Rally Sweden - 12 - 14/2/10

Hirvonen wins in Sweden!

Ford Focus RS WRC driver Mikko Hirvonen got his quest for the 2010 World Rally Championship drivers' title off to the best possible start today by winning the opening round of the series, Rally Sweden.

Hirvonen, team-leader of the BP Ford Abu Dhabi Team, took the lead on Friday and successfully fought off a two-day attack from defending champion Sebastien Loeb, who finished second, 42.3sec behind in a Citroen C4 WRC.

Today's win was the 12th at World Championship level for the Finn, who lost the 2009 title fight by a single point to Loeb. Under the new WRC points system, Hirvonen opened his 2010 account with a maximum score of 25.

After a careful approach through the final snow-covered stage, Hirvonen and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen leapt onto the roof of their car at he finish control to celebrate their win. "It's absolutely fantastic!" said Hirvonen. "And I'm really happy it's over after those last few stages; you can't imagine how nervous I was in there. It’s a perfect start to my year, I've never won the first round before, but after last season I've got one more year of experience. Now I plan to carry on like this. It’s a new game in Mexico and I can't wait to get started again."

Having lost out to Hirvonen in a tyre gamble on Saturday afternoon, Loeb began Sunday's competition trailing by 16.1sec. But after failing to make a big impression on today's opening two stages, the Frenchman took the uncharacteristic decision to give up on the victory challenge after SS18, settling for second, and 18 championship points instead.

"It’s been a tough weekend, and Mikko has done a perfect rally," said Loeb. "We made a little mistake yesterday, but even without it I don't know if I would have been able to beat him in the stages. He was strong and he deserves his victory. I did my best. There's nothing more to say."

Third in Sweden, 33.1sec behind Loeb, was Hirvonen's team-mate, Jari-Matti Latvala, who started his season with a 15 points haul - helping to put Ford in the lead of the manufacturers' contest. "It's not been an easy weekend," said the Finn. "We were struggling on Friday, but the speed started to come right on Saturday afternoon. I'm really pleased to finish in this position on the first round of the season."

Fourth went to Loeb's team-mate Dani Sordo. The Spaniard finished 1min 26.2sec behind Latvala, largely because of a silly mistake on Saturday when a blanking plate wasn't removed from the front of his car, causing its engine to overheat. But after an otherwise strong performance, Sordo put a brave face on the result.

"Fourth place is not bad, but of course third would have been better," he said. "The first day was okay, then we made a mistake, but that's rally sometimes. It’s okay though, we need to look to the future now. And fourth place will give me a good start position in Mexico, where the others will be cleaning the road."

Sebastien Ogier of the Citroen Junior team had a largely trouble-free event to finish fifth on his Rally Sweden debut, 4min 15.3sec adrift of Hirvonen's winning time. "It's a good result for all the team and I want to thank them for giving me a second season - it's a great opportunity. The rally was good for me on day one then got a bit more difficult when we had to conserve our place. So it was less fun that I expected! But the most important thing was to finish and get experience."

Sixth was Stobart Ford team driver Henning Solberg, tackling his first event with new co-driver Ilka Minor, and adjusting to a new English language pace-note system. "I wanted to catch Ogier, and I couldn't do any more, so we have to be happy," he said. "In the car it’s working well with Ilka. You'll see later; this is a winning team!"

Henning's British team-mate Matthew Wilson was seventh in his Ford Focus RS WRC, to collect six championship points. "I'm slightly disappointed by Friday's pace, but once we got the car sorted we improved on Saturday and today. I'm glad to get to the finish."

Norwegian Mads Ostberg was eighth after an up and down event in his 2007 spec Subaru Impreza WRC. The Norwegian had some encouraging stages but lost time in snowbanks and with a braking problem today. "A frustrating time," he acknowledged. "I hoped my bad luck would stop this year but it seems not. I've done some mistakes, and we've had some problems with the car. I guess it evens things out. I hope we'll get out again this season; we're working on some S2000 things."

Petter Solberg's first event in his 2009 specification Citroen C4 WRC turned out to be a disappointing one, with the former champion ending the rally ninth after failing to gel with his car. "This rally didn't go our way - whether that's down to me, or something else I don't know," he said. "Something hasn't been right, that's for sure. Things worked well before the rally, and the set-up should be the same as Sebastien Loeb's. What can I say?"

Swedish driver P-G Andersson brought his Super 2000 specification Skoda Fabia to tenth place, to take the class win and collect the final point in the WRC drivers' championship.

Further down the standings, largely as a result of an electrical problem on day two, former double World Champion Marcus Gronholm finished 21st in his Stobart team Ford Focus. The Finn achieved one of his pre-event objectives - winning his beloved Sagen stage on Saturday - but felt he could have done with more time in the car before the rally. "It was good to take the stage win, but the conditions here have been very tough on the tyres, and it's very difficult to drive these cars with no studs. Will I do more events? I don't know. We'll see. But if I do I'll need a lot of practice and more miles in the car."

Despite an off into a snowbank on Friday, F1 star Kimi Raikkonen completed his first ever World Rally Championship event, reaching the finish in 30th place, 37minutes behind the leaders, in his Citroen C4 WRC. "Of course I'm not happy about getting stuck on the first day but I maybe I've improved a lot since," he said. "This is definitely not an easy rally, but we've got a lot more experience of the car and the notes now. Mexico is next. I've never driven the car on gravel before but the grip should be consistent. I'm looking forward to it."

T127

F1 Test Valencia - 01/02/10

Arctic Rally 30/01/2010

Citroen driver Dani Sordo has won the 2010 Arctic Lapland Rally after dominating the Finnish event. Sordo's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen put in an impressive performance, despite crashing on the first day, with a string of second fastest times throughout the event.

This was Raikkonen's first time driving the Citroen C4 WRC in competitive conditions and without yesterday's crash, he would have finished 6 minutes behind Sordo.

Raikkonen's co-driver Kaj Lindstrom commented after SS9: "The difference to Dani is now 0.9 seconds per kilometre.

"We know where the difference comes from, therefore it's a relief. It would be different if you had to think to yourself that you are going damn fast but still be behind, that would be worrying.

"We are still setting the car up so Kimi doesn't yet have 100% confidence in how the car behaves. It affects the way we go into corners. There's some early braking when there are shady places because we don't want to do anything stupid. That's where the differences in time easily come from. The notes will also improve once we see how fast we can go with a car like this into certain places." Lindstrom added to MTV3.

Abu Dhabi GP - Race: Yas Marina - 01/11/2009

Vettel shines under the Abu Dhabi lights.

Sebastian Vettel claimed his fourth victory of the season under the artificial lighting of the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after a flawless drive that confirms the Red Bull Renault star as championship runner-up behind Jenson Button.

Vettel was made to work hard for his victory in he opening laps of the 55 lap grand prix, hounding pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton and then taking the lead following the first round of pitstops. Hamilton had been expected to run away with the race after qualifying on the pole by over six-tenths of a second, but race day saw the out-going champion unable to pull the gap required to ensure he retained the lead in the first round of stops.

As Hamilton pitted on lap 18, Vettel put in some blistering laps to take the lead and just three laps later Hamilton was back in the pitlane to retire his McLaren Mercedes with a braking problem. Vettel went on to control the pace at the front of the field from that point, even recording the fastest lap of the race on his penultimate lap, to take the chequered flag 18 seconds clear of team-mate Mark Webber.

"I am very, very happy," said Vettel. "It was a fantastic race. It was a good start but not enough to catch Lewis but good enough to stay close. When we went on the back straight he pushed the button and disappeared.

"It was quite shocking to see how much it is worth," he said in reference to the KERS advantage used by McLaren on the long straights. "But we were a little bit heavier but still able to go his pace, stay with him. That was the key, pushing very hard and then obviously when I had the two overlaps on him.

"It was enough to get him. Unfortunately he then had to retire. I heard he had a braking problem, but up to that point I enjoyed it very much. Great circuit. A great job they did here. Now I think I have said enough..."

The final laps of the race saw Jenson Button close rapidly on second placed Webber, but despite several attempts to make the pass on the final lap, the 2009 champion was forced to settle for third position after another spirited drive in his Brawn Mercedes.

"Fighting with Jenson, I knew that the two big stops were key to the lap," Webber explained. "Obviously he wasn’t going to do much anywhere else but Jenson’s form in overtaking this year has been pretty good, so I knew I had to be perfect with my braking points and do the best I could with the last few laps. I turned out to be okay. Second place was as good as I was ever going to get today. Congratulations to Sebastian on the win, he’s had the measure of me in the last sector probably most of the weekend, so I presumed it to be the same again in the race.

"We did the best job as we could as a team, capitalised on other people’s lack of preparation and we delivered a one-two which is exactly what we came here to achieve.

"As I said before, I think that’s 16 podiums for the team and that’s something that everyone can be extremely happy about.

I’m certainly happy, obviously, off the back of my best season ever. Of course, I would have liked to have had some more points here and there but it could have been a hell of a lot worse for me, so I will take this season, let me tell you."

