World championship points: 105
Best qualifying result: 1st (4x)
Best race result: 1st (6x)
What a turnaround! From a bitterly disappointing 2008 to Honda’s shock withdrawal, to the scrabble to keep the team afloat and, finally, to a seemingly permanent place on the podium, Brawn GP have gone from the doldrums to delight in just a few short months. Eight races in, and four poles and six victories for the rechristened team is the best-ever start to a season for a ‘new’ constructor.
Of course, with Ross Brawn at the helm and two experienced drivers in Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello occupying cockpits, everything augured well. But the same could have been said of Honda at the start of last season, and look where that got the Japanese manufacturer - a dog of a car, ninth in the championship, and just 14 points.
It was the early realization that the RA109 would never be up to scratch, however, that seems to have made the difference. Honda refocused on the development of its 2009 successor sooner than any of its rivals, and this forward thinking paid off. Far and away the most complete looking car at the pre-season tests, the BGP001 was also devilishly quick. And the dark horse hasn’t disappointed.
In fact it’s performed impeccably, recording just one retirement from eight outings and putting at least one Brawn driver on the podium at every race so far. From its complete dominance at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix to its majestic display in Monaco, a Brawn has never been far from the front. Only at the last round at Silverstone did anyone - Red Bull - suggest that an end to Brawn’s supremacy could be in sight.
But that’s not to say there hasn’t been tension. At the Melbourne opener several rivals queried the legality of the BGP001’s innovative double diffuser. And so while they racked up points, for several weeks Brawn didn’t know whether they would be able to keep them. The diffuser clearly gave them an advantage, but it was far from the whole story (after all, Toyota and Williams were running similar concepts). Eventually the FIA’s Court of Appeal found in Brawn’s favour and the team was clear to dominate with impunity.
And so they have, at least until the most recent British Grand Prix, where problems with tyre temperatures rendered them powerless to halt the ever improving Red Bulls. Some feel this was just a blip, but perhaps the engraver should wait just a little longer before starting work on the constructors’ trophy.
Battle of the team mates - Jenson Button v Rubens Barrichello
Qualifying: Button (6-2)
Race: Button (7-1) Barrichello retired in Turkey
Points: Button 64, Barrichello 41
Outpacing team mate Rubens Barrichello at all but two meetings, six-time victor Button has been Brawn GP’s man to beat. Last season Barrichello took 11 of the then Honda team’s 14 points, but in 2009 the veteran Brazilian driver has been comparatively off the boil and occasionally unlucky, even recording the team’s sole retirement after suffering gearbox problems in Turkey. With almost 300 race starts under his belt, however, Barrichello has the experience to get back on track. He clearly had the upper hand over Button at the latest Silverstone round and is adamant he’ll take a victory of his own soon.
Tuesday 30 June 2009
Wednesday 24 June 2009
Rubens on the podium at Silverstone
Rubens drove an assured race on Sunday to achieve his second consecutive podium at Silverstone, the team's home Grand Prix. Jenson maintained his lead in the Drivers' Championship with three points for his sixth placed finish.
Rubens said: "I'm really proud of the third place that we achieved at Silverstone. We knew that if the track temperatures didn't increase, then it would be incredibly difficult to beat the Red Bulls. The car has been well balanced and we certainly haven't lost performance since the last race, it's just that we have suffered badly in the cool conditions with our tyre temperatures. To come away with third and the best position that the team could have achieved this weekend is very satisfying."
After the race, Ross commented: "The result was a pleasing outcome to what has been a challenging home race for Brawn GP. Rubens drove a very composed race to secure third place, whilst Jenson recovered well from a poor start when he was caught behind Jarno Trulli to score valuable points for our Championship challenge."
Rubens said: "I'm really proud of the third place that we achieved at Silverstone. We knew that if the track temperatures didn't increase, then it would be incredibly difficult to beat the Red Bulls. The car has been well balanced and we certainly haven't lost performance since the last race, it's just that we have suffered badly in the cool conditions with our tyre temperatures. To come away with third and the best position that the team could have achieved this weekend is very satisfying."
After the race, Ross commented: "The result was a pleasing outcome to what has been a challenging home race for Brawn GP. Rubens drove a very composed race to secure third place, whilst Jenson recovered well from a poor start when he was caught behind Jarno Trulli to score valuable points for our Championship challenge."
Monday 22 June 2009
Button tyre temp struggle
Sunday, 21 June 2009 00:00
Jenson Button said Brawn’s problems generating tyre temperature in the cool conditions was what restricted him to a disappointing sixth place in the British Grand Prix.
Brawn was comprehensively outpaced by Red Bull for the first time this year in dry conditions and, after starting sixth, Button endured a frustrating race amid the increasingly distant chasing pack.
At one stage it looked like he might barely scrape a point, but he gained two places at the final pit stops and then found a new lease of life after switching to the grippier soft tyres in the final stint, catching Nico Rosberg and Felipe Massa but having to settle for sixth.
Button said his pace in the closing stages – when he lapped within 0.5s of winner Sebastian Vettel’s best time – showed that Brawn’s main problem was tyre temperature, not a fundamentally slow car.
“I didn’t know what was going to happen today,” he said.
“I think I showed that when I was on the soft tyre I had good pace.
“I don’t know what it was like compared to my team-mate but compared to Rosberg and Massa the pace in the last stint was phenomenal and we had a good car.
“But on the hard tyre the car just doesn’t work and I couldn’t get any tyre temp. Plus you can’t overtake here and I got a terrible start.
“[Jarno] Trulli in front got a really slow getaway, as they [Toyota] normally do, and I had nowhere to go.
“I tried to go to the inside but the gap wasn’t there and the outside was full, so I was stuck and everyone just shot by on the outside.
“In the first stint I slowed up a little bit behind Trulli just to see what times I could do, and I was sort of eight-tenths or one second quicker than him – but you still can’t overtake.
“I was able to jump two of them in the pit stop but Massa got me because he was going very long.
“I could reel in Rosberg and Massa at the end of the race like they were stood still, but you can’t overtake and if you don’t get the qualifying right, which I didn’t, and you get a bad start, you’re stuck.”
While he acknowledged that Red Bull has made a step forward with its latest aerodynamic upgrade, Button felt this weekend’s cool conditions played into its hands and exaggerated its advantage.
“I haven’t had sleepless nights thinking about the championship,” insisted Button, who still has a hefty 23-point cushion over team-mate Barrichello and 25 points in hand over Vettel.
“Vettel gained seven points on me here, which is obviously not good, but I got three points on a weekend that we weren’t very strong.
“We’ve just got to hope that Nurburgring is a bit warmer than here.
“They’re going to be very quick – they’ve got a quick car and their aero package has helped them a lot.
“But I don’t think it’s as big as it looks; I think it’s because our car is not working in these temperatures.”
Jenson Button said Brawn’s problems generating tyre temperature in the cool conditions was what restricted him to a disappointing sixth place in the British Grand Prix.
Brawn was comprehensively outpaced by Red Bull for the first time this year in dry conditions and, after starting sixth, Button endured a frustrating race amid the increasingly distant chasing pack.
At one stage it looked like he might barely scrape a point, but he gained two places at the final pit stops and then found a new lease of life after switching to the grippier soft tyres in the final stint, catching Nico Rosberg and Felipe Massa but having to settle for sixth.
Button said his pace in the closing stages – when he lapped within 0.5s of winner Sebastian Vettel’s best time – showed that Brawn’s main problem was tyre temperature, not a fundamentally slow car.
