Results:
Qualifying:
Race:
Championships:
Full Report:
Around 12:00 (UTC) the formation lap for the Grand Prix started with race starting a few minutes later. With the air temperature at 31 °C (88 °F) and the track temperature at 49 °C (120 °F), it looked like the conditions were favouring the Brawn cars. The race started with Lewis Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen and Rubens Barrichello as the top three after the first lap. Kimi Räikkönen had a good start making his way to fourth from sixth on the grid. Jenson Button had a poor start dropping to ninth in the first few corners, while Luca Badoer starting from the back of the grid jumped six positions to 14th at the start. Romain Grosjean then tapped the rear of Badoer's Ferrari, causing the Italian to spin. Grosjean had to pit for repairs, as did Timo Glock after he and Sébastien Buemi collided, the Swiss driver also pitting for a new nose. Mark Webber down in ninth got on the radio claiming that Button had cut the chicane to stop Webber's attempt of a pass. Button then fell behind Webber although it is unclear whether it was a legitimate pass or Jenson let the Red Bull driver through.
On lap 15, Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel came into the pits. Hamilton rejoined in sixth place but Vettel's fuel pump failed to work so had to come in again. Kovalainen came in a lap later while Barrichello was flying out on the track. Button and Räikkönen pitted on lap 18, the Finn coming out in eighth while Button rejoined in 11th. Barrichello came in on lap 19, the Brazilian had made a lot of ground as he rejoined just behind Lewis after being around 10 seconds adrift. But most importantly for Brawn he had jumped the other McLaren of Kovalainen. On lap 24, a lot of smoke was pouring from the rear end of Vettel's car and he retired with a suspected engine failure. Hamilton was ordered over the radio to try and cool down his rear brakes as the temperature were getting out of control, but he was unable to shake off the challenge of Barrichello in second.
"It has been fantastic. It has been a weekend that I will never forget especially because after five years you don’t forget how to do it, but it is tough. In the middle of the race they were telling me push, push, push and although you are pushing like hell there are some things that go through your mind. You know that you cannot commit any mistakes and you want to do it for yourself, you want to do it for your country and you want to do it for your family. There was a lot going through my mind but the car has been perfect and I want to thank the team for that because it wasn’t just me. The car was really brilliant." Rubens Barrichello, reflecting on a weekend that he will never forget.
Hamilton seemed to have found some pace but he pitted soon after on lap 37. He comes in but his new tyres are still in their blankets and a lot of time was wasted. A 14 second stop seemed to be it for Lewis as Rubens was flying out on the track. Barrichello came in three laps later on lap 40 and came out in first. Button comes in on lap 41 along with Alonso leaving Webber to tackle a bit of traffic. Webber pitted and the traffic had cost him as he came out behind Button and Kubica leaving himself out of the points. Räikkönen also jumped Kovalainen in the second round of stops.
As the race was heading into the closing stages, Hamilton seemed to be on a charge to try and catch the leading Brawn but in reality it looked only a mistake would stop the Brazilian winning. As Button was lapping a second off the pace just making sure his car got to the end. Kubica was catching Button at a high rate of knots but it seemed a long shot if Button was going to lose them two points. Barrichello took the chequered flag to win his first grand prix since the inaugural Chinese Grand Prix in 2004, and record the 100th win by a Brazilian driver in Formula One. Hamilton came second, while Finn Räikkönen came home in third. Kovalainen came fourth, while Nico Rosberg had a reasonably quite race as he came home in fifth. Fernando Alonso came sixth in his home race, championship leader Jenson Button came seventh, while Robert Kubica came eighth, only his second points scoring finish so far this season. Neither Red Bull's Vettel or Webber scored a point, while Barrichello moved into second place in the drivers championship. Button kept his lead although he only added two points to his tally. Brawn edged further ahead in the constructors championship by scoring 12 points with Red Bull not scoring a single point this weekend.
The Fast Castor
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