Rubens Barrichello finished in fourth position in the second Brawn, losing position to his team-mate in the stops. The Brazilian veteran, soon to be confirmed as a Williams Cosworth racer for next season, had an eventful opening lap of the race as he and Webber made light contact into the first turn, but he was ultimately unable to keep pace with Hamilton and the Red Bull duo at the front of the field.

Nick Heidfeld took the chequered flag in fifth position in what was BMW Sauber’s 70th and final grand prix, while team-mate Robert Kubica dropped back to finish in tenth position following a late race incident trying to pass Sebastien Buemi for position. Heidfeld’s four points gained with fifth position moves the team ahead of Williams and into sixth position in the championship.

Kamui Kobayashi again shined for the Toyota team in what is just his second grand prix start, claiming a sensational sixth position and making best use of a one stop strategy. The Japanese racer ran as high as third and made a crucial pass on Button mid-race to ensure that when he made his one and only stop, he emerged from the pits ahead of team-mate Jarno Trulli. Kobayashi has certainly done enough to claim a seat with the German-based squad for next year.

Sebastien Buemi took the final point for Toro Rosso Ferrari after another strong drive, finishing ahead of Nico Rosberg in the leading Williams Toyota and Kubica.

The battle for third position in the constructors’ championship went to McLaren Mercedes over Ferrari as neither team were able to score championship points. Heikki Kovalainen made a great start from 18th position on the grid to run 13th at the end of the first lap, before getting the jump on Kimi Raikkonen in the pits to claim 11th place ahead of the Finn.

Kazuki Nakajima ended the season having failed to score any points with Williams, and was 13th Sunday evening in Abu Dhabi ahead of Fernando Alonso, Tonio Liuzzi, Giancarlo Fisichella, Adrian Sutil and Romain Grosjean. Jaime Alguersuari retired the second Toro Rosso with a gearbox problem.

Jenson Button ends the season as 2009 champion with 95 points, 11 ahead of Abu Dhabi race winner Sebastian Vettel as the teams pack up and head back to base to begin preparations for the 2010 season…

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

Brazil GP - Race: Interlagos - 18/10/2009

Button takes the title, Webber wins in Brazil!

The opening laps of the Brazilian Grand Prix certainly made life easier for Jenson Button in his championship quest, but when Brawn Mercedes team-mate Rubens Barrichello exited the pits behind both Mark Webber and Robert Kubica, Button all but had the title.

As Felipe Massa waved the chequered flag on lap 71, Button crossed the line in fifth position and claimed the drivers’ championship for himself and the constructors’ championship for the Brawn Mercedes team.

“That deserved it, that race,” beamed the delighted Button. “I love winning but I never expected to be world champion in F1, but we did it today.”

The championship had been a long time coming for Button, but an aggressive drive from 14th position on grid featuring great passing on a day when Barrichello was unable to capitalise on his pole position, sealed his title.

Mark Webber claimed his second career victory in sunny Interlagos having started second behind Barrichello. The Red Bull racer shadowed the Brazilian veteran during the first stint of the race and while Barrichello was able to pull a three-second gap, his early stop cost him dearly as both Webber and Robert Kubica exited the pits ahead of the home-town hero.

Webber drove a flawless performance to add Brazil to his Nurburgring victory, taking the chequered flag eight seconds clear of Kubica in his BMW Sauber. Fittingly, the out-going champion Lewis Hamilton also put in a great performance from 17th position on the grid to finish in third position.

"It’s nice to get another one, but probably Nurburgring was a little bit better, because it was a big relief more than anything," Webber said. "This one was more of a controlled fashion I suppose.

"Every car has its strengths and weaknesses and Brawn, obviously, have some strengths and a few weaknesses here and there. JB’s done a good job, so I’d like to congratulate him and Brawn as well. I think he will sleep better now, because he’s been incredibly nervous, there’s no question about that. He’s been absolutely bricking himself the last few weeks, so he can sleep better now, and all of us can go to Abu Dhabi and just enjoy the new race there."

The start of the race saw Heikki Kovalainen tipped into a spin Sebastian Vettel at the second turn forcing Giancarlo Fisichella to take to the grass. Further up the road, Kimi Raikkonen had made a lightening getaway from fifth position on the grid to slot into third position.

Still using the KERS advantage, Raikkonen ducked out to pass second-placed Webber heading for turn four only for the Australian to block his path. With his front wing badly damaged and the left rear tyre deflating, Raikkonen was forced to back off, slowing Adrian Sutil.

Sniffing a chance of progress, Jarno Trulli tried to pass the Force India driver around the outside at turn five but struck the back of the VJM02. Trulli was out of the race on the spot as Sutil careered back onto the circuit, eliminating the innocent Fernando Alonso and bringing out the sole safety car period of the race.
Click here to find out more!


This was good news for Hamilton who was able to pit, switch to the more durable prime tyres and importantly top off on fuel. In the first lap chaos, Kovalainen returned to the pits for fuel, but exited his pit box with the fuel hose still attached and spraying the unfortunate Raikkonen with fuel as he made his way down the pit lane.

A brief flash fire that engulfed the Ferrari did not deter Raikkonen as he continued on his way to an impressive sixth position while Kovalainen was given a helping hand by the Brawn mechanics to send him on his way to an eventful ninth place finish.

Sebastian Vettel charged from 16th position on the grid to finish in fourth position, but his slim championship hopes were effectively dashed in the rain during Saturday's qualifying while Button finished the race in fifth position ahead of Raikkonen. Vettel’s charge however moved him second in the championship, but that is unlikely to mean a great deal to the German racer.

Sebastien Buemi drove a great race for Toro Rosso to finish in seventh position ahead of the ever unfortunate Barrichello.

Exiting the pits in third position, Barrichello knew his championship hopes were all but over, while his middle stint of the race saw his pace drop over half a second a lap allowing Hamilton to pass for the final podium position. Light contact between the two saw Barrichello heading back to the pits with a left rear puncture on lap 64 and the title chase was all over for the popular Brazilian who finished eight.

With Kovalainen ninth, Kamui Kobayashi made an impressive debut for Toyota and has arguably cemented his position in the team for next season with a tenth place finish. Aggressive from the outset, the Japanese driver fended off the attentions of Button early in the race with good effect. His defensive tactics may have been questionable as countryman Kazuki Nakajima found out, as he lost his front wing and subsequently crashed his Williams out of the race.

Giancarlo Fisichella was 11th in his penultimate race and based on his recent performance, he is looking forward to retirement from competition at Ferrari. Tonio Liuzzi finished 12th ahead of Romain Grosjean and Jaime Alguersuari.

It was a perfect day for race winner Webber but on Sunday afternoon, Button’s dreams came true as he clinched the Formula One World Champion with one race to spare.

"It's really amazing," said Button, who sang We are the champions over his radio after crossing the finish line, and then began yelling at the top of his lungs out of sheer joy: "My voice has gone!"

Jenson Button - World Champion!

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

Japan GP - Race: Suzuka - 04/10/2009

Vettel victory keeps championship race open.

Sebastian Vettel dominated the 53-lap Japanese Grand Prix from pole position to keep himself in championship contention on a day that Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button could only record the final points paying positions.

Vettel converted his pole into a comfortable race lead at the start, even managing to save a little fuel on his first stint and manage the gap back to the fast-starting Lewis Hamilton. The defending champion made best use of KERS off the line to pass Jarno Trulli for second position but was never able to shake off the determined Toyota racer.

Trulli kept the pressure on Hamilton and was able to regain second position in the second and final round of pitstops to take a well-deserved second position at his paymaster's home grand prix. Exiting the pits for the second time, Hamilton lost a fraction of a second as he either selected neutral rather than the pit lane speed limiter, or the car suffered a minor software glitch. Either way, it is debatable whether he would have been able to stop the rapid Trulli swooping though for second position.

Kimi Raikkonen pushed hard in the second stint and was rewarded with fourth position as he got the jump on Nick Heidfeld. The BMW Sauber driver lost time in his second stop as with a sticking wheel nut. This, combined with Raikkonen's charge, lost him a possible fourth position.

Nico Rosberg ran a long first stint in his Williams Toyota from seventh position on the grid and made a second timely pit stop just as the safety car came out on lap 46 to claim fifth position ahead of the unfortunate Heidfeld.

Rubens Barrichello started the event 15 points behind main title rival Jenson Button but struggled for pace on his second set of tyres and was unable to make progress. Indeed, the Brazilian veteran slipped back and came under intense pressure from his team-mate in the final five lap dash to the chequered flag.

After a tardy getaway, Button pushed hard and made up ground to Barrichello in the middle-segment of the race and his quest for points was helped by Heikki Kovalainen who tipped Adrian Sutil into a spin early in the race. This gave the championship leader two easy positions and from that point he was able to close the gap to his team-mate from over 12 seconds to less than a second.


With two points for seventh position, Barrichello heads to Interlagos 14 points behind eighth placed finisher Button, while Vettel is now just two points behind Barrichello and 16 behind Button. Brawn Mercedes have not wrapped up the constructors championship. They have a 35.5 point advantage over Red Bull with two rounds remaining with 36 still available.