“I didn’t know what was going to happen today,” he said.
“I think I showed that when I was on the soft tyre I had good pace.
“I don’t know what it was like compared to my team-mate but compared to Rosberg and Massa the pace in the last stint was phenomenal and we had a good car.
“But on the hard tyre the car just doesn’t work and I couldn’t get any tyre temp. Plus you can’t overtake here and I got a terrible start.
“[Jarno] Trulli in front got a really slow getaway, as they [Toyota] normally do, and I had nowhere to go.
“I tried to go to the inside but the gap wasn’t there and the outside was full, so I was stuck and everyone just shot by on the outside.
“In the first stint I slowed up a little bit behind Trulli just to see what times I could do, and I was sort of eight-tenths or one second quicker than him – but you still can’t overtake.
“I was able to jump two of them in the pit stop but Massa got me because he was going very long.
“I could reel in Rosberg and Massa at the end of the race like they were stood still, but you can’t overtake and if you don’t get the qualifying right, which I didn’t, and you get a bad start, you’re stuck.”
While he acknowledged that Red Bull has made a step forward with its latest aerodynamic upgrade, Button felt this weekend’s cool conditions played into its hands and exaggerated its advantage.
“I haven’t had sleepless nights thinking about the championship,” insisted Button, who still has a hefty 23-point cushion over team-mate Barrichello and 25 points in hand over Vettel.
“Vettel gained seven points on me here, which is obviously not good, but I got three points on a weekend that we weren’t very strong.
“We’ve just got to hope that Nurburgring is a bit warmer than here.
“They’re going to be very quick – they’ve got a quick car and their aero package has helped them a lot.
“But I don’t think it’s as big as it looks; I think it’s because our car is not working in these temperatures.”
Friday 19 June 2009
Button hopes for less ‘stressful’ build-up
Jenson Button is hoping to hit the ground running when practice begins at Silverstone as he launches his bid for home grand prix glory.
The Brawn GP ace has won six of the seven races held so far this year, but has struggled to tune his car’s balance during free practice at the past few events, which he says has caused a “stressful” build-up to qualifying and the race.
Although he has invariably found the BGP 001’s sweet spot when it matters, Button fears he may not be able to turn that trick again if he gets off to a slow start at Silverstone and is therefore hoping for a productive Friday.
“We’ve just got to hope that we have a better Friday than we have done at the last few races,” he said in Thursday's press conference.
“Because even though the end result has been great, working from where we were was quite stressful and I think it’s in that environment that you can make a mistake.
“So we’ve got to hope that we have a reasonable balance tomorrow so that we can get some good testing done.”
Red Bull is widely expected to offer a stern challenge to Brawn at Silverstone, whose high-speed corners play to the strengths of the RB5 chassis.
But while he expects more competition than in Turkey, Button is confident Brawn still has the car to beat.
“In Turkey we expected the Red Bulls to be very quick in the high-speed turn eight, but I don’t think they had an advantage, which was surprising,” he noted.
“We’ll have competition here, but I’m happy with what we have and I’m confident in the car.”
The Brawn GP ace has won six of the seven races held so far this year, but has struggled to tune his car’s balance during free practice at the past few events, which he says has caused a “stressful” build-up to qualifying and the race.
Although he has invariably found the BGP 001’s sweet spot when it matters, Button fears he may not be able to turn that trick again if he gets off to a slow start at Silverstone and is therefore hoping for a productive Friday.
“We’ve just got to hope that we have a better Friday than we have done at the last few races,” he said in Thursday's press conference.
“Because even though the end result has been great, working from where we were was quite stressful and I think it’s in that environment that you can make a mistake.
“So we’ve got to hope that we have a reasonable balance tomorrow so that we can get some good testing done.”
Red Bull is widely expected to offer a stern challenge to Brawn at Silverstone, whose high-speed corners play to the strengths of the RB5 chassis.
But while he expects more competition than in Turkey, Button is confident Brawn still has the car to beat.
“In Turkey we expected the Red Bulls to be very quick in the high-speed turn eight, but I don’t think they had an advantage, which was surprising,” he noted.
“We’ll have competition here, but I’m happy with what we have and I’m confident in the car.”
Practice 1: Vettel leads Red Bull 1-2
Friday, 19 June 2009 11:40
While Formula 1’s existential crisis gripped the paddock, Sebastian Vettel led Mark Webber in a Red Bull Racing 1-2 in a thoroughly overshadowed first Friday practice session at Silverstone.
Vettel pipped his team-mate in the dying seconds of the 90-minute session as Red Bull showed it will pose a major challenge to Brawn’s supremacy on the high-speed Northamptonshire circuit.
Home hero Jenson Button was third quickest for Brawn ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello, giving a symmetrical look to the top of the timesheet.
Fernando Alonso was fifth fastest for Renault ahead of Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and 2008 winner Lewis Hamilton.
Full report to follow shortly…
British Grand Prix free practice session one times
1. VETTEL Red Bull 1m19.400s
2. WEBBER Red Bull 1m19.682s
3. BUTTON Brawn 1m20.227s
4. BARRICHELLO Brawn 1m20.242s
5. ALONSO Renault 1m20.458s
6. MASSA Ferrari 1m20.471s
7. TRULLI Toyota 1m20.585s
8. HAMILTON McLaren 1m20.650s
9. ROSBERG Williams 1m20.815s
10. FISICHELLA Force India 1m20.838s
11. SUTIL Force India 1m20.913s
12. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m21.029s
13. HEIDFELD BMW 1m21.103s
14. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m21.179s
15. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1m21.384s
16. GLOCK Toyota 1m21.386s
17. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m21.489s
18. PIQUET Renault 1m21.525s
19. BUEMI Toro Rosso 1m21.590s
20. KUBICA BMW 1m21.801s
While Formula 1’s existential crisis gripped the paddock, Sebastian Vettel led Mark Webber in a Red Bull Racing 1-2 in a thoroughly overshadowed first Friday practice session at Silverstone.
Vettel pipped his team-mate in the dying seconds of the 90-minute session as Red Bull showed it will pose a major challenge to Brawn’s supremacy on the high-speed Northamptonshire circuit.
Home hero Jenson Button was third quickest for Brawn ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello, giving a symmetrical look to the top of the timesheet.
Fernando Alonso was fifth fastest for Renault ahead of Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and 2008 winner Lewis Hamilton.
Full report to follow shortly…
British Grand Prix free practice session one times
1. VETTEL Red Bull 1m19.400s
2. WEBBER Red Bull 1m19.682s
3. BUTTON Brawn 1m20.227s
4. BARRICHELLO Brawn 1m20.242s
5. ALONSO Renault 1m20.458s
6. MASSA Ferrari 1m20.471s
7. TRULLI Toyota 1m20.585s
8. HAMILTON McLaren 1m20.650s
9. ROSBERG Williams 1m20.815s
10. FISICHELLA Force India 1m20.838s
11. SUTIL Force India 1m20.913s
12. KOVALAINEN McLaren 1m21.029s
13. HEIDFELD BMW 1m21.103s
14. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1m21.179s
15. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso 1m21.384s
16. GLOCK Toyota 1m21.386s
17. NAKAJIMA Williams 1m21.489s
18. PIQUET Renault 1m21.525s
19. BUEMI Toro Rosso 1m21.590s
20. KUBICA BMW 1m21.801s
Thursday 18 June 2009
Brawn GP look forward to Silverstone
This weekend's British Grand Prix at Silverstone takes place just eight miles from Brawn GP's factory in Brackley and 20 miles from Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines in Brixworth.
