Jenson Button rolls at the Monaco Grand Prix

Brawn GP driver Jenson Button of Britain gets the checkered flag as he crosses the finish line to win the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix, at the Monaco racetrack, in Monaco, Sunday, May 24 2009. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Jenson Button and his dream season kept right on rolling beside the casino among the high rollers and 200,000 fans at the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday. Jenson's checkered flag in Monaco was his fifth win out of six races in the 2009 Formula One season, and he also became the first Brit to win Monaco from pole since Jackie Stewart in 1973. Button's Brawn GP team mate Rubens Barrichello grabbed second spot on the podium, helping cement Brawn team leader and master race strategist Ross Brawn's iron grip on the 09 F1 Constructor's Championship. Brawn GP's lead of 86 points seems insurmountable, it is more then double their closest rival Red Bull Renault's total of 42.5 points.

Scuderia Ferrari finally got to see a small sliver of a silver lining in what has been a most cloudy season for the legendary team. Ferrari leap-frogged several teams into 4th place in the Constructors Championship when Kimi Raikkonen took the 3rd spot on the podium and team mate Felipe Massa came in 4th place.  

Brawn GP driver Jenson Button of Britain, center, winner of the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix, celebrates on the podium with his Brazilian teammate Rubens Barrichello, left, second placed, and third placed Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen of Finland, at the Monaco racetrack, in Monaco, Sunday, May 24 2009. Background left is Charlotte Casiraghi, daughter of Princess Caroline of Monaco. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

But the story of the 2009 season is still a case of real life unfolding like a George Lucas movie script, who come to think of it, was seen at the spectacular Mediterranean setting, also conveniently right down the coast from the Cannes film festival. It is just a lot of fun to think about what it must have been like to be Jenson Button yesterday, idolized by the many celebrities, pop stars and glamorous models on the scene before the race, and then toasted by the Prince and Princess of Monaco as winner of a race thats been around since 1929. Can a dream get any better than this?

"Wow!" said Button on Sunday. "Winning the Monaco Grand Prix is something that you dream about as a child and as a racing driver and the reality of taking that victory just feels awesome. To win in Monaco is truly a special feeling. With Rubens taking a superb second place, a one-two finish for the Brawn-Mercedes team in Monaco is fantastic. The race felt like it went on forever and you feel that the barriers are getting closer and closer as the end of the race approaches. But for the last couple of laps, I was able to relax and really enjoy the moment."

Brawn GP driver Jenson Button of Britain leads his teammate Brawn GP driver Rubens Barrichello of Brazil into turn one, at the start of the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix at the Monaco racetrack, in Monaco, Sunday, May 24 2009. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

The race itself was not any sort of dramatic thriller, Jenson got off to a great start, as did Barrichello, who was able to rocket past Kimi's Ferrari to the first turn. From there, the two Brawns were never really challenged. Their early lead was helped by the struggles of Red Bull's Sebastien Vettel who was noticeably slow as he shredded his option tires in the early laps.

In fact, I thought the most exciting sequence in the race happened very early on at lap 6. Felipe Massa's Ferrari was clearly faster than the very twitchy Red Bull car, and Felipe decided to put a move on Vettel as they zoomed through Monaco's famous tunnel section. This entire ultra narrow track demands nerves of steel and surgical levels of concentration, as Massa was about to rediscover. Massa nearly had Vettel as he emerged into the blinding sunlight out of the tunnel, but had to cut the chicane as Sebastien remained on track. Felipe had to let Vettel go by him, since he had taken the spot by cutting the chicane. As Vettel went past Massa, Nico Rosberg's Williams car also slipped by Massa riding on Vettel's gearbox.

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany leads Ferrari driver Felipe Massa of Brazil during the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix at the Monaco racetrack, in Monaco, Sunday, May 24 2009. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Vettel's position in the race was short lived, as his tires continued to shred, he was repassed by at least 3 cars before pitting at lap 10. Sebastien's forgettable day then ended on lap 15 when he crashed into a wall. Team mate Mark Webber had another under the radar solid performance when he finished 5th after qualifying 8th. Webber maintained 4th place in the Driver's standings right behind Vettel.

Team Ferrari seemed for the most part pleased with the results of their day. For the first time all season, I thought the Ferrari cars looked like, well, Ferrari's, nimble and very fast, darting through the famous twists and turns of the most beautiful race track in motorsports.

 Brawn GP driver Jenson Button of Britain, top right, leads his teammate Brawn GP driver Rubens Barrichello of Brazil and the rest of the pack during the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix at the Monaco racetrack, in Monaco, Sunday May 24 2009. Button won the race as Barichello finished in second place. (AP Photo/David Vincent)

 "Now we can see that we are closer to the other cars in front of us," Ferrari Team boss Stefano Domenicali said. "That's a good sign....That is good motivation for all the people at home who are working flat out to improve our performance. We now have to stay focused on our job and stay focused on our need to improve internally. Downforce is the most important thing that we have to recover as this will help a lot in the high-speed corners."