Robert Kubica will be disappointed to start and finish in ninth position in the second BMW Sauber. He pushed Button hard for the final point in the closing laps but despite a few looks down the inside, was unable to make a pass.

Fernando Alonso started back in 16th and made best use of a one stop strategy to finish in tenth position in what was a disappointing weekend for Renault. Team-mate Romain Grosjean made little impression but at least went the distance to finish in 16th.

Heikki Kovalainen started and finished in 11th position in the second McLaren Mercedes. It was another tough race for the Finn who tangled with Sutil early in the race, but he redeemed himself somewhat with an excellent pass on Giancarlo Fisichella exiting the pits late in the race.

Tonio Liuzzi finished 14th just behind Force India team-mate Adrian Sutil and ahead of the one-stopping Kazuki Nakajima in the second Williams. Mark Webber started from the pit lane as a result of his Saturday practice crash but multiple pitstops to secure the cockpit surround ended any chance of a fight back. The only silver-lining for Webber was his fastest lap of the race.

The Toro Rosso duo of Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi were the only retirements, the former crashing heavily after running wide into the fast 130R turn. Alguersuari was unhurt in the incident but the accident triggered the only safety car period of the race. Buemi meanwhile struggled to get off the line at the start of the race and retired shortly after with a clutch problem.

Subject to penalties, both the drivers and constructors championships go on to Brazil with Vettel flying high after a flawless Sunday afternoon drive at Suzuka.

Earl ALEXANDER
CAPSIS International

Singapore GP - Race: Singapore - 27/09/2009

Penalties give Hamilton an easy ride in Singapore

Lewis Hamilton dominated the 61 lap Singapore Grand Prix to take the chequered flag ten seconds clear of Timo Glock on a day when his main race rivals eliminated themselves from contention after making mistakes.

Hamilton�s second race win of the season, his 11th with McLaren Mercedes, was sealed when first Nico Rosberg and then Sebastian Vettel were handed penalties for errors exiting and entering the pit lane. From the point, the Hungarian winner was able to back off, conserve the car and a relatively easy victory.

"It has been an incredible weekend in terms of the whole show," said Hamilton. "Obviously not a perfect Friday but Saturday was great. I have my Dad and my step-mum, Linda, here. I have my girlfriend here and I have got a friend of mine here. I got to meet Beyoncé here, so it has been overall an incredible weekend. A great experience. I am very, very happy and I look forward to the celebration tonight."

Timo Glock put in his most impressive race in a long while from sixth position on the grid. He made best of a battle between Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso on the first lap to move ahead and run in fourth position. When both Rosberg and Vettel took drive through penalties, the German racer was able to take a comfortable runner up position and end his recent points drought.

"It was a really good race for me," said Glock. "The start was a bit of a mess up in the first corner. I had to attack quite a lot but then I had a good first stint. But I knew I could not go the pace of the first two or three guys, so I just settled down for me and concentrated on it and saw what I can do with my car, keep it on 100%.

"Before I came to Singapore I knew that last year we were good here. The driver can make a difference here and I just pushed as hard as possible. My team did not say where I am and then suddenly they said you are safe for P2 and I was really surprised and just brought it home at the weekend."

Fernando Alonso recorded the fastest lap of the race on his way to third position, his and Renault�s first podium position of the season. Alonso was never in a position to challenge the front-runners, but he achieved his pre-race objective of maintaining his position and surpassed his predictions with third position. He dedicated the result to former Renault managing director Flavio Briatore.

"It was fantastic obviously and the result is great for us to be in the first podium of the season," said Alonso. "We did not have the pace all weekend to be on the podium and we have the podium, so much better than we expected. It has been a difficult time for the team. Now we put that behind us and we concentrate on the remaining races. I dedicate this podium to Flavio at home as he is part of the success we had today."

Hamilton started the race from pole position and made a great getaway off the grid as Rosberg slotted into second position ahead of Vettel. The trio quickly pulled away from Glock in fourth position with Rosberg keeping the pressure on Hamilton until the first pit stop.

Exiting the pits after routine service on lap 19, Rosberg slid wide on the pit exit, crossing the white line before ducking back into a legal position.
The error however cost the Williams driver an almost certain second position and a possible race win as he was handed a drive through penalty for crossing the white line.

Rosberg was especially unfortunate in that he was forced to take his drive through penalty just after the safety car had bunched up the field. He went on to finished 11th.

With Rosberg out of contention, it was down to Vettel to take the challenge to Hamilton. However, on his second pitstop, the Red Bull driver was found guilty of speeding in the pit lane and he too was handed a drive through penalty. Vettel also ran wide and damaged his diffuser on the high kerbing, but still managed to recover to finish in fourth position.

Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello finished fifth and sixth for Brawn Mercedes, Button getting the jump on his team-mate in the final round of stops and then nursing a brake problem to the chequered flag. Heading to Japan next weekend, Button has a 15 point advantage over Barrichello while Brawn has all but clinched the constructors� championship.

It was another poor race for Heikki Kovalainen who started in eighth position and finished in seventh in the second McLaren Mercedes ahead of Robert Kubica in the surviving BMW Sauber. Team-mate Nick Heidfeld was eliminated from the race as Adrian Sutil spun his Force India and then clipped the F1.09 trying to resume his race. This brought out the sole safety car period of the race, the one that cost Rosberg any hopes of a points paying finish.

Kazuki Nakajima finished just out of the points in ninth position in his Williams, unable to find a way to pass Kubica in the closing stages, but able to hold off Kimi Raikkonen in the leading Ferrari. Jarno Trulli finished a distant 12th in the second Toyota and was never a factor while Giancarlo Fisichella and Tonio Liuzzi were the final runners in 13th and 14th.

As expected, there were a number of retirements with Romain Grosjean first to call it a day with a brake issue on his Renault, swiftly followed by Heidfeld who was unceremoniously eliminated from the race by Sutil.

Mark Webber ran as high as fourth in the opening laps before he was forced to concede positions to both Alonso and Glock for passing after running wide and off the circuit on lap one. The Nurburgring winner lost pace as the race progressed and then spun into retirement following a front right brake failure.

Braking issues also eliminated Sebastien Buemi in his Toro Rosso Ferrari, while team-mate Jaime Alguersuari attempted to leave the pits before his refuelling was complete and later retired with a gearbox failure.

The F1 circus packs up tonight in Singapore and heads straight to Suzuka for next weekend�s Japanese Grand Prix. Sadly Formula One did not provide much of a show in terms of racing once again, but the event organisers made up for that with a truly sensational grand prix facility that hopefully the sport will do justice to next season.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

Italy GP - Race: Monza - 13/09/2009

One-Stopper Seals Brawn 1-2

Brawn GP's decision to put both Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button on a one-stopper may not have given them cause for celebrations after qualifying but they got to spray the champagne when it counted most - after the race.

The one-stop strategy saw both Barrichello and Button move ahead of the leading trio of two-stoppers to take the victory and hand Brawn GP the 1-2.

It also put a rest to cries that the team's Championship leader is starting to crack under pressure as when the pressure was on Button it was Lewis Hamilton who crashed.

Chasing down his fellow Brit, Hamilton had the gap down to less than a second only to put his car into the wall on the very last lap in a rather mean looking accident. Hamilton, though, did walk away unhurt.

The McLaren driver's accident saw Kimi Raikkonen climb onto the podium with the Brawn drivers after the Ferrari driver, for the second successive race, held off a long and arduous chase from Force India's Adrian Sutil.

Fernando Alonso, Heikki Kovalainen, Nick Heidfeld and Sebastian Vettel completed the points.

Results
01 R. Barrichello Brawn GP 1:16.21.706
02 J. Button Brawn GP + 2.866
03 K. Räikkönen Ferrari + 30.664
04 A. Sutil Force India F1 + 31.131
05 F. Alonso Renault + 59.182
06 H. Kovalainen McLaren + 1:00.693
07 N. Heidfeld BMW + 1:02.412
08 S. Vettel Red Bull + 1:05.407
09 G. Fisichella Ferrari + 1:06.856
10 K. Nakajima Williams + 2:42.163
11 T. Glock Toyota + 2:43.925
12 L. Hamilton McLaren + 1 lap(s)
13 S. Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso + 1 lap(s)
14 J. Trulli Toyota + 1 lap(s)
15 R. Grosjean Renault + 1 lap(s)
16 N. Rosberg Williams + 2 lap(s)
Did not finish
17 V. Liuzzi Force India F1 + 31 lap(s)
18 J. Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso + 34 lap(s)
19 R. Kubica BMW + 38 lap(s)
20 M. Webber Red Bull + 53 lap(s)

PlanetF1.com

Belgium GP - Race: Spa-Franc. - 30/08/2009

Raikkonen holds off Fisichella for the Spa win!

The old saying claims that race cannot be won on the first lap but it can certainly be lost. For Kimi Raikkonen that rule does not apply, while for four drivers in the midfield the adage is completely appropriate.