British star Jenson is looking forward to his home race: "It puts a smile on my face every time I think about going to my home Grand Prix leading the Championship! I've raced at Silverstone from some fairly tough positions in the past but the fans have always been so supportive and I'd love to give them a performance that they can really enjoy this weekend".
Rubens is also looking forward to Silverstone which is one of his favourite circuits: "I absolutely love racing at Silverstone. The track is fantastic as it is one of the few remaining on the calendar that are high-speed, fast-flowing and really allow you to let the car go through the quick corners. It almost feels like a home track and the crowds are always supportive, even if you aren't British!"
British star Jenson is looking forward to his home race: "It puts a smile on my face every time I think about going to my home Grand Prix leading the Championship! I've raced at Silverstone from some fairly tough positions in the past but the fans have always been so supportive and I'd love to give them a performance that they can really enjoy this weekend".
Rubens is also looking forward to Silverstone which is one of his favourite circuits: "I absolutely love racing at Silverstone. The track is fantastic as it is one of the few remaining on the calendar that are high-speed, fast-flowing and really allow you to let the car go through the quick corners. It almost feels like a home track and the crowds are always supportive, even if you aren't British!"
Wednesday 17 June 2009
Brawn certain of '09 form
Ross Brawn is confident his team won’t prove to be one season wonders in 2009 and it has the capabilities to remain a front-running force into next year and beyond.
The Brackley-based squad’s remarkable start to the campaign, which has seen it win six of the opening seven races and open up big leads in both championship races, was aided by the decision it took early last year to ditch development work on its uncompetitive RA108 in favour of giving full focus to its all-new 2009 car.
However, the shock Formula 1 departure of former owner Honda over the winter has forced the team to downsize and, although it has stressed its budget is “safe” for the remainder of this year, Brawn’s squad has acknowledged it needs to build up its sponsorship roster for the future.
But although it can no longer count on being bankrolled by car giant Honda, its eponymous team owner says he has seen signs from both the ongoing work on this, and next year’s, car that it will be able to continue competing in the development race.
Asked by journalists in a conference call if he thought the team had a structure in place that would allow it to remain a competitive force, he said: “Yes, I believe so.
“We had a major restructure over the winter, but I can already see with the development of the new car that it is still progressing strongly and I see the output from what I would describe as the ‘centres of performance’ of the team is just as strong, and in some ways maybe even stronger, because of the clearer focus and structure we have put in place.
“So the areas of performance I am not concerned at all. Obviously in that restructuring we have lost some capacity for manufacturing and for design and that’s the areas we will have to be careful with to make sure that we can cope with the needs of the new car.
“But I think you can see from the way we are developing the car this year – and there are new parts on the car for Silverstone again – that we are managing to keep up.
“There will be some adjustments needed because you won’t get it right first time when you do such a restructuring, but I think we’re not far off.”
The championship leader’s bid to extend its dream start to the current campaign will resume at its home race of Silverstone this weekend, the team aiming to repeat its victory from Turkey on the similarly fast Northamptonshire track.
Brawn admits he was delighted that, given main rival Red Bull was expected to be the pacesetter at the sweeping Istanbul Park, it convincingly came out on top two weeks ago – the Briton praising the strength of his team for addressing one of the BGP 001’s previous weaknesses in faster corners.
“I think we will be at the sharp end [this weekend], but whether we can win it or not I honestly don’t know,” Brawn said.
“I was very, very pleased with Turkey because when we got back to the European season, I think the consensus was that we were going to come under huge pressure from all the steps that the big teams were going to make, so quietly we went about making steps ourselves and kept going.
“With Turkey what I was especially pleased about was we had identified that Red Bull were quicker than us in the fast corners and the whole team focused on that, the aerodynamic group and the chassis group, to find ways of setting up the car a little bit differently, to find improvements in the aero and I think in Turkey in the famous turn 8, we were one of the quickest cars, as quick as Red Bull.
“That I think shows great strength of the team that they identified a weakness and an area we needed to improve and everybody responded extremely well.
“So Turkey was very, very pleasing for me because it was a high-speed circuit and up until then [on such tracks] you’d have to say Red Bull were stronger than we were and we went there and were able to show that we can respond."
And following the introduction of a new front wing two weeks ago, the team owner says the car will feature further upgrades in Britain and the subsequent races.
“We have new front wing endplates for Silverstone and new rear wing, some different chassis settings again that have come from rig work we have done,” he added.
“We’ve got some upgrades coming over the next few races which I think will help as well.”
The Brackley-based squad’s remarkable start to the campaign, which has seen it win six of the opening seven races and open up big leads in both championship races, was aided by the decision it took early last year to ditch development work on its uncompetitive RA108 in favour of giving full focus to its all-new 2009 car.
However, the shock Formula 1 departure of former owner Honda over the winter has forced the team to downsize and, although it has stressed its budget is “safe” for the remainder of this year, Brawn’s squad has acknowledged it needs to build up its sponsorship roster for the future.
But although it can no longer count on being bankrolled by car giant Honda, its eponymous team owner says he has seen signs from both the ongoing work on this, and next year’s, car that it will be able to continue competing in the development race.
Asked by journalists in a conference call if he thought the team had a structure in place that would allow it to remain a competitive force, he said: “Yes, I believe so.
“We had a major restructure over the winter, but I can already see with the development of the new car that it is still progressing strongly and I see the output from what I would describe as the ‘centres of performance’ of the team is just as strong, and in some ways maybe even stronger, because of the clearer focus and structure we have put in place.
“So the areas of performance I am not concerned at all. Obviously in that restructuring we have lost some capacity for manufacturing and for design and that’s the areas we will have to be careful with to make sure that we can cope with the needs of the new car.
“But I think you can see from the way we are developing the car this year – and there are new parts on the car for Silverstone again – that we are managing to keep up.
“There will be some adjustments needed because you won’t get it right first time when you do such a restructuring, but I think we’re not far off.”
The championship leader’s bid to extend its dream start to the current campaign will resume at its home race of Silverstone this weekend, the team aiming to repeat its victory from Turkey on the similarly fast Northamptonshire track.
Brawn admits he was delighted that, given main rival Red Bull was expected to be the pacesetter at the sweeping Istanbul Park, it convincingly came out on top two weeks ago – the Briton praising the strength of his team for addressing one of the BGP 001’s previous weaknesses in faster corners.
“I think we will be at the sharp end [this weekend], but whether we can win it or not I honestly don’t know,” Brawn said.
“I was very, very pleased with Turkey because when we got back to the European season, I think the consensus was that we were going to come under huge pressure from all the steps that the big teams were going to make, so quietly we went about making steps ourselves and kept going.
“With Turkey what I was especially pleased about was we had identified that Red Bull were quicker than us in the fast corners and the whole team focused on that, the aerodynamic group and the chassis group, to find ways of setting up the car a little bit differently, to find improvements in the aero and I think in Turkey in the famous turn 8, we were one of the quickest cars, as quick as Red Bull.
“That I think shows great strength of the team that they identified a weakness and an area we needed to improve and everybody responded extremely well.
“So Turkey was very, very pleasing for me because it was a high-speed circuit and up until then [on such tracks] you’d have to say Red Bull were stronger than we were and we went there and were able to show that we can respond."
And following the introduction of a new front wing two weeks ago, the team owner says the car will feature further upgrades in Britain and the subsequent races.
