot. I'm gonna get a job as a strategist.

L64 Button laps Hamilton who is 9th.

FINAL LAP
Crowd on their feet because they can see Alonso catching Massa VERY quickly. 6 seconds per lap.

Fernando just drives around Felipe at turn 3. Easy pickings.

BUTTON WINS!

Barrchello 2nd, Webber 3rd
Massa finishes 6th, 1.4s over Heidfeld.

Cool-down lap.

Massa has run out of fuel, he's parked it on the slow lap!

Parc Ferme
Button climbs on to the car, gets down to hug Rubens.

Four wins for Jenson this year! Slap in the face to all those who wrote him off while he was stuck in crappy Hondas.

Top 3 drivers are in the waiting room before the podium. Rubens says to Jenson "I don't know how I lost the race." Button says "I feel for you man." Just then Mark Webber walks in and says to Rubens "Felipe f***ked up my race". Ha!

Podium, British anthem.

Dignitaries with trophies.

Champaaaaaagne!!


Race Result

1. Button 66 laps
2. Barrichello +13.0s
3. Webber +13.9s (to Button)
4. Vettel +18.9s
5. Alonso +43.1s
6. Massa +50.8s
7. Heidfeld +52.3s
8. Rosberg +65.2s
9. Hamilton +1 lap
10. Glock +1 lap
11. Kubica +1 lap
12. Piquet +1 lap
13. Nakajima +1 lap
14. Fisichella +1 lap

DNFs
Raikkonen (throttle)
Kovalainen (gearbox)
Trulli (accident)
Buemi (accident)
Bourdais (accident)
Sutil (accident)


Driver Points

1. Button 31 + 10 =41
2. Barrichello 19 + 8 = 27
3. Vettel 18 + 5 = 23
4. Webber 9.5 + 6 = 15.5
5. Trulli 14.5
6. Glock 12
7. Hamilton 9
8. Alonso 5 + 4 = 9
9. Heidfeld 4 + 2 = 6
10. Rosberg 3.5 + 1 = 4.5
11. Kovalainen 4
12. Massa 0 + 3 = 3
13. Raikkonen 3
14. Buemi 3
15. Bourdais 1



Constructor Points

1. Brawn Mercedes 50 + 18 = 68
2. RBR Renault 27.5 + 5 = 32.5
3. Toyota 26.5 + 6 = 32.5
4. McLaren Mercedes 13
5. BMW Sauber 4 + 2 = 6
6. Renault 5 + 4 = 9
7. STR Ferrari 4
8. Williams Toyota 3.5 + 1 = 4.5
9. Ferrari 3
10. Force India Mercedes 0


The next round is the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend, for which I hope to write a preview in 24 hours time. Don't forg