Kimi Raikkonen started the 44-lap Belgian Grand Prix from sixth position on the grid and used his KERS advantage to perfection to vault second on the run up to Les Combes on the first lap behind pole sitter Giancarlo Fisichella. Behind Romain Grosjean triggered a four car accident at the same turn bringing out the safety car.

Leaning heavily on KERS once again at the restart, the 2007 world champion blasted by Fisichella to take the lead and despite the best efforts of the Force India driver, Raikkonen was able to maintain a slender advantage all the way to the chequered flag and record his fourth victory at the Spa Francorchamps circuit.

While Raikkonen recorded the first Ferrari victory of the season, the driver of the day was undoubtedly Fisichella who pushed all race long, keeping the gap below a second for most of the race before taking the chequered flag just 0.9 seconds adrift.

While Ferrari celebrates its first win of the season and Force India Mercedes revel in their first points position of the season and its first podium position, it was a so-so day for the championship leaders with Sebastian Vettel making best of a long first stint to move third by the chequered flag following the final pit stop.

Jenson Button started the race in 14th position and was tipped into a spin by rookie Romain Grosjean at Les Combes with Lewis Hamilton and Jaime Alguersuari also being eliminated in the incident. While Button may be struggling on track, his off track luck is holding up well as his main rival Rubens Barrichello made a terrible getaway from fourth position on the grid and dropped to tail of the field while Mark Webber earned himself a drive through penalty to take him out of the points.

Robert Kubica got the jump on BMW Sauber team-mate Nick Heidfeld at La Source on the first lap when the German racer lost momentum exiting the corner and the duo battled throughout the race to finish in fourth and fifth position ahead of Heikki Kovalainen who made best use of a one stop strategy to finish in sixth position from 15th on the grid.

Following his slow start with the anti-stall working overtime, Barrichello made an early stop behind the safety car and this put him back into points contention.
The Brazilian veteran raced hard and with three laps to go it seemed that his race could be over as smoke started to billow from the right hand bank of the Mercedes V8. Fortunately for Barrichello, the engine lasted the distance and he finished in seventh position to take two points, closing the gap to 16 to team-mate Button.

Nico Rosberg took the final points in his Williams Toyota to extend his scoring streak to eight straight races. Team-mate Kazuki Nakajima was 13th.

Mark Webber could have finished in third or fourth position as he fought with Heidfeld in the early laps of the race. However his first stop saw the Red Bull team release him into the path of the BMW Sauber driver and a drive through penalty soon followed. The Australian fought back but was out of the points in ninth.

Toyota could have secured a great points haul in Belgium, but the first lap saw second placed Trulli run into the back of the slow Heidfeld at the first turn and break the front wing. The Italian would run at the back before a fuel rig problem further hampered his race before an eventual retirement. Timo Glock also suffered a long first pit stop with a refuelling problem and this dropped Glock out of the points and tenth at the chequered flag.

Adrian Sutil started and finished in 11th position but had a strong race, making up positions after a pitstop on lap one after contact with Fernando Alonso. The Force India racer took a new front wing and lapped close to the pace of the race leaders throughout the race.

Luca Badoer finished 14th and last in the second Ferrari after another forgettable race while Alonso was forced to retire after running as high as third ahead of his one and only stop. However, his lap one contact with Sutil had damaged the front left corner of the R29 leading the team to call him into retire.

The Raikkonen victory can be put down to the KERS advantage but behind the Belgian Grand Prix proved as entertaining as ever with battles throughout the field. Luckily for the championship leader, his rivals continue to make mistakes and he heads to Monza with his championship lead pretty much intact.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

Europe GP - Race: Valencia - 23/08/2009

Rubens Barrichello made best of a heavy fuel load, superb tactics and a critical error from McLaren Mercedes to win the 57-lap European Grand Prix in Valencia, the tenth of his career and his first since Shanghai 2004. Wearing a tribute to the injured Felipe Massa on his crash helmet the emotional Brazilian took the chequered flag two seconds clear of pole-sitter Hamilton and in doing so moves second in the championship race, 18 points behind Brawn Mercedes team-mate Jenson Button.

Lewis Hamilton looked to be in complete control of the race in the early stages as he stormed away from the pole position with team-mate Heikki Kovalainen backing up Barrichello and allowing the Hungarian winner to pull a small advantage. Barrichello however was able to run close behind Kovalainen and with his heavier fuel load was able to gain second position following the first round of stops.

With his rear gunner now consigned to third, Hamilton pushed hard to keep the gap to the Brawn racer between three and four seconds. However it was all for nothing as on lap 38 Hamilton peeled off into the pit lane only to find the team had not prepared the tyres. As the crew scrambled around, the valuable seconds ticked by and after 14 seconds Hamilton was back in the race. Barrichello by this point was now six seconds up the road and the race was lost for McLaren.

It was a superb drive from Barrichello who may well have taken the victory regardless of Hamilton’s problem, but it would have been a whole lot closer. With Red Bull enduring an awful race weekend, Barrichello moves ahead of Mark Webber in the championship as the Australian finished ninth and out of the points, while Sebastian Vettel suffered a fuelling problem and then another engine failure to record his second straight failure to finish.

Kimi Raikkonen qualified sixth and made best of KERS off the line to vault fourth by the first corner. From this point the 2007 champion drove his usual solid race, gaining third from Kovalainen in the second and final stop. Team-mate Luca Badoer had reasonable pace in race conditions, but his return after a decade on the sidelines in place of the injured Felipe Massa was littered with small errors leaving him 17th at the chequered flag.

Kovalainen will be disappointed with fourth position after running second through the first stint but the Finn held off the charging Nico Rosberg to the line and recorded his best finish, in what has been a difficult second season with McLaren Mercedes.

Rosberg continued his string of points scoring results with a fine fifth while team-mate Kazuki Nakajima’s race was compromised in qualifying with the mechanical and then destroyed in the race by a right rear puncture. The Japanese racer has yet to score this year.

Fernando Alonso chased Rosberg for much of the race before settling for sixth position at his home Grand Prix in the leading Renault while championship leader Jenson Button had a poor race to seventh position and just two championship points.

Starting fifth, Button made a good start to the race to run alongside Sebastian Vettel into the first turn. Perhaps with his large championship lead in his mind, Button backed off and this allowed four cars to stream through. The Brawn racer soon passed Mark Webber, but was judged to have cut a chicane to gain an unfair advantage and was forced to relinquish the position. The British driver would gain the place from Webber in the final round of pit stops, but it was a poor drive from a driver aiming for the ultimate prize.

Robert Kubica claimed the final point for the BMW Sauber team with a solid run to eighth position while Webber looked lost all weekend and finished a dismal ninth and out of the points. Red Bull Renault therefore leaves Valencia having failed to score and are now 27.5 points behind Brawn Mercedes in the constructors’ championship.

Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella showed good race pace to finish tenth and 12th for Force India Mercedes with Nick Heidfeld between in the second BMW Sauber. The Toyota duo of Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock were both involved in lap one incidents, the former with Romain Grosjean and the latter with Sebastien Buemi, but went on to finish 13th and 14th.

Grosjean’s first Grand Prix was compromised by his contact with Trulli at the start of the race and a spin later in the race as he took 15th ahead of Jaime Alguersuari who really struggled in his second start with Toro Rosso. Team-mate Buemi was forced to pit for a new front wing after contact with Glock on the first lap and later spun out of the race with a front left brake failure.

The Formula One circus packs up and heads to the Eifel Mountains for the Belgian Grand Prix at the fabled Spa Francorchamps circuit. Red Bull needs to bounce back after a dismal Valencia weekend while Barrichello may be on a late season roll just at the time when his team-mate is losing his form...

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

Hungary GP - Race: Hungaroring - 26/07/200

Hamilton rides high with Hungarian GP victory

Lewis Hamilton dominated the 24th running of the Hungarian Grand Prix to claim his first victory of the season and the tenth of his career. Starting fourth, the defending champion made short work of Sebastian Vettel and then passed Mark Webber before taking the lead when Renault and Fernando Alonso faltered. From that point on Hamilton controlled his pace and took the chequered flag 11.5 seconds clear of Kimi Raikkonen while Mark Webber finished third.

As expected the KERS-equipped McLaren Mercedes proved rapid off the line at the start of the 70-lap marathon, as Hamilton briefly secured second position before running wide at the first turn. This allowed Webber to regain the position but on lap four Hamilton pressured Webber into a defensive line into the first turn and took the position at the next corner with an aggressive pass around the outside.

At this point pole-sitter Fernando Alonso was three seconds up the road on his light fuel load. The double world champion pitted as expected on lap 13 but the team did not fit the front right wheel correctly and the Spaniard was soon three-wheeling his way back to the pits and a few laps later into retirement.

Out front, Hamilton quickly pulled an advantage from Webber who opted to take the harder prime tyre for this second stint. This cost the German Grand Prix winner pace but that would prove academic anyway as a slow pit stop had already allowed Kimi Raikkonen through into second position.