“We have new front wing endplates for Silverstone and new rear wing, some different chassis settings again that have come from rig work we have done,” he added.
“We’ve got some upgrades coming over the next few races which I think will help as well.”
Monday 15 June 2009
Formula 1 must learn from row
Ross Brawn believes Formula 1 teams and the FIA should take on board lessons from the row currently engulfing the sport - as he remains hopeful a solution can be found before Friday in the dispute about future cost cuts.
Speaking ahead of a meeting with the FIA on Monday to try and finalise agreements reached in a meeting last week, Brawn said that he hoped both parties could sort out their difference and head into a situation of better relations in the future.
FOTA teams have been given until June 19 to drop conditions attached to their entries.
"All of us - and I mean this collectively - have got ourselves into a situation we need to learn from," Brawn was quoted as saying by the Press Association.
"What we want to get back and put in place again is an agreement between the teams and the FIA on governance for the future, and how we can avoid these situations ever occurring again. I think there are still opportunities this week to resolve the issues, and if they are, then we will be happy to enter."
Although Brawn's future as a team is dependent on it carrying on racing next year, he has said that he is not wavering from his support of FOTA's stance against the FIA's planned 2010 regulations.
"FOTA have been supportive of Brawn GP, and the reason we are in Formula 1 is because of the support we received, particularly from McLaren and Mercedes, and offers of help from Ferrari," he said.
"So we want to support the group in trying to find a solution. We, as small independents, balance up the group with the manufacturers and they want to support the small independents.
"So we've stayed together as a group, and we can present a balanced approach on what needs to be done. It's not a manufacturers' association, it's the Formula One Teams' Association. That's why we are staying with FOTA.
"We believe in the principals of FOTA, and that as part of FOTA we can be influential in finding the right solutions."
And proof about his optimism for the future is that work has already begun on the team's 2010 car.
"I'm completely confident (we will be in F1 next season), and you have to plan on that," he claimed Brawn. "There's nothing else to plan for. We cannot allow this row to be a distraction to our engineering and racing plans.
"I'm not supporting a breakaway championship, but if there was one, then it would be one with cars similar to what we are working on now, which will be without re-fuelling."
Speaking ahead of a meeting with the FIA on Monday to try and finalise agreements reached in a meeting last week, Brawn said that he hoped both parties could sort out their difference and head into a situation of better relations in the future.
FOTA teams have been given until June 19 to drop conditions attached to their entries.
"All of us - and I mean this collectively - have got ourselves into a situation we need to learn from," Brawn was quoted as saying by the Press Association.
"What we want to get back and put in place again is an agreement between the teams and the FIA on governance for the future, and how we can avoid these situations ever occurring again. I think there are still opportunities this week to resolve the issues, and if they are, then we will be happy to enter."
Although Brawn's future as a team is dependent on it carrying on racing next year, he has said that he is not wavering from his support of FOTA's stance against the FIA's planned 2010 regulations.
"FOTA have been supportive of Brawn GP, and the reason we are in Formula 1 is because of the support we received, particularly from McLaren and Mercedes, and offers of help from Ferrari," he said.
"So we want to support the group in trying to find a solution. We, as small independents, balance up the group with the manufacturers and they want to support the small independents.
"So we've stayed together as a group, and we can present a balanced approach on what needs to be done. It's not a manufacturers' association, it's the Formula One Teams' Association. That's why we are staying with FOTA.
"We believe in the principals of FOTA, and that as part of FOTA we can be influential in finding the right solutions."
And proof about his optimism for the future is that work has already begun on the team's 2010 car.
"I'm completely confident (we will be in F1 next season), and you have to plan on that," he claimed Brawn. "There's nothing else to plan for. We cannot allow this row to be a distraction to our engineering and racing plans.
"I'm not supporting a breakaway championship, but if there was one, then it would be one with cars similar to what we are working on now, which will be without re-fuelling."
Thursday 11 June 2009
Jenson Dominates Turkish Grand Prix
After taking the lead on the first lap, Jenson dominated the Turkish Grand Prix and drove a superb race to bring his Brawn-Mercedes car home for his sixth victory of the 2009 Formula One season.
"I wish I could have had the whole team up there on the podium with me today" Jenson said. "This was definitely a victory for us all, everyone at the track, in Brackley and at Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines in Brixworth. Today we really showed what this car and engine can do and to beat our closest competitors fair and square is a great feeling. This is the first time that the car has been absolutely perfect for me and it means so much to the team to see just how good this car is."
Rubens had a more eventful race with the damage caused to his gearbox by clutch problems at the start leading to the team's first retirement of the season. Rubens commented, "It's difficult to have a day like this when you could see the pace of the car was fantastic but we will bounce back. Silverstone is one of my favourite circuits so I'll stay positive and look ahead to the British Grand Prix in two weeks time."
Ross Brawn confessed that he was beginning to run out of superlatives to describe the team's start to the season. "Once again, the team here at the track, in Brackley and our close partners at Mercedes-Benz worked extremely hard this weekend to improve the car. My sincere thanks to them all for their commitment and enthusiasm. We can now look ahead to Silverstone, just eight miles from our factory in Brackley, and take great pride to be leading the Constructors' and Drivers' Championships going into our home race."
"I wish I could have had the whole team up there on the podium with me today" Jenson said. "This was definitely a victory for us all, everyone at the track, in Brackley and at Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines in Brixworth. Today we really showed what this car and engine can do and to beat our closest competitors fair and square is a great feeling. This is the first time that the car has been absolutely perfect for me and it means so much to the team to see just how good this car is."
Rubens had a more eventful race with the damage caused to his gearbox by clutch problems at the start leading to the team's first retirement of the season. Rubens commented, "It's difficult to have a day like this when you could see the pace of the car was fantastic but we will bounce back. Silverstone is one of my favourite circuits so I'll stay positive and look ahead to the British Grand Prix in two weeks time."
Ross Brawn confessed that he was beginning to run out of superlatives to describe the team's start to the season. "Once again, the team here at the track, in Brackley and our close partners at Mercedes-Benz worked extremely hard this weekend to improve the car. My sincere thanks to them all for their commitment and enthusiasm. We can now look ahead to Silverstone, just eight miles from our factory in Brackley, and take great pride to be leading the Constructors' and Drivers' Championships going into our home race."
Turkey race analysis
The Turkish Grand Prix was expected to be the best hope yet for the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari to break Brawn’s stranglehold on 2009. Jenson Button had other ideas, describing his BGP001 as ‘perfect’ as he cruised to his sixth win in seven races. Chinks did appear in Brawn’s armour, with the team’s first retirement, but it was scant consolation for their rivals. Red Bull were happy, nonetheless, with their two-three result and Toyota and BMW Sauber were pleased to be back in the points. Less content were Ferrari, who found their recent form slipping away. We take a team-by-team look at Sunday’s race…
Brawn GP
Jenson Button, P1
Rubens Barrichello, retired Lap 47, gearbox
Button was over the moon with the performance of his Brawn and said that while it had been good everywhere this season, this was the first time it was absolutely perfect. So much so that he would have liked to drive it for another 200 laps. Once he had taken advantage of Vettel’s first-lap error, he had virtually a clear run, only being slightly concerned as Vettel came right back at him prior to the German’s second fuel stop when the Red Bull was at its lightest and most competitive. Barrichello was doomed the moment a clutch problem sent his BGP001 into anti-stall mode at the start and dropped him to 12th. Errors which led to contact with Kovalainen and Sutil, the latter necessitating a new front wing, further delayed him, and he retired after 47 laps with ongoing transmission trouble. It was Brawn’s first failure to finish this year.
