F1 News

GP Spain – Press conference

• Posted in F1 News

Q: Jenson, another brilliant day for you and your team. A switch for your team-mate to a three stop strategy relatively early in the race and then just a great day for you.

Jenson Button: Well, it was the other way around. We were both going that direction but they switched me to a two stop just to cover all our bases. Three stop was the quicker strategy we thought and I wasn’t sure about going to a two stop. When we put the fuel on board it felt very, very heavy and I didn’t think I would come out in front of (Felipe) Massa and (Sebastian) Vettel but I did. From then on I could get my head down and concentrate on putting the laps in and being as consistent as possible. So to come away with a win, they all mean a lot obviously but coming back to Europe and winning in Barcelona, a circuit that I’ve always found a little bit tough, it’s a good feeling and gives me a lot of confidence for the rest of the season.

Q: Rubens, a great team performance as well. Tell us about the race from your point of view.

Rubens Barrichello: The race evolved quite well. I had a great start, went to the lead. I was running a tiny bit quicker than Jenson to begin with and I had two more laps of fuel. It was running quite well and then I heard they changed Jenson’s strategy and I had to keep on pushing. My third set of tyres was not good. I don’t know if there was something broken on the car or anything. I could not keep my pace up as well as the last set, so I guess it wasn’t the tyre, it must be something to do with the car and from there on it was a struggle. I had a big struggle to keep the car on the track and a relief to come second and a big thank you to the whole group as it is still first and second back in Europe. Disappointed that I haven’t won the race as I thought I had it in the bag today but it is still a good effort from the whole team.

Q: Mark, a strong result for you and the team. Your team-mate Sebastian Vettel obviously spent most of the race behind Felipe Massa’s Ferrari. But a great ending to your second stint to make up that time.

Mark Webber: Yeah, exactly. It was a tough first stint in terms of we knew that it was in qualifying that it was going to be difficult to get track position on those guys, particularly Felipe round this place as you can’t do much on the circuit. We did our best to hang in there in the first stint as best as we could. I knew I was one lap shorter which is never ideal but that’s the way it was because of qualifying. The car went incredibly neutral in the high speed in the last few laps of the first stint, so we made a balance correction for the second stint and the second stint went very well for me. It was very long, we knew we had to go extremely long to try and jump and give us very good field position if you like with the people around us. That worked well for the majority of the stint, a good 25 laps or so, and again at the end I came up to Rubens a little bit. I would have tried to stay close and the guys were encouraging me to stay as close as possible as we thought Rubens might have been one lap shorter but he stopped on the same lap. The primes worked okay at the end. I was stuck behind Rubens again for most of the last stint. But it is a good day for the team. We would like a few more points but I think, what is it 10 or 11 for Sebastian and I so that’s another good chunk for us. These guys are a still going away but we are going away from the rest of the field, so a great day for us. And the team have buried themselves this week to get the car ready, a lot of all-nighters and a fantastic thank you to Renault as the engines have been great.

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Spanish Grand Prix 2009

• Posted in F1 2009 . F1 News

Spanish Grand Prix 2009
08 – 10 May 2009, Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain

Jenson Button’s superb season continued as he grabbed his fourth 2009 race win out of five at a tactical Spanish Grand Prix which Brawn GP totally dominated.

Brazilian veteran Barrichello led the first stint of the race after catapulting past pole-sitter Button by the first corner and opened up a handy gap over the championship leader before his later opening stop.

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.

BBC: Button wins as Brawn GP dominate
ITV: Button beats Barrichello in Brawn 1-2
Official F1: Button makes it four from five with a Brawn one-two in Spain

Bahrain Grand Prix 2009

• Posted in F1 2009 . F1 News

Bahrain Grand Prix 2009 – FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX
24 – 26 April 2009, Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Manama, Bahrain

Brawn driver Jenson Button won the Bahrain Grand Prix to secure his third victory in four races this season.

Button started fourth but was up to third by the start of the second lap, crucially fighting off a challenge from Lewis Hamilton’s improving McLaren.

Button chased the leading Toyotas hard early on and moved into a lead he never lost when they made their pit stops.

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was second from Toyota’s Jarno Trulli as Hamilton had his best finish of 2009 in fourth.

Bahrain Grand Prix 2009 Full Race Reports

BBC: Brilliant Button wins in Bahrain
F1 ITV: Button takes masterful Bahrain win
F1 Official Website: Button makes it three wins from four in Bahrain

Trulli on pole as Toyota dominate

• Posted in F1 News

2009 FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX

BBC Highlights – Trulli storms to pole in Bahrain

Jarno Trulli will start on pole in Bahrain with Timo Glock next to him as Toyota brilliantly locked out the front row for the first time in Formula 1.

Red Bull’s Chinese Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel came through in third but team-mate Mark Webber was controversially knocked out early on.

The British pair of Brawn GP’s Jenson Button and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton start in fourth and fifth respectively.

ITV Trulli: Pole just reward for Toyota gains

Jarno Trulli said Toyota’s domination of Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying was the perfect reward for the team’s massive improvement over the winter.

Toyota looked quick from the start of pre-season testing, but has had an incident-packed year so far – with both cars disqualified from Melbourne qualifying, Timo Glock picking up a gearbox change penalty in China, and Trulli having his car mounted by Robert Kubica in last week’s race.

Official F1 Website Qualification Result

F1 appeal rules in Brawn’s favour

• Posted in F1 News

Motorsport’s governing body, the FIA, has ruled the Brawn GP car, which has taken Briton Jenson Button to two wins this season, is legal.

A panel heard eight hours of strongly worded evidence on Tuesday after complaints that Brawn, Toyota and Williams, use an illegal diffuser.

And the five International Court of Appeal judges said the designs “comply with the applicable regulations”.

All three teams are free to race in the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai.

“The decision comes as no great surprise,” said BBC Radio 5 Live Formula 1 commentator David Croft.

“Already this season two sets of stewards, an FIA president and an FIA race director have thought that the diffuser design of Brawn, Williams and Toyota was OK…

Sourse: news.bbc.co.uk