Raikkonen kept the pressure on Hamilton with the gap steady at six or seven seconds until the second round of stops and then controlled his pace to the chequered flag to record his best result of the season and to make a little history as he and Hamilton celebrate a KERS one-two result.

Nico Rosberg finished in fourth position to extend his points run with the Williams Toyota team while Heikki Kovalainen secured his third points finish of the season with fifth position in the second McLaren Mercedes.

Toyota used long first stints to really push Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli up the order after a poor run in qualifying.
Glock finished sixth in his TF109 as he chased Kovalainen across the line while Trulli took the final point in eighth position.

Jenson Button started seventh in his championship leading Brawn Mercedes and finished one place higher. It was not a good race weekend for the team as Alonso’s early exit helped him up one position as he and the team continue to mention ‘tyres’ as the reason in their recent decline in performance. Perhaps it is the problem, but Button’s championship advantage is trimmed to 18.5 points from Webber ahead of the summer break.

Kazuki Nakajima battled hard but was just out of the points once again in his Williams as he chased Trulli for the final point in the closing laps. Rubens Barrichello was unable to make up much ground after his qualifying problems yesterday in the second Brawn as he finished tenth.

Other notables included Sebastian Vettel who started on the front-row of the grid alongside Alonso but made a poor start and dropped down the order. Battling with Raikkonen exiting the first turn his front left wheel came into contact with Raikkonen’s right rear and this would later force his retirement with suspension damage. Vettel’s DNF, his fourth of the season, combined with team-mate Webber finishing third sees him drop to third in the standings.

Jaime Alguersuari meanwhile made his Grand Prix debut and achieved his objective of finishing his first race with the Toro Rosso team. Not only that, the youngest ever Grand Prix driver finished ahead of team-mate Sebastien Buemi. Mission accomplished for the Red Bull protégé.

Today however was all about Hamilton’s stunning return to the top step of the podium with McLaren Mercedes ahead of the looming summer break and then back-to-back races in Valencia and Spa Francorchamps. The championship is far from over…

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

Germany GP - Race: Nurburgring - 12/07/2009

Webber takes maiden victory in style.

Mark Webber overcame a questionable drive through penalty in a thrilling German Grand Prix to record his first victory by some margin from Red Bull Renault team-mate Sebastian Vettel. Significantly, the Milton Keynes-based team secured their second straight one-two result as rivals Brawn Mercedes continue to struggle at this critical mid-season point.

It was not a straightforward victory for Webber however as the start saw fellow front-row starter Rubens Barrichello pull alongside the Red Bull on the run to turn one. Webber moved to his right and light contact was made. It was a racing incident but a few laps later the team were informed that Webber, running second at the time to Barrichello, must take a drive through penalty for his actions.

A little good fortune would come to his aid however as Barrichello made his stop and found himself stuck behind Felipe Massa who was running a long first stint and therefore relatively heavy on fuel. This allowed Webber to lap quickly at the front of the field ahead of his own first stop for fuel and fresh rubber.

Webber’s impressive pace allowed him to exit the pits close behind Barrichello and ahead of Button and when it became apparent that the Brawn Mercedes team were three-stopping both drivers, Webber knew the race was his for the taking.

“It’s an incredible day,” Webber stated. “I wanted to win so badly after Silverstone, as I thought I had a good chance there, then after yesterday’s pole I knew I was in a good position to try and win the race today.

“It was a difficult winter, Sebastian showed in winter testing what the car could do, so that kept my motivation very high when I was hurting a lot with all the rehab,” he continued with reference to his cycling accident that left him with a badly broken leg ahead of the season. “I had great people around me to recover from all the injuries I had and the team have been incredibly patient with me as well.

“It’s just an incredible day for all the people who have helped me get to where I am today.”

While Webber celebrates his well deserved first victory, team-mate Sebastian Vettel took second position having recovered from a poor start. The one-two result moves the British Grand Prix winner second in the championship with Webber now up to third. Barrichello drops to fourth position while Button’s advantage at the head of the field is trimmed down to a still considerable 21 points with eight rounds remaining.

Felipe Massa finished third in his Ferrari after another canny tactical drive with a long first stint. The Brazilian finished six seconds behind Vettel and five seconds ahead of Nico Rosberg who made best of a fast start and strategy after a poor qualifying run to secure points for Williams Toyota once again, gaining no less than 11 positions during the race.

Jenson Button vaulted Barrichello in the final round of stops to finish in fifth position with his Brawn team-mate taking the chequered flag less than a second behind. However it is clear that the team's early season performance advantage has been eroded and now surpassed by the Red Bull team.

The BGP 001 did not have particularly good race pace despite the rather odd three stop strategy and the team will be looking ahead to the scheduled aerodynamic enhancements that should come on stream for the next Grand Prix in Hungary. Brawn still lead the constructors’ championship but the gap to Red Bull has now been trimmed down to 19.5 points and the latter now has momentum on their side.
To make matter worse, Barrichello is clearly unhappy with the team’s performance and made his feeling clearly known to the media and general public with a surprising post-race outburst.

Fernando Alonso spun his R29 on the parade lap as he tried to warm the tyres but started 12th as planned and finished seventh in his Renault after a low-key start to the race followed by a very impressive second and third stint. The double world champion chased and hounded the Brawn pair over the final laps but could not find a way to pass. Team-mate Nelson Piquet finished 13th.

Heikki Kovalainen took the final point on what was a disappointing day for the McLaren Mercedes team. Team-mate Lewis Hamilton made a very fast start from fifth position on the grid and looked to be challenging for the lead into the first turn. Sadly for the defending champion, his eagerness to make up ground from the outset saw his McLaren clip Webber’s Red Bull, puncturing the right rear tyre in the process.

Hamilton subsequently pitted for a fresh set of tyres and then ran at the back of the field to the chequered flag. Kovalainen meanwhile had also made a good start and ran as high as third in the opening stint. However his MP4-24, which does not feature all of the updates enjoyed by Hamilton this weekend, was off the pace of the front runners and the Finn would slip down the order as the race progressed.

Kovalainen was forced to fight very hard for the final point and to his credit, made no mistakes to take the chequered flag ahead of Toyota racer Timo Glock who had started the race from the pitlane.

Nick Heidfeld finished tenth in the leading BMW Sauber with team-mate Robert Kubica back in 14th while Giancarlo Fisichella ran well in his Force India Mercedes to finish 11th. While the Silverstone-based team will be happy with Fisichella’s performance, they will be most disappointed to see Sutil well out of the top ten after a terrific drive.

Sutil started seventh after a great run in the mixed qualifying conditions and ran as high as second in the race during the pitstops. Battling with Kimi Raikkonen over sixth position, Vettel exited the pits and ran side-by-side with the 2007 champion into the first turn. Contact was made and it was Sutil who lost his front wing and with it any hopes of securing the team their first points of the season. The German finished a disappointed 15th.

Kazuki Nakajima’s point-less season continues with Williams Toyota as he finished 12th following a trip through the gravel trap on lap one and then losing a position to Fisichella on the very final lap of the race. Sebastien Buemi was 16th in the surviving Toro Rosso behind Nakajima, Piquet and Sutil while an early stop for a new front wing saw Jarno Trulli just 17th ahead of Hamilton at the chequered flag in the second Toyota.

Kimi Raikkonen looked set for points this afternoon before his F60 lost power and he was forced to retire while Sebastien Bourdais also failed to go the distance in the second Toro Rosso Ferrari due to hydraulics failure. The Frenchman may deny it, but the body language and exchange on the pit wall seemed to confirm that it was indeed his last Grand Prix for the team.

After the weeks of politics and infighting, Formula One fans were finally treated to a great race this afternoon and a very worth winner…

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

Great-Britain GP - Race: Silverstone - 21/06/2009

Vettel crushes the opposition!

The final scheduled Grand Prix at Silverstone was completely dominated by Sebastian Vettel who recorded his second victory of the season and with the Red Bull Renault team as well as his first dry win of his short Formula One career.

Starting from pole position Vettel made a clean start and simply drove away from the field to establish a 20 second lead ahead of the first round of pitstops. From that point onwards, the German star controlled the pace at the front of the field and took the chequered flag on lap 60 some 15 seconds clear of team-mate Mark Webber.

Vettel’s victory, on a day when championship leader Jenson Button was unable to challenge the front-runners, sees him close the championship gap to Rubens Barrichello to just two points and 25 behind Button.

Starting third Mark Webber had been looking to get the jump on front-row starter Barrichello into turn one, but despite the Australian’s best efforts, trailed the Brawn Mercedes into Copse and was then forced to wait until the first round of pit stops to gain the position. By that time however, his team-mate was already 20 seconds up the road and the race for victory was over.

Barrichello pushed hard in the Brawn Mercedes but the car was no match for the dominant Red Bull Renault package at this circuit. The Brazilian veteran held on to take the final step of the podium, but at 26 seconds behind Webber and 41 behind the race winner, it is clear that the RB5 was the car to have this weekend in the cooler Silverstone conditions.