Red Bull
Mark Webber, P2
Sebastian Vettel P3
Perhaps the fact that they chose a three-stop strategy for Vettel was an indication that Red Bull did not truly expect to beat Brawn this time out. Vettel ruined his slim chance by running wide exiting Turn 10 on the opening lap, thus losing the lead to Button, and thereafter his strategy worked against him. He said afterwards that he was surprised the team had not reverted thereafter to a two-stop. Webber stopped only twice, pushed hard throughout, and matched his previous best result with a solid second. 14 more points for the team were a great haul even if they didn’t win, and brought their tally thus far to 56.5.
Toyota
Jarno Trulli, P4
Timo Glock, P8
After the debacle at Monaco, fourth and eighth were reasonable results for Toyota. Trulli was always in contention for fourth place, and two normally spaced stops worked well for him. Glock did a very long opening stint and had risen to fifth when he finally pitted on Lap 30. Thereafter he needed one more quick one to switch to Bridgestone’s soft rubber, and he came back strongly against Kubica for seventh in the closing stages but could not find a way by.
Williams
Nico Rosberg, P5
Kazuki Nakajima, P12
Rosberg was always in contention for a decent helping of points and drove well all afternoon after making a strong start. Nakajima made some amends for his Monaco gaffe with a competitive showing that was ultimately blighted by a sticking wheel nut in his second stop which stole his strong chance of points.
Ferrari
Felipe Massa, P6
Kimi Raikkonen, P9
Once again Ferrari came away from a disappointing 2009 Grand Prix, perhaps the more so after competitive showings in Barcelona and Monaco. Massa made a decent start but soon came to realise that a fourth consecutive win just wasn’t going to happen and that sixth was the best he could expect. The F60 just wasn’t fast enough. Raikkonen lost valuable places at the start and was thus always on his back foot, and was the first non-points finisher.
BMW Sauber
Robert Kubica, P7
Nick Heidfeld, P11
Incredible as it may seem, this was Kubica’s first points-scoring finish of a tough season, and he reported a hard run with somebody to fight or to challenge virtually throughout. Heidfeld had a problem on his F1.09 as it pulled to one side and had little grip from its left front tyre. He reported that it also stopped on a dime even when he used the brakes only gently.
Renault
Fernando Alonso, P10
Nelson Piquet, P16
Alonso said he didn’t really expect to finish in the points, especially as having the lightest fuel load at the start merely dropped him into the heavy traffic when he made his first refuelling stop on the 14th lap. Piquet had a good dice with Hamilton and overtook his old GP2 sparring partner in a nice bit of work at the end of the lap, but was disappointed with 16th place at the finish.
McLaren
Lewis Hamilton, P13
Heikki Kovalainen, P14
Hamilton struggled throughout with a car that simply lacked grip, and said that 13th place was the best that could be wrung from it. Kovalainen had a good battle with Barrichello, but things were so bad Mercedes simply turned down his engine in the second half to preserve it for a better race. Assuredly this was not one of a great team’s best days.
Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi, P15
Sebastien Bourdais, P18
This was a tough one for the two Sebs, especially as their Red Bull stablemates did so well. They cannot get upgrades on their STR4s fast enough.
Force India
Adrian Sutil, P17
Giancarlo Fisichella, retired Lap 4, brakes
Disappointment came early for Vijay Mallya’s team as Fisichella quit with a brake problem on Lap Four despite the system being changed almost completely after his practice problems. Sutil survived a brush with Barrichello on the 12th lap. Overall, he was pleased with his VJM02’s balance and race pace.
Brawn GP
Jenson Button, P1
Rubens Barrichello, retired Lap 47, gearbox
Button was over the moon with the performance of his Brawn and said that while it had been good everywhere this season, this was the first time it was absolutely perfect. So much so that he would have liked to drive it for another 200 laps. Once he had taken advantage of Vettel’s first-lap error, he had virtually a clear run, only being slightly concerned as Vettel came right back at him prior to the German’s second fuel stop when the Red Bull was at its lightest and most competitive. Barrichello was doomed the moment a clutch problem sent his BGP001 into anti-stall mode at the start and dropped him to 12th. Errors which led to contact with Kovalainen and Sutil, the latter necessitating a new front wing, further delayed him, and he retired after 47 laps with ongoing transmission trouble. It was Brawn’s first failure to finish this year.
Red Bull
Mark Webber, P2
Sebastian Vettel P3
Perhaps the fact that they chose a three-stop strategy for Vettel was an indication that Red Bull did not truly expect to beat Brawn this time out. Vettel ruined his slim chance by running wide exiting Turn 10 on the opening lap, thus losing the lead to Button, and thereafter his strategy worked against him. He said afterwards that he was surprised the team had not reverted thereafter to a two-stop. Webber stopped only twice, pushed hard throughout, and matched his previous best result with a solid second. 14 more points for the team were a great haul even if they didn’t win, and brought their tally thus far to 56.5.
Toyota
Jarno Trulli, P4
Timo Glock, P8
After the debacle at Monaco, fourth and eighth were reasonable results for Toyota. Trulli was always in contention for fourth place, and two normally spaced stops worked well for him. Glock did a very long opening stint and had risen to fifth when he finally pitted on Lap 30. Thereafter he needed one more quick one to switch to Bridgestone’s soft rubber, and he came back strongly against Kubica for seventh in the closing stages but could not find a way by.
Williams
Nico Rosberg, P5
Kazuki Nakajima, P12
Rosberg was always in contention for a decent helping of points and drove well all afternoon after making a strong start. Nakajima made some amends for his Monaco gaffe with a competitive showing that was ultimately blighted by a sticking wheel nut in his second stop which stole his strong chance of points.
Ferrari
Felipe Massa, P6
Kimi Raikkonen, P9
Once again Ferrari came away from a disappointing 2009 Grand Prix, perhaps the more so after competitive showings in Barcelona and Monaco. Massa made a decent start but soon came to realise that a fourth consecutive win just wasn’t going to happen and that sixth was the best he could expect. The F60 just wasn’t fast enough. Raikkonen lost valuable places at the start and was thus always on his back foot, and was the first non-points finisher.
BMW Sauber
Robert Kubica, P7
Nick Heidfeld, P11
Incredible as it may seem, this was Kubica’s first points-scoring finish of a tough season, and he reported a hard run with somebody to fight or to challenge virtually throughout. Heidfeld had a problem on his F1.09 as it pulled to one side and had little grip from its left front tyre. He reported that it also stopped on a dime even when he used the brakes only gently.
Renault
Fernando Alonso, P10
Nelson Piquet, P16
Alonso said he didn’t really expect to finish in the points, especially as having the lightest fuel load at the start merely dropped him into the heavy traffic when he made his first refuelling stop on the 14th lap. Piquet had a good dice with Hamilton and overtook his old GP2 sparring partner in a nice bit of work at the end of the lap, but was disappointed with 16th place at the finish.
McLaren
Lewis Hamilton, P13
Heikki Kovalainen, P14
Hamilton struggled throughout with a car that simply lacked grip, and said that 13th place was the best that could be wrung from it. Kovalainen had a good battle with Barrichello, but things were so bad Mercedes simply turned down his engine in the second half to preserve it for a better race. Assuredly this was not one of a great team’s best days.
Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi, P15
Sebastien Bourdais, P18
This was a tough one for the two Sebs, especially as their Red Bull stablemates did so well. They cannot get upgrades on their STR4s fast enough.
