By Nancy Knapp Schilke - Motorsport.com
Mark Webber earned the victory in the Formula One penultimate round, the Brazilian Grand Prix, but the Aussie was overshadowed by Jenson Button who won his first World Championship.
Jenson Button, Brawn GP. Photo by xpb.cc.
"Today was the best race that I've driven in my career and I'm really going to enjoy this moment," said an excited Button. "For the team to win the Constructors' and the Drivers Championships here is just fantastic and they deserve it so very much after all the difficult times that we all went through over the winter."
The door for Button was opened early when three separate incidents involving seven cars, three of whom started in front of the 14th grid spot belonging to Button's Brawn GP Mercedes. It was a nice early gain for the Brit. Out on the opening lap were Adrian Sutil (Force India Mercedes), Jarno Trulli (Toyota) and Fernando Alonso (Renault).
The first incident was between Nick Heidfeld and Giancarlo Fisichella who were 18th and 19th, respectively on the grid. The third incident was in the second turn when Heikki Kovalainen and Sebastian Vettel had contact, they did continue.
The Safety car was dispatched and Kimi Raikkonen plus both McLaren drivers headed to the pits. Raikkonen needed a new front wing for his Ferrari while both McLaren Mercedes' racers were switching to the prime tires and adding fuel. Then the action got extremely hot, at least for the Ferrari driver.
When exiting his pit area, Raikkonen was behind Kovalainen who still had the fuel hose attached to his McLaren Mercedes. The excess fuel in the hose sprayed back onto the Ferrari, causing a flash fire to Raikkonen. Both not only continued but did finish the race.
"At the pit stop, I ended up with some drops of petrol in my eye, from the fuel line stuck on Kovalainen's car and then I was engulfed in flames and blinded," said Raikkonen. "I was going to stop, but luckily the flames soon went out. Even now, my eyes are still burning, but I'm alright."
Rubens Barrichello, BrawnGP leads the field. Photo by xpb.cc.
The circus of F1 showed its face in Brazil on the historic Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace (Interlagos) circuit with the unusual taking place all weekend: Little track time due to torrential rain and/or light rain in Friday practices and Saturday morning practice. Qualifying one was both wet and dry and then again very wet. The second qualifying started but then was held for hours due to the conditions. In the end, only the final outcome of Sunday's race mattered; especially with the championship on the line.
Button knew what he had to do, starting back on the grid. He also knew he could not control what his nearest two title rivals did in today's race: Rubens Barrichello and Vettel.
"It's going to take a while to sink in but for now I'm just reveling in the achievement of a lifelong dream," said Button. "It's going to be one hell of a party tonight!"
On the restart, Barrichello kept his pole winning position with Webber tucked behind him while others were scrambling for race positions on the 2.677 mile (4.309 km) circuit. Robert Kubica found himself in the top three, putting pressure on Webber. But it was the first pit stop that kept the Brawn GP team leader and the BMW Sauber of Kubica from taking the victory. Webber stayed out longer, built up a gap and then dived in and came out still in the lead.
"You never know in the first stint. I knew Rubens (Barrichello) was a bit shorter, I knew Robert was a bit shorter," Webber said. "I was impressed with Robert's pace to start with and then when they pitted, I knew I had a nice clear run to get a good gap starting the second stint."
Red bull team celebration, Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing, Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing, Sporting Director, Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing. Photo by xpb.cc.
Webber was thrilled with the win. "It's been a fantastic day for the team, to win again," smiled Webber. "We've had quite a few victories this year off the back of some tough seasons at Red Bull, totally confirming second for us in the Constructors. Obviously we weren't good enough over the whole season to win any championships but we've done ourselves very proud as a team, as a unit. I would like to thank Renault as well, the engines have been very good. It's not an easy environment for them, so yeah, very, very good."
Kubica ended second while local favorite Barrichello slipped down the leader board due to a late puncture to his Bridgestone while he and Lewis Hamilton were in a wheel-to-wheel fight. The kind one expects in Formula 1 racing with the world's best open-wheel drivers.
"The basis for today's result was laid yesterday when we decided to take a gamble and drive the wet qualifying with a low-downforce set-up," explained Kubica. "Today we had a good and consistent pace. I was surprised at the beginning that it was quite easy to follow Rubens Barrichello and Mark Webber. But I had to reduce the engine revs after about 15 laps because the water temperature was too high, and I had to avoid the tow of the guys in front of me. After my first pit stop I was unlucky because I got stuck behind four cars. At that stage Mark was able to increase the gap. This is a great result in a difficult season, and I really hope that I will see this team on the grid next year."
Also starting in the rear of the grid due to not making the cut to move to Q2 yesterday was the 2008 World Champion, Hamilton for McLaren Mercedes. The Brit played the right strategy to cross the line third and like the rest of the finishers, he received the checkered flag from Felipe Massa.
"It was an incredible race for me and I'm so happy," Hamilton said. "Starting at the back was a completely different feeling from last year. This time, I wasn't involved in the championship outcome, but I'm incredibly happy for Jenson. I've been down to congratulate him, his team and his family."
Felipe Massa, Scuderia Ferrari flags Lewis Hamilton, McLaren Mercedes. Photo by xpb.cc.
Hamilton continued, "As for my race, I was so far behind on the grid that I didn't expect to finish on the podium, but I fought so hard and kept pushing like crazy throughout the whole race. It feels like a win when you come through fighting for positions all the time with good overtaking manoeuvres at the end. This was a great team effort."
Vettel, like Hamilton and Button, had a great run to finish in the top five. The German placed his Red Bull Renault fourth with Button in fifth.
"I think there is a guy at Brawn who is happier than me today. All in all it was a good race starting from the back and finishing fourth. We were helped by some people crashing, but I think fourth was the maximum we could do today," said Vettel. "At one point I was praying for rain, there was the smell of rain, but it didn't come. Congratulations to Jenson and Brawn, I think they did the best job this year."
Raikkonen, even with his eyes still stinging from the fuel, finished sixth for Ferrari. Toro Rosso Ferrari's Sebastien Buemi was seventh with Barrichello coming home to the cheers of the Brazilian fans in eighth.
"Whilst I am obviously disappointed with the result today, I have to be pleased with our year at Brawn GP," Barrichello said. "We really have a great car and a great team and it has truly been an amazing year when you consider the situation that we were in just before the start of the season. I'm truly pleased for Jenson as a friend and he is a great champion."
Brazil's race always has a lot of action and in the past five years it has been the scene of where champions are made and it has never been boring!
Start action. Photo by xpb.cc.
Brawn GP walked away with the Constructors' title along with their driver Button taking the Drivers' World Championship. For a team that made their debut in the season opener this year, having bought out the Honda F1 team in March 2009, their accomplishment is well deserved. One race remains to finish out the year and it is a new event for the F1 teams on the the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
"What a day! I am so incredibly proud of the team and our drivers and it's so very special to have won the Constructors' and the Drivers' Championships in our first year as Brawn GP," smiled Ross Brawn.
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