Felipe Massa made best of a long first stint from 11th position on the grid to take the chequered flag in an impressive fourth position, just four seconds behind Barrichello. Massa pitted on lap 23 and when he exited the pit lane he had passed Jarno Trulli, team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, Jenson Button and Kazuki Nakajima. Massa’s second and final stop saw him exit ahead of Nico Rosberg and claim fourth position. Impressive pace when needed from last year’s championship runner-up.

Nico Rosberg will be disappointed to lose a position late in the race, but still finished in fifth position on a day where team-mate Kazuki Nakajima ran as high as fourth only to slip out of the points. Still, Williams move fifth in the constructors’ standings ahead of McLaren Mercedes.

Championship leader Jenson Button was unable to make progress from sixth position on the grid and slipped down the field from the start. Running eighth ahead of the final stops the British racer picked up two positions following the final service and then rapidly closed the gap to Rosberg but was unable to make the pass for position. Button may be disappointed with the result, but he leaves Silverstone with a healthy 23 point margin over team-mate Barrichello.

Jarno Trulli started fourth in the leading Toyota but lost ground at the start. The Italian finished in seventh position 22 seconds behind Button while holding off Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari to the flag.

Timo Glock was just out of the points in the second Toyota as he chased Raikkonen to the line and taking the chequer just 0.2 seconds behind the Finn. Right behind Glock was arguably the driver of the day – Vettel aside – as Giancarlo Fisichella put in a brilliant run in his Force India Mercedes to finish tenth, just two positions and two seconds out of the points.
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Following a good start from 16th position on the grid, Fisichella found himself stuck behind Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso as they battled for 12th position. As the duo fought for position, both ran wide into Stowe and in one swoop the Italian veteran passed both and quickly pulled a 24 second cushion on the struggling Heidfeld.

After running in fourth position, Kazuki Nakajima lost three positions in his first stop. With a light fuel load on board courtesy of his qualifying tactics, the Japanese racer found himself demoted to seventh and then following his second stop to 11th. The Williams driver did not make any errors, but it proves that the aggressive strategy in qualifying does not always work, especially when looking at the progress made by Massa with his conservative strategy in the leading Ferrari.

Nelson Piquet finished 12th in the leading Renault with team-mate Fernando Alonso a disappointing 14th after a slow start and then losing time behind Heidfeld. Robert Kubica was 13th between the Renault pair while Heidfeld lost time with a damaged front wing in the first stint and took the flag in 15th.

It was a dismal day for the McLaren Mercedes team. Despite the best efforts of 2008 race winner Lewis Hamilton, the team recorded a 16th position and a failure to finish. Hamilton did battle hard with some terrific wheel to wheel action with former team-mate Alonso. However a spin at Club late in the race dropped him back down the order but the car was never capable of delivering points today.

Adrian Sutil started from the pit lane in the second Force India Mercedes following his qualifying crash yesterday and finished 17th ahead of Sebastien Buemi in the Toro Rosso Ferrari.

The only drivers who failed to finish were Sebastien Bourdais and Heikki Kovalainen who made contact which resulted in their subsequent retirement. Kovalainen has just exited the pits ahead of Hamilton and soon let the champion pass into Stowe. Still of the pace on relatively cold tyres, the Finn saw Bourdais homing in and looking for the position into Club. Kovalainen moved across one time too many under braking and Bourdais made solid contact.

Bourdais pitted for a new front wing while Kovalainen took service to replace the sliced left rear. A few laps later however both pulled in to retire with further damage.

Today however was all about Vettel. Pole position, fastest lap and the race win at the mid-point of the season gives the team and the driver some hope of clawing their way back into the championship fight.

The race was also the final Grand Prix scheduled for Silverstone with the race moving a little way up the M1 to Donington Park should renovations be completed on time to host the 2010 British Grand Prix. It may be the end of an era for Silverstone, but for British fans the overriding issue that there will at least be a round on the race calendar.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

Turkey GP - Race: Istanbul - 07.06.2009

Button takes Turkey, one hand on the title?


Jenson Button secured his sixth win from seven races today in Turkey to extend his championship lead to 26 points over team-mate Rubens Barrichello who failed to finish after a dramatic day. With title rival Sebastian Vettel finishing in third position, Button surely now is in a very commanding position as he aims for the championship with Brawn Mercedes.

The start of an entertaining Turkish Grand Prix saw Vettel make a good getaway from his pole position with Button slotting in behind. Starting third, Barrichello almost stalled his Brawn and plummeted down the field allowing a fastest starting Jarno Trulli up to third position with Mark Webber right behind.

Vettel’s one error came on that first lap as he ran wide through turn nine and with his momentum lost, Button breezed by to take the lead, one he would never relinquish.

The Red Bull Renault team has opted to run Vettel with a slightly lighter fuel load than both Button and Webber in the second RB5 but opted not to switch from three stops to two once the Chinese Grand Prix winner lost the lead. This error would prove critical in the latter stages of the race as Vettel dropped behind Webber and the race for second was effectively over.

Webber drove a strong race and fully deserved his runner-up position to close within 1.5 points of Vettel in the battle for third in the championship. After being jumped by Trulli off the line, the Australian racer soon forced his way ahead and then ran 20 seconds or so behind eventual winner Button until the final laps. Conserving his Brawn Mercedes, the championship leader allowed the gap to tumble to seven seconds at the chequered flag.

Jarno Trulli has a very solid race for Toyota. After losing position to Webber early in the race, the Toyota racer found himself behind Nico Rosberg following the first round of stops. The Italian veteran pressed on and regained the position in the second and final stop.

Rosberg duly finished fifth in his Williams Toyota, his best result of the season, but lost may have lost time behind team-mate Kazuki Nakajima ahead of his second stop and this could have cost him the fourth position. Nakajima himself ran well and was challenging for points until problems fitting the front-left wheel in the final stop dropped him down the order.

Felipe Massa had a quiet race to fifth in the leading Ferrari as he trailed Rosberg by eight seconds across the line while Robert Kubica secured his first points of the season with a seventh place finish in his BMW Sauber.
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The team are still a long way from being a front-runner, but at least they made gains this weekend following the disastrous Monaco showing. Kubica held off a charging drive from Timo Glock in the second Toyota who made best of a long first stint to beat some big names.

Kimi Raikkonen lost ground at the start and then made light contact with Fernando Alonso to damage his front right wing endplate. It mattered little as the F60 had little race pace and the 2007 champion finished out of the points in ninth position.

Another champion was out of the points and that was Renault star Fernando Alonso. With a light fuel load from eighth position on the grid, it was always going to be a tough race and the Spaniard duly finished in tenth position.

Nick Heidfeld finished 11th in the second BMW Sauber ahead of Nakajima and the McLaren Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen. The Turkish Grand Prix was a disaster for the Woking-based team with the flaws in the MP4-24 package cruelly exposed through the long four-apex turn eight. Hamilton at least made best of a one stop strategy to finish on the lead lap.

Sebastien Buemi led the Toro Rosso team to 15th position ahead of Nelson Piquet in the second Renault, Adrian Sutil in the surviving Force India and finally Sebastien Bourdais who was the final finisher in 18th.

Giancarlo Fisichella retired from 18th early in the race with a recurring braking issue while Barrichello had a most entertaining race.

Starting third, Barrichello’s Brawn Mercedes almost stalled off the line dropping the Brazilian down the order. By lap nine of 58 Barrichello found himself in a great tussle for 11th place with Kovalainen and after a few moments, contact was made dropping him behind Hamilton. The Brawn racer made a clean pass on the defending champion and then was overly optimistic on a pass on Sutil. After a stop for a new front wing he resumed before retiring on lap 49 with a gearbox problem.

Barrichello’s problems is good news for Button as he really does now enjoy a commanding championship lead heading to his home Grand Prix at Silverstone in two weeks time.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

Monaco GP - Race: Monaco - 24.05.2009

Button dominates the Monaco Grand Prix

Jenson Button absolutely dominated the 78-lap Monaco Grand Prix from pole position to record his fifth win from six races and to extend his championship lead over team-mate Rubens Barrichello to 16 points.

The largely incident free race was determined in the opening laps as the championship leader made a good start from the pole position with Kimi Raikkonen making a slower getaway, allowing Barrichello through into second.

The Brazilian veteran made a race of it in the opening laps keeping Button within a second until his super soft option tyres dramatically faded. The gap very quickly extended to 15 seconds as he defended his second position from Raikkonen and from that point, all Button had to do was mirror the pace of those behind him and control the pace to the chequered flag.

Barrichello retained his second position in the critical first round of pit stops much to the frustration of Ferrari who started both Raikkonen and team-mate Felipe Massa on the harder prime tyre, very much the more durable rubber this afternoon in Monte Carlo.

Back on the prime tyre and Barrichello was able to lap at a similar pace to race leader Button – who did not suffer the massive performance drop off experienced by his team-mate - but the damage had been done and there was nothing he could do to stop his Brawn Mercedes team-mate taking the chequered flag eight second ahead.

With 86 points from six races, Brawn Mercedes now have the same number of points as Red Bull Renault, Toyota and Ferrari combined.