Force India
Adrian Sutil, P17
Giancarlo Fisichella, retired Lap 4, brakes
Disappointment came early for Vijay Mallya’s team as Fisichella quit with a brake problem on Lap Four despite the system being changed almost completely after his practice problems. Sutil survived a brush with Barrichello on the 12th lap. Overall, he was pleased with his VJM02’s balance and race pace.
Tuesday 9 June 2009
Brawn issues warning over deadline
Ross Brawn has warned that Formula 1 could be plunged into crisis later this week if the FIA publishes an official list of entrants for next year’s world championship that excludes most of the current teams.
The governing body is due to announce on Friday which teams have had their 2010 applications accepted – amid no signs of a rapprochement with the Formula One Teams’ Association over F1’s rules and governance.Eight of the 10 current teams have made their entries conditional on the FIA dropping plans for a €45m budget cap and giving new guarantees over the sport’s rule-making process, with only Williams and Force India submitting unconditional entries.
Meanwhile a host of prospective new teams have entered the fray under the budget cap option, with the result that the 13 available grid places are now significantly over-subscribed.
FIA president Max Mosley signalled via a media interview last week that he will not bow to FOTA’s demands, although there has been no official comment from the governing body since the members of the teams’ alliance submitted their entries collectively 10 days ago.
Brawn is concerned that if the FIA rubber-stamps the entries of a large number of new teams this Friday, it will be obliged to honour those undertakings and there may be no way to accommodate the existing teams at a later stage.
The Brawn GP boss is hopeful that outcome can still be averted, but admits there is a risk of F1 sleepwalking into an irreversible situation.“I think there are interim solutions,” he said on Saturday.“Quite clearly, if next Friday 10 teams are given an entry into Formula 1, there’s a problem – because there’s no room for the rest of us.“I don’t know what will happen then.“I hope that doesn’t happen, because if 10 teams are given an entry there’s a major problem.“So I hope – even if it’s a holding position until we can sort this out – I hope there’s a solution.”
FOTA vice-chairman John Howett says the teams’ organisation is “open” to holding further discussions with the FIA ahead of Friday’s deadline but will not drop its conditions.“I think Flavio [Briatore] was discussing that possibility and received information that it would be ill-advised to have a meeting before Friday,” he said.“So I don’t know. We remain open to discuss, but I think our position is fairly firm on the criteria that we wish to be resolved.”
Asked whether Friday’s deadline was make-or-break, Howett said: “I don’t think that’s necessarily completely our decision, is it?“I can only talk from the perspective of Toyota and I’m totally relaxed because I see upside in many ways.“In other words we need to stabilise governance. That is the precondition of almost all the FOTA members, which seems more solid this weekend than ever before.“If that happens then I think we feel comfortable.“If not then we are forced into alternative scenarios. In the end I believe those also hold a very bright future for the world of motorsport.”
While emphasising that FOTA remains determined to reach an agreed solution with the FIA rather than break away and form a rival championship, Howett believes it would be logistically feasible to set up a new series by next year.“It’s partly a hypothetical question, but I don’t think it’s an insurmountable problem,” he said.“I want to emphasise again that it’s the not the sole unique target of FOTA.“If we’re forced into that position then I think as a defensive strategy it has to be part of our scenario planning, and it has been for some time.”
Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali does not regard Friday’s deadline as definitive, but acknowledges that a long delay would do further damage to F1's image.“Friday is the deadline from a formal point of view, but not really from a substantive point of view,” he said.“If you want to be sensible you can discuss whatever you want up until next year.“[But] we need to find a solution as soon as possible. The more you go ahead the more it is complicated for everyone, and the more we are damaging the sport.”
The governing body is due to announce on Friday which teams have had their 2010 applications accepted – amid no signs of a rapprochement with the Formula One Teams’ Association over F1’s rules and governance.Eight of the 10 current teams have made their entries conditional on the FIA dropping plans for a €45m budget cap and giving new guarantees over the sport’s rule-making process, with only Williams and Force India submitting unconditional entries.
Meanwhile a host of prospective new teams have entered the fray under the budget cap option, with the result that the 13 available grid places are now significantly over-subscribed.
FIA president Max Mosley signalled via a media interview last week that he will not bow to FOTA’s demands, although there has been no official comment from the governing body since the members of the teams’ alliance submitted their entries collectively 10 days ago.
Brawn is concerned that if the FIA rubber-stamps the entries of a large number of new teams this Friday, it will be obliged to honour those undertakings and there may be no way to accommodate the existing teams at a later stage.
The Brawn GP boss is hopeful that outcome can still be averted, but admits there is a risk of F1 sleepwalking into an irreversible situation.“I think there are interim solutions,” he said on Saturday.“Quite clearly, if next Friday 10 teams are given an entry into Formula 1, there’s a problem – because there’s no room for the rest of us.“I don’t know what will happen then.“I hope that doesn’t happen, because if 10 teams are given an entry there’s a major problem.“So I hope – even if it’s a holding position until we can sort this out – I hope there’s a solution.”
FOTA vice-chairman John Howett says the teams’ organisation is “open” to holding further discussions with the FIA ahead of Friday’s deadline but will not drop its conditions.“I think Flavio [Briatore] was discussing that possibility and received information that it would be ill-advised to have a meeting before Friday,” he said.“So I don’t know. We remain open to discuss, but I think our position is fairly firm on the criteria that we wish to be resolved.”
Asked whether Friday’s deadline was make-or-break, Howett said: “I don’t think that’s necessarily completely our decision, is it?“I can only talk from the perspective of Toyota and I’m totally relaxed because I see upside in many ways.“In other words we need to stabilise governance. That is the precondition of almost all the FOTA members, which seems more solid this weekend than ever before.“If that happens then I think we feel comfortable.“If not then we are forced into alternative scenarios. In the end I believe those also hold a very bright future for the world of motorsport.”
While emphasising that FOTA remains determined to reach an agreed solution with the FIA rather than break away and form a rival championship, Howett believes it would be logistically feasible to set up a new series by next year.“It’s partly a hypothetical question, but I don’t think it’s an insurmountable problem,” he said.“I want to emphasise again that it’s the not the sole unique target of FOTA.“If we’re forced into that position then I think as a defensive strategy it has to be part of our scenario planning, and it has been for some time.”
Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali does not regard Friday’s deadline as definitive, but acknowledges that a long delay would do further damage to F1's image.“Friday is the deadline from a formal point of view, but not really from a substantive point of view,” he said.“If you want to be sensible you can discuss whatever you want up until next year.“[But] we need to find a solution as soon as possible. The more you go ahead the more it is complicated for everyone, and the more we are damaging the sport.”
Sunday 7 June 2009
Button victory in Istanbul
Jenson Button made it six from seven as he ran away and hid from the Red Bulls of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel in Turkey on Sunday afternoon. It was a perfect riposte for Brawn after their defeat in China at the hands of the Australian/German duo.
Vettel led from pole but as team mate Rubens Barrichello made a terrible start from the clean side of the grid, Button held on to second place. When Vettel ran wide exiting Turn 10 the championship leader pounced mercilessly and thereafter did not relent in his punishment.
Vettel was on a three-stop strategy, and that error was the last thing he wanted. In the end his strategy failed to work for him, and he had to settle for third place behind Webber, who ran a very strong race on a two-stop plan but was almost 20s behind Button until the latter eased off in the closing stages. The Brawn driver eventually finished 6.7s ahead, as Vettel hitched on to Webber’s bumper to finish 0.7s adrift.
