Spanish Grand Prix news
Another win for Brawn GP and Jenson Button, while Lewis Hamilton suffers again
The successful run of Brawn and Button continues. Jenson picked up his fourth win out of five this season in the Spanish Grand Prix, with teammate Rubens Barrichello following in second. Red Bull’s Mark Webber completed the podium.
The win increases Button’s points total for the season to 41, extending his lead at the top of the drivers’ championship to 14 points ahead of Barrichello. The Brazilian had reason to be disappointed this weekend, having beaten Button off the line and consequently led the race until he hit problems, including a slow third stint, which he blamed on tyre issues.
There were also questions over race tactics, when Brawn changed Button from three pit stops to two, while Barrichello remained on a three-stop strategy. It has led to threats of quitting from the Rubens, who seemed to play second fiddle to Michael Schumacher while racing for Ferrari, when Brawn GP boss Ross Brawn was the Italians’ technical director.
‘If I get the slightest sniff of the fact that they have favoured Jenson, I will hang up my helmet tomorrow’, Barrichello told an American TV channel.
It was another less than successful race for the current world champion Lewis Hamilton, too. A spirited drive saw him come from 14th on the grid to finish ninth, but still out of the points. He found it difficult to mask his disappointment with the McLaren MP4-24 car, too.
‘What can I say, what can I do, I drove my heart out as I always do and that car is just not good - I just had no grip,’ he said.
‘For sure at the moment, I don't have a car to win the championship. Everyone is wondering what's going on, but the car is that bad. I am driving the socks off it but... There's just no hope.’ Read Harry Metcalfe's F1 blog.
The next race is in two weeks’ time on May 24, in Monaco – a race where Hamilton excelled last year.
2009 SPANISH GP RESULTS
1 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 1.37.19.202 2 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 1.37.32.258 3 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1.37.33.126 4 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1.37.38.143 5 Fernando Alonso Renault 1.38.02.368 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1.38.10.0297 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1.38.11.5148 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1.38.24.413