Kimi's comments after the race seemed cooler and a match for his Iceman nickname as the former World Champion showed his displeasure that Ferrari is not winning yet. "It is a nice result but it's still disappointing not to be winning," said the Finn. "We still need to improve the car and to be fighting for first places and hopefully at the next race we can fight against them again. We should get some new package again for the next race, and that should help."

 Ferrari Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen of Finland steers his car during the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix at the Monaco racetrack, in Monaco, Sunday, May 24 2009. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ferrari also finally got ahead of rival McLaren Mercedes in the Constructor's Championship race as McLaren had another bad day, far off the pace. Heikki Kovalainen's dismal season continued when he crashed out of the race at lap 51. World Champ Lewis Hamilton knew he was in for a long day starting from last position on the grid, but afterwards he did seemed pleased with his 12th place finish.

“It was an extremely tough race,” said Hamilton. “I raced my heart out and feel satisfied with my performance today. Hoping to borrow a little of Jenson Button's Hollywood magic, Lewis had his own movie in mind, “I was thinking about one of the Rocky films" said the defending Monaco GP champion. "In the first film, Rocky says, ‘I just want to see the end of the fight’ and I got to the flag, pushing as hard as I could throughout the race."

Brawn GP driver Jenson Button of Britain celebrates spraying champagne after winning the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix at the Monaco racetrack, in Monaco, Sunday, May 24 2009. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

The question in Formula One now becomes will there be any drama at all in the Driver's Championship this year? Jenson Button's domination of F1 in 2009 has reminded some observers of the path tread so many times before by the legendary Ferrari World Champion Michael Schumacher. Button's smooth and unflappable driving style sure does seem similar at least so far to Schumy, but he has a very long way to go before Button can claim anything like legendary status. One thing I'm sure Michael never did was park his race car in the wrong space after winning Monaco. Button seemed only too happy to jog a victory lap from the faulty parking spot and as he ran down the straight to the podium, one could hardly blame him for hoping that his dream roll this season will never end.
Renault team manager Flavio Briatore arrives with his wife Elisabetta Gregoraci at the starting grid of the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix, at the Monaco racetrack, in Monaco, Sunday, May 24 2009. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

 

Results

1 Jenson Button 22 Brawn-Mercedes 1 1:40:44.282 10
2 Rubens Barrichello 23 Brawn-Mercedes 3 1:40:51.948 8
3 Kimi Raikkonen 4 Ferrari 2 1:40:57.724 6
4 Felipe Massa 3 Ferrari 5 1:40:59.392 5
5 Mark Webber 14 Red Bull-Renault 8 1:41:00.012 4
6 Nico Rosberg 16 Williams-Toyota 6 1:41:17.868 3
7 Fernando Alonso 7 Renault 9 1:41:22.121 2
8 Sebastien Bourdais 11 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 14 1:41:47.424 1
9 Giancarlo Fisichella 21 Force India-Mercedes 13 1:41:49.322 0
10 Timo Glock 10 Toyota 19 lapped 0
11 Nick Heidfeld 6 BMW Sauber 16 lapped 0
12 Lewis Hamilton 1 McLaren-Mercedes 20 lapped 0
13 Jarno Trulli 9 Toyota 18 lapped 0
14 Adrian Sutil 20 Force India-Mercedes 15 lapped 0
RET Kazuki Nakajima 17 Williams-Toyota 10 crash, 76 laps 0
RET Heikki Kovalainen 2 McLaren-Mercedes 7 crash, 51 laps 0
RET Robert Kubica 5 BMW Sauber 17 retired, 28 laps 0
RET Sebastian Vettel 15 Red Bull-Renault 4 crash, 15 laps 0
RET Nelson Piquet Jr 8 Renault 12 retired, 10 laps 0
RET Sebastien Buemi 12 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 11 crash, 10 laps 0

Drivers' Championship

1 Button 51
2 Barrichello 35
3 Vettel 23
4 Webber 19.5
5 Trulli 14.5
6 Glock 12
7 Alonso 11
8 Hamilton 9
9 Raikkonen 9
10 Massa 8
11 Rosberg 7.5
12 Heidfeld 6
13 Kovalainen 4
14 Buemi 3
15 Bourdais 2

Constructors' Championship
1 Brawn GP 86
2 Red Bull 42.5
3 Toyota 26.5
4 Ferrari 17
5 McLaren 13
6 Renault 11
7 Williams 7.5
8 BMW Sauber 6
9 Toro Rosso 5
10 Force India 0

Click