The race was all about the three of them.
Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and Williams’ Nico Rosberg had a race long battle for fourth which went the Italian’s way, while Felipe Massa’s hopes of a fourth straight victory here in the Ferrari were clearly unrealistic and he had to be satisfied with a distant sixth place ahead of the battling BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica and Toyota’s Timo Glock.
Kimi Raikkonen was one of many stars to have an unrewarding afternoon. He brought his Ferrari home ninth ahead of Fernando Alonso’s Renault, the Spaniard separated from McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton by BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld and Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima. Hamilton avoided being lapped only because Button backed off.
In a poor day for McLaren Heikki Kovalainen was 14th, a lap down, and led home Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi, Renault’s Nelson Piquet, Force India’s Adrian Sutil and Sebastien Bourdais in the second Toro Rosso.
Barrichello had a miserable afternoon which included a spin after a brush with Kovalainen and nose damage after a collision with Sutil, and retired after 47 laps. Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella went out earlier than that with mechanical gremlins, after four laps.
Button now has 61 points over Barrichello on 35, Vettel on 29 and Webber on 27.5. Brawn have 96 points to Red Bull’s 56.5.
Vettel led from pole but as team mate Rubens Barrichello made a terrible start from the clean side of the grid, Button held on to second place. When Vettel ran wide exiting Turn 10 the championship leader pounced mercilessly and thereafter did not relent in his punishment.
Vettel was on a three-stop strategy, and that error was the last thing he wanted. In the end his strategy failed to work for him, and he had to settle for third place behind Webber, who ran a very strong race on a two-stop plan but was almost 20s behind Button until the latter eased off in the closing stages. The Brawn driver eventually finished 6.7s ahead, as Vettel hitched on to Webber’s bumper to finish 0.7s adrift.
The race was all about the three of them.
Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and Williams’ Nico Rosberg had a race long battle for fourth which went the Italian’s way, while Felipe Massa’s hopes of a fourth straight victory here in the Ferrari were clearly unrealistic and he had to be satisfied with a distant sixth place ahead of the battling BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica and Toyota’s Timo Glock.
Kimi Raikkonen was one of many stars to have an unrewarding afternoon. He brought his Ferrari home ninth ahead of Fernando Alonso’s Renault, the Spaniard separated from McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton by BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld and Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima. Hamilton avoided being lapped only because Button backed off.
In a poor day for McLaren Heikki Kovalainen was 14th, a lap down, and led home Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi, Renault’s Nelson Piquet, Force India’s Adrian Sutil and Sebastien Bourdais in the second Toro Rosso.
Barrichello had a miserable afternoon which included a spin after a brush with Kovalainen and nose damage after a collision with Sutil, and retired after 47 laps. Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella went out earlier than that with mechanical gremlins, after four laps.
Button now has 61 points over Barrichello on 35, Vettel on 29 and Webber on 27.5. Brawn have 96 points to Red Bull’s 56.5.
Button strolls to Istanbul win
Jenson Button continued his seemingly unstoppable march to his first world championship crown with a record-equalling sixth win in seven 2009 races in the Turkish Grand Prix.The 29-year-old Briton’s latest feat put him in the most exalted company – alongside all-time greats Jim Clark and Michael Schumacher – and increased his title lead to a near-insurmountable 26 points.
Button’s path to victory was eased on the opening lap when his two nearest challengers for the victory, and closest championship rivals, suffered race-defining setbacks.First his team-mate Rubens Barrichello faltered off the startline and tumbled down the order, and then pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel blew his chances of maximising his lighter fuel load by running wide going onto the back straight.Vettel’s error gifted Button the lead and from there the points leader pulled away serenely – his only mild irritation coming in the middle phase of the race as Vettel moved onto a three-stop strategy and caught his two-stopping Brawn.
But unlike Lewis Hamilton managed here last year, the Red Bull driver couldn’t find a way past the race leader and the strategy switch only served to drop him to a disgruntled third behind team-mate Mark Webber in the final shake-up.
Vettel and Button got away from the front row in formation, but Barrichello bogged down with a clutch problem and was instantly swamped by the pack.More drama soon followed when Vettel got out of shape in the turn 9/10 chicane and ran wide across the grass on the exit.
Button didn’t need a second invitation, and in a flash the white Brawn was through into the lead.It proved to be the race’s turning point.
Button quickly made good his escape, pulling out a 1.4s cushion by the end of the second lap and extending it steadily to 5.6s by lap 14 as the first round of pit stops approached.Vettel’s prospects of making a race of it from here looked slim, as the Red Bull had two laps less fuel on board than the Brawn and the tactical cards seemed to be stacked in the latter’s favour.
In an apparent bid to tear up that unfolding script, Red Bull decided to try something different and switch Vettel to a three-stop strategy.The German’s service therefore took just 6.5 seconds, but still he found himself more than three seconds behind Button after the Briton had stopped on lap 17 and taken on his scheduled fuel load.
He quickly whittled away Button’s advantage and closed onto his gearbox by lap 24, but let slip a half-chance to pass – when Button missed the apex of the final corner – and thereafter was unable to break through the wall of turbulent air thrown up by the leading car.By lap 29 Vettel was back into the pits, and surprisingly his crew left him on a three-stop strategy rather than switching him back to a two-stopper to cover the challenge from third-placed team-mate Webber.
Any threat Button faced from either Red Bull had well and truly receded, and his task was simply to maintain his concentration and reel off the remaining laps to yet another copybook victory.The main focus of interest now switched to the intra-team battle for second places between the Red Bull team-mates.
In his third stint Vettel was unable to reproduce the pace he had shown while chasing down Button earlier, giving Webber the upper hand as the race drew towards a close.Vettel emerged from his final stop well behind the sister RB5, but – frustrated by the afternoon’s events – was in no mood to settle for third without a fight.
Lapping quickly on the soft tyres, he caught Webber quickly and closed to within striking distance before the team called off the duel and instructed both drivers to turn down their engines.“Mark is faster, save your car,” was the somewhat provocative edict that came over Vettel’s pit-to-car radio – a statement not obviously borne out by the evidence of the preceding few laps.
Vettel’s uncharacteristically downbeat demeanour in parc ferme and on the podium suggested he was far from satisfied by the disappointing return from a race that had promised so much.The 21-year-old had put paid to his victory chances with his self-confessed error on the opening lap, but in truth the Red Bull wasn’t fast enough to win anyway.
As Button confidently stated afterwards, Brawn had once again shown a clear pair of heels to the opposition and appears, if anything, to have increased its car advantage – a daunting thought for the other nine teams.A largely processional race was enlivened periodically by a few scraps further down the field but, as far as the points-paying positions were concerned, it was all a bit flat.
Jarno Trulli and Nico Rosberg waged a long duel for fourth place that was decided by pit strategy, the Toyota driver dropping behind his Williams rival due to an earlier first stop but turning the tables the next time they were serviced.
Trulli’s performance confirmed Toyota’s return to form after its nightmare Monaco weekend, while fifth for Rosberg was his and Williams’s best result of the season so far.
Team-mate Kazuki Nakajima was unlucky not to score as well, losing a lot of time with a problem at his final pit stop and dropping to an eventual 12th.Ferrari had a surprisingly mediocre race after making so much progress in recent weeks.Felipe Massa, who virtually had the title deeds to Istanbul Park after three successive wins there, could only manage a low-key sixth place on this occasion.Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen fell from sixth to ninth on the opening lap, damaged his front wing in contact with Fernando Alonso’s Renault, and finished outside the points in ninth.