Raikkonen drove a strong race, his start aside, keeping the pressure on Barrichello until the second and final round of pit stops. Taking the super soft option tyre for the final stint the 2007 champion fell back five seconds and duly recorded his first podium position of the season.

Felipe Massa started fifth and battled hard with Sebastian Vettel in the early laps. The Red Bull Renault racer started the race on a very light fuel load with the option tyre but by lap seven, it was clear that the Chinese Grand Prix runner had destroyed his tyres.

Massa tried a pass exiting the tunnel into the chicane but out-braked himself and cut the chicane. The Brazilian was forced to yield the position back to Vettel only for Nico Rosberg to sneak through as well.

While Vettel pitted on lap 11 for tyres and soon after planted the Red Bull Renault into the tyre barrier at Sainte Devote, Massa was able to regain fourth position in the stops from Rosberg, a position he retained to the flag, crossing the line less than two seconds behind Ferrari team-mate Raikkonen. The result moves Ferrari fourth in the standings.

Mark Webber vaulted both Rosberg and Heikki Kovalainen in the first round of stops and then drove a solid race in the surviving Red Bull to finish less than a second behind Massa while Rosberg finished sixth nearly 18 seconds adrift.
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Williams now move ahead of the struggling BMW Sauber team in the championship.

Fernando Alonso started ninth and finished seventh courtesy of two of the rivals ahead of him on the grid making contact with the tyres or Armco while team-mate Nelson Piquet made a good start from 12th position on the grid only to be taken out by Sebastien Buemi ten laps into the race.

The final point went to Sebastien Bourdais after a solid run in his Toro Rosso Ferrari. Under pressure for much of the race from Giancarlo Fisichella, the Frenchman kept his cool to score a valuable point for himself and the team.

Fisichella drove a great race in his Force India Mercedes. Starting a fine 13th and like Bourdais on a one stop strategy, the Italian veteran kept Fernando Alonso behind him during the Spaniard’s second stint and then chased Bourdais across the line to finish in ninth position, his and the Silverstone-based team’s best result of the season.

Kazuki Nakajima was on target for a tenth place finish in the second Williams Toyota, but on the very final lap of the race the Japanese driver made an error and nosed his FW31 into the tyres at Mirabeau. The unforced error dropped him to 15th and promoted the lapped Timo Glock to tenth on the leading Toyota.

Nick Heidfeld struggled around to finish 11th in his BMW Sauber while team-mate Robert Kubica suffered a puncture following contact with Lewis Hamilton and was forced to pit for a new right rear tyre on lap three.

Kubica continued at the back of the field before retiring the BMW Sauber less than a third of the way into the race.

It was a poor race from the McLaren Mercedes team with Heikki Kovalainen running seventh before losing his MP4-24 and crashing out at the swimming pool while Hamilton started at the back of the field on a two stop strategy. Why the team did not start him from the pit lane on heavy fuel load is a mystery.

The 2008 race winner ran ahead of just Adrian Sutil for a majority of the race, eventually passing Jarno Trulli to take 12th position ahead of the Toyota racer and Sutil in the second Force India.

It was a processional affair with little passing but that’s the Monaco Grand prix for you. With a commanding lead at the head of the championship, Button celebrates his latest success as the field starts preparations for the Turkish Grand Prix in two weeks time.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

Spain GP - Race: Barcelona - 12.05.2009

Button makes it four from five with a Brawn one-two in Spain

Race winner Jenson Button (GBR) Brawn Grand Prix celebrates on the podium. Formula One World Championship, Rd 5, Spanish Grand Prix, Race, Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, 10 May 2009 (L to R): Matt Deane (GBR) Brawn Grand Prix Engineer with Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Brawn Grand Prix, Jenson Button (GBR) Brawn Grand Prix and Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull Racing on the podium. Formula One World Championship, Rd 5, Spanish Grand Prix, Race, Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, 10 May 2009 Sebastien Buemi (SUI) Scuderia Toro Rosso STR4 crashed out at the start of the race. Formula One World Championship, Rd 5, Spanish Grand Prix, Race, Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, 10 May 2009

Brawn GP’s Jenson Button drove a pluperfect two-stop race to take his fourth victory in five races in Sunday afternoon’s Spanish Grand Prix, leading home early leader and three-stopping partner Rubens Barrichello by 13 seconds.

It was a resounding success for Brawn, but Barrichello had Mark Webber right on his tail at the finish as the Australian headed a Red Bull 3-4. His team mate Sebastian Vettel had been trapped behind Felipe Massa’s fast-starting Ferrari from the outset, but finally slipped ahead in the closing stages as the Brazilian was ordered to back off to conserve fuel. On the final lap the red car fell victim to Fernando Alonso’s Renault, as poor Massa was obliged to slow down even further.

The result gives Button 41 points to Barrichello’s 27, Vettel’s 23 and Webber’s 15.5. In the constructors’ stakes, Brawn have 68 to Red Bull’s 38.5.

Nick Heidfeld drove a tough and defensive race to net two points for BMW Sauber with seventh place, and Nico Rosberg completed the points scorers with eighth for Williams.

An accident at the first corner influenced the race. Rosberg eased slow-starting Jarno Trulli off in the second, left-handed corner, and as the Italian’s Toyota spun out of the gravel and back on to the track it collected Adrian Sutil, who had just short-cut the corner over on the left-hand side. In the confusion the two Toro Rosso’s collided, resulting in retirement for all four and a five-lap safety car period.

Barrichello resumed the lead he had taken from Button off the grid when the racing restarted on lap six, but later fell behind his team mate as his three-stop strategy proved inferior.

Lewis Hamilton had a frustrating afternoon for McLaren, finishing ninth ahead of Toyota’s Timo Glock, who ran well initially but fell back with an early refuelling stop. BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica led Renault’s Nelson Piquet home for 11th, with Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima and Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella rounding out the finishers.

The other retirements were Kimi Raikkonen, whose Ferrari ground to a halt with suspected electrical problems on lap 18, and fellow Finn Heikki Kovalainen who fell victim to gearbox gremlins on his McLaren.

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2009/5/9341.html

A1 GP Brands Hatch - Feature Race - 03/05/09

Ireland wins A1GP title in style

A1 Team Ireland lifted the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport trophy high above Brands Hatch today after the perfect weekend for the team and its driver, Adam Carroll. They completely dominated the weekend from the time they took to the track on Friday.

Two poles, victory in the Sprint race and then another lights-to-flag win in the Feature race was the perfect end for them to the 2008/09 championship, which culminated with their maiden A1GP title.

After an aborted start when South Africa's Alan van der Merwe stalled on the grid, the race finally got underway with Carroll getting off the line to lead into Paddock Hill Bend. As the field came through the first corner an incident involving China, USA and India left China and India in the gravel and out the race and brought out the Safety Car as the cars came round to complete the first lap. USA's John R. Hildebrand Jr limped back to the pits for a new nose cone but rejoined the race.

The order behind the Safety Car was Ireland from Monaco, Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal, New Zealand, Australia, France, Great Britain and Italy.

Ireland had a good run out of the final corner on the restart to come across the line 0.653 seconds ahead of the chasing pack. Further down the field Mexico's Salvador Duran took tenth from Italy's Vitantonio Liuzzi.

By the end of lap five Carroll had a 1.424-second lead before New Zealand's Earl Bamber spun Black Beauty into the gravel and out of the race at Westfield.

As the pit window opened for the first round of stops, race leader Ireland was the first to dive in, closely followed by Portugal. Another slick pit stop from the Irish crew saw Carroll safely back out in the lead. Switzerland and Netherlands came in a lap later with Monaco opting to stay out a lap extra. The strategy didn't work however, as Clivio Piccione fell to fifth after the stops.

Mexico had a good stop to get out in front of Australia with the order on lap fifteen now Ireland 6.956 seconds from Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal, Monaco, Mexico, Australia, Great Britain, Italy and Lebanon.

Great Britain's Dan Clarke was flying on home soil placing his car perfectly on the inside of Paddock Hill Bend to take seventh from John Martin. He then began attacking Mexico for sixth while Netherlands started to close the gap to Ireland up ahead.

On lap 26 Germany's Michael Ammerm�ller rolled to a halt bringing his season to an early end. Ireland was now being held up by USA's Hildebrand as Carroll came round to lap the American car.

Malaysia's Aaron Lim ran wide and crashed out at Druids bringing a disappointing end to his weekend just as the second mandatory pit window opened.

Ireland was first to come in again to get a new set of tyres along with South Africa, Lebanon, Indonesia and Mexico. Great Britain and the Netherlands made their stops a lap later with the orange car remaining in second despite Ireland having a slightly slower stop this time around.

John Martin was flying in Jackeroo giving Australia the fastest lap, with a 1m 12.754s, which he beat a couple of laps later, recording a 1m 12.698s.

Ireland was in control at the front but there was a great battle for third with Switzerland holding off Monaco and Portugal. Great Britain's Dan Clarke was also putting pressure on Mexico for sixth.

With five laps to go the order was Ireland from Netherlands, Switzerland, Monaco, Portugal, Mexico, Great Britain, Australia, Italy and France.

Carroll held his nerve to bring the Celtic Tiger across the line to take victory by 10.156 seconds from the Netherlands and Switzerland, and with it sealed the team's maiden A1GP title. Ireland had been in control all weekend, claiming two pole positions yesterday which were both converted into wins today.

After an amazing season of A1GP racing the title went right down to the final race with A1GP Chairman, Tony Teixeira, presenting A1 Team Ireland's seat holder Mark Gallagher and an elated Adam Carroll with the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport trophy in front of the cheering crowds.

Neel Jani's third-place finish secured the runner-up spot for Switzerland in this year's championship. Portugal's Filipe Albuquerque came home in fifth to give them third place in the final championship rankings.

Ireland's Adam Carroll said: "It was a perfect weekend for us, it's what we needed to come here to do, it was the plan so it really did come through.
We knew by the pace we set in Portugal that if we came here and everything worked out OK we would be really hard to beat, and that was the way it worked out so it couldn't have been better."

"I didn't get a great start again, it's really hard to start from pole, but I knew if I stayed where I was there wouldn't be any bumping into each other."

"In the second pit stop the team were nothing to do with why we were slow, the guys did their job but had to hold me because Switzerland was coming in and if they had let me go it would have been very dangerous so we lost some time."

"The team are just unbelievable, they are the best team on the face of this Earth in motorsport and I believe that fully. Their commitment is second to none and we are the best in this pit lane. These guys left on Friday night after 29 hours in the pit lane, that says it all."

Jereon Bleekemolen, who came in second today said: "We started working together with Ireland this season and obviously they are very strong, but I think we have a great group of people too. It was great working with them and I think we both took advantage of that. We have had some bad luck and I've been sharing a car with Robert Doornbos. If it goes your way you are fighting for the championship, but we've had a few races that didn't go our way although we can be happy with the season."

Switzerland's Neel Jani said: "It was bad luck in the Feature, but on the other hand I am happy because we finally found some pace this weekend as we have been struggling since Friday. This morning we were way too slow to win any championship in the world so I am really happy that in the end this afternoon we were somewhere around even though we had a broken exhaust."

"It had been interesting, lots of close battles, especially within the points. I knew it would be hard to win the title here against Ireland because last year they were very quick and we struggled. I would have liked to have come here with a bigger points lead and I think one of the biggest mistakes was in Malaysia in the Feature race when I spun it. Ireland did a great job though, they had a fantastic year and if I don't win, I don't mind if they win."

Brands Hatch - Feature Race results:

Pos A1 Team Driver Laps Time
1 IRELAND Adam CARROLL 49 1:04:14.970
2 NETHERLANDS Jeroen BLEEKEMOLEN 49 +10.156
3 SWITZERLAND Neel JANI 49 +13.564
4 MONACO Clivio PICCIONE 49 +14.293
5 PORTUGAL Filipe ALBUQUERQUE 49 +16.484
6 MEXICO Salvador DURAN 49 +21.81
7 GREAT BRITAIN Daniel CLARKE 49 +23.409
8 AUSTRALIA John MARTIN 49 +24.493
9 ITALY Vitantonio LIUZZI 49 +46.004
10 FRANCE Nicolas PROST 49 +49.094
11 SOUTH AFRICA Alan VAN DER MERWE 49 +1:13.905
12 LEBANON Daniel MORAD 49 +1:16.257
13 INDONESIA Satrio HERMANTO 48 1 Lap
14 USA John R. HILDEBRAND JR. 48 1 Lap
15 MALAYSIA Aaron LIM 27 22 Laps
16 GERMANY Michael AMMERMULLER 26 23 Laps
17 NEW ZEALAND Earl BAMBER 6 43 Laps
18 CHINA Congfu CHENG 0 49 Laps
19 INDIA Narain KARTHIKEYAN 0 49 Laps
- BRAZIL Felipe GUIMARAES - -

Fastest lap: A1 Team Australia set the fastest lap (1m12.698s) of the Feature Race with a speed of 183.4kph on lap 36.

Final 2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport points standings:

Pos A1 Team Points
1 Ireland 112
2 Switzerland 95
3 Portugal 92
4 Netherlands 75
5 France 47
6 Malaysia 43
7 New Zealand 36
8 Australia 36
9 Monaco 35
10 Great Britain 28
11 USA 24
12 India 19
13 Mexico 19
14 South Africa 19
15 Brazil 18
16 Italy 17
17 Lebanon 8
18 China 7
19 Korea 4
20 Indonesia 3
21 Germany 2

D.B. � CAPSIS International

A1 GP Brands Hatch - Sprint Race - 03/05/09

Ireland takes Sprint victory

1 Team Ireland and Adam Carroll moved one step closer to the team's maiden title after taking victory in this morning's Sprint race at A1GP Brands Hatch, Great Britain.

India's Narain Karthikeyan finished second with Mexico's Salvador Duran taking the final podium position.

Ireland got a good start but Mexico had a better run into Paddock Hill, taking the lead around the outside through the first corner. Ireland settled into second from USA, Portugal, India and Netherlands, New Zealand and Switzerland.

Australia's John Martin took advantage of a mistake by Switzerland's Neel Jani to take eighth place before the mandatory pit stop window opened.

India made the decision to pit early alongside Lebanon, Germany and Malaysia. A lap later Mexico and Ireland made their way into the pits but after an incredibly quick stop by the Irish team, Adam Carroll regained the lead with India taking second.

John R. Hildebrand continued his good weekend form in his first race for A1 Team USA today by moving up to third after the pit stops, pushing Mexico down to fourth. Monaco's Clivio Piccione had problems leaving the pits, rolling to a stop at the pit lane exit.

On lap nine the order was Ireland from India, USA, Mexico, Portugal, Netherlands, Australia and Switzerland.

Duran was then able to capitalise on a mistake from Hildebrand at the final corner which gave the Mexican a good run to take third into the first corner.

Carroll now had a 3.867-second lead from India but still kept the fans on the edge of their seats, kicking up the dust and showing no sign of easing off the pace.

On lap 15 Lebanon's Daniel Morad lost the back end and spun into the gravel at Paddock Hill Bend with New Zealand's Earl Bamber also going into the gravel to avoid hitting the Lebanese car, leaving both cars out of the race.

Carroll took victory with a comfortable 7.230-second margin over India. Mexico's Duran settled for the final podium position.

A1 Team Brazil did not make the start after being unable to repair the car in time for this morning's Sprint race. The team is still working hard and hopes to have the car ready in time for this afternoon's Feature race.

Portugal's Filipe Albuquerque finished fifth with Switzerland's Jani taking a single point for eighth. Ireland now leads the championship with 97 points from Switzerland (89) and Portugal (86).

Ireland needs to finish fifth or better in this afternoon's Feature race to guarantee them the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport title.

"It's never easy," said Ireland's Adam Carroll.
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"Sprint races are always quite strange, they're tougher than the Feature race for some reason. I could see Mexico pushing very hard so just let then get on with it and hoped the boys would come up with the goods in the pit stop and they did. It's a relief for this race to be over and once this afternoon is done we can relax."

India's Narain Karthikeyan said: "It was difficult after a small mistake in qualifying as we should have been further up the grid. The car is working well so I think we are looking good for another podium this afternoon."

Mexico's Salvador Duran said: "I did a small mistake put still the team did a great job and put me out in a podium position. To achieve a podium is great for us and it's a developing project for next season."

Brands Hatch - Sprint Race:

Pos A1 Team Driver Laps Time
1 IRELAND Adam CARROLL 18 22:32.704
2 INDIA Narain KARTHIKEYAN 18 +7.23
3 MEXICO Salvador DURAN 18 +12.34
4 USA John R. HILDEBRAND JR. 18 +12.689
5 PORTUGAL Filipe ALBUQUERQUE 18 +13.018
6 NETHERLANDS Jeroen BLEEKEMOLEN 18 +13.783
7 AUSTRALIA John MARTIN 18 +15.208
8 SWITZERLAND Neel JANI 18 +22.22
9 FRANCE Nicolas PROST 18 +22.945
10 ITALY Vitantonio LIUZZI 18 +27.062
11 GERMANY Michael AMMERMULLER 18 +31.947
12 INDONESIA Satrio HERMANTO 18 +33.159
13 GREAT BRITAIN Daniel CLARKE 18 +33.541
14 CHINA Congfu CHENG 18 +34.963
15 SOUTH AFRICA Alan VAN DER MERWE 18 +40.488
16 MALAYSIA Aaron LIM 18 +41.528
17 LEBANON Daniel MORAD 13 +5 Laps
18 NEW ZEALAND Earl BAMBER 13 +5 Laps
19 MONACO Clivio PICCIONE 8 +10 Laps
- BRAZIL Felipe GUIMARAES 0 -

Fastest lap: A1 Team Ireland set the fastest lap (1m12.276s) of the Sprint race with a speed of 184.4kph on lap 8.

� CAPSIS International