Robert Kubica finally got his name onto the 2009 points board with a solid seventh for BMW Sauber, while Timo Glock used a long first stint to good effect to haul himself from 13th on the grid to eighth for Toyota.Barrichello's race went from bad to worse as he tangled with several other cars, his recovery drive fizzled out amid heavy traffic and he ultimately registered Brawn's first retirement of the season.
Turkish Grand Prix result - 58 laps
1. BUTTON Brawn
2. WEBBER Red Bull +6.7s
3. VETTEL Red Bull +7.4s
4. TRULLI Toyota +27.8s
5. ROSBERG Williams +31.5s
6. MASSA Ferrari +39.9s
7. KUBICA BMW +46.2s
8. GLOCK Toyota +46.9s
9. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +50.2s
10. ALONSO Renault +62.4s
11. HEIDFELD BMW +64.3s
12. NAKAJIMA Williams +66.3s
13. HAMILTON McLaren +80.4s
14. KOVALAINEN McLaren +1 lap
15. BUEMI Toro Rosso +1 lap
16. PIQUET Renault +1 lap
17. SUTIL Force India +1 lap
18. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso +1 lap
R. BARRICHELLO Brawn +11 laps
R. FISICHELLA Force India +54 laps
Fastest lap: BUTTON 1m27.579s (lap 40)
Button’s path to victory was eased on the opening lap when his two nearest challengers for the victory, and closest championship rivals, suffered race-defining setbacks.First his team-mate Rubens Barrichello faltered off the startline and tumbled down the order, and then pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel blew his chances of maximising his lighter fuel load by running wide going onto the back straight.Vettel’s error gifted Button the lead and from there the points leader pulled away serenely – his only mild irritation coming in the middle phase of the race as Vettel moved onto a three-stop strategy and caught his two-stopping Brawn.
But unlike Lewis Hamilton managed here last year, the Red Bull driver couldn’t find a way past the race leader and the strategy switch only served to drop him to a disgruntled third behind team-mate Mark Webber in the final shake-up.
Vettel and Button got away from the front row in formation, but Barrichello bogged down with a clutch problem and was instantly swamped by the pack.More drama soon followed when Vettel got out of shape in the turn 9/10 chicane and ran wide across the grass on the exit.
Button didn’t need a second invitation, and in a flash the white Brawn was through into the lead.It proved to be the race’s turning point.
Button quickly made good his escape, pulling out a 1.4s cushion by the end of the second lap and extending it steadily to 5.6s by lap 14 as the first round of pit stops approached.Vettel’s prospects of making a race of it from here looked slim, as the Red Bull had two laps less fuel on board than the Brawn and the tactical cards seemed to be stacked in the latter’s favour.
In an apparent bid to tear up that unfolding script, Red Bull decided to try something different and switch Vettel to a three-stop strategy.The German’s service therefore took just 6.5 seconds, but still he found himself more than three seconds behind Button after the Briton had stopped on lap 17 and taken on his scheduled fuel load.
He quickly whittled away Button’s advantage and closed onto his gearbox by lap 24, but let slip a half-chance to pass – when Button missed the apex of the final corner – and thereafter was unable to break through the wall of turbulent air thrown up by the leading car.By lap 29 Vettel was back into the pits, and surprisingly his crew left him on a three-stop strategy rather than switching him back to a two-stopper to cover the challenge from third-placed team-mate Webber.
Any threat Button faced from either Red Bull had well and truly receded, and his task was simply to maintain his concentration and reel off the remaining laps to yet another copybook victory.The main focus of interest now switched to the intra-team battle for second places between the Red Bull team-mates.
In his third stint Vettel was unable to reproduce the pace he had shown while chasing down Button earlier, giving Webber the upper hand as the race drew towards a close.Vettel emerged from his final stop well behind the sister RB5, but – frustrated by the afternoon’s events – was in no mood to settle for third without a fight.
Lapping quickly on the soft tyres, he caught Webber quickly and closed to within striking distance before the team called off the duel and instructed both drivers to turn down their engines.“Mark is faster, save your car,” was the somewhat provocative edict that came over Vettel’s pit-to-car radio – a statement not obviously borne out by the evidence of the preceding few laps.
Vettel’s uncharacteristically downbeat demeanour in parc ferme and on the podium suggested he was far from satisfied by the disappointing return from a race that had promised so much.The 21-year-old had put paid to his victory chances with his self-confessed error on the opening lap, but in truth the Red Bull wasn’t fast enough to win anyway.
As Button confidently stated afterwards, Brawn had once again shown a clear pair of heels to the opposition and appears, if anything, to have increased its car advantage – a daunting thought for the other nine teams.A largely processional race was enlivened periodically by a few scraps further down the field but, as far as the points-paying positions were concerned, it was all a bit flat.
Jarno Trulli and Nico Rosberg waged a long duel for fourth place that was decided by pit strategy, the Toyota driver dropping behind his Williams rival due to an earlier first stop but turning the tables the next time they were serviced.
Trulli’s performance confirmed Toyota’s return to form after its nightmare Monaco weekend, while fifth for Rosberg was his and Williams’s best result of the season so far.
Team-mate Kazuki Nakajima was unlucky not to score as well, losing a lot of time with a problem at his final pit stop and dropping to an eventual 12th.Ferrari had a surprisingly mediocre race after making so much progress in recent weeks.Felipe Massa, who virtually had the title deeds to Istanbul Park after three successive wins there, could only manage a low-key sixth place on this occasion.Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen fell from sixth to ninth on the opening lap, damaged his front wing in contact with Fernando Alonso’s Renault, and finished outside the points in ninth.
Robert Kubica finally got his name onto the 2009 points board with a solid seventh for BMW Sauber, while Timo Glock used a long first stint to good effect to haul himself from 13th on the grid to eighth for Toyota.Barrichello's race went from bad to worse as he tangled with several other cars, his recovery drive fizzled out amid heavy traffic and he ultimately registered Brawn's first retirement of the season.
Turkish Grand Prix result - 58 laps
1. BUTTON Brawn
2. WEBBER Red Bull +6.7s
3. VETTEL Red Bull +7.4s
4. TRULLI Toyota +27.8s
5. ROSBERG Williams +31.5s
6. MASSA Ferrari +39.9s
7. KUBICA BMW +46.2s
8. GLOCK Toyota +46.9s
9. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +50.2s
10. ALONSO Renault +62.4s
11. HEIDFELD BMW +64.3s
12. NAKAJIMA Williams +66.3s
13. HAMILTON McLaren +80.4s
14. KOVALAINEN McLaren +1 lap
15. BUEMI Toro Rosso +1 lap
16. PIQUET Renault +1 lap
17. SUTIL Force India +1 lap
18. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso +1 lap
R. BARRICHELLO Brawn +11 laps
R. FISICHELLA Force India +54 laps
Fastest lap: BUTTON 1m27.579s (lap 40)
The Turkish Grand Prix
Round seven of the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship, takes place at Istanbul Park this weekend. The 5.338km track, one of only two anti-clockwise laps on this year's calendar, is both technically challenging and physically demanding.
"Istanbul Park is quite a challenging circuit as it is one of very few tracks which runs anti-clockwise, just like my home circuit of Interlagos in Sao Paulo", comments Rubens Barrichello. "It's tough driving an anti-clockwise track as the muscles on that side of your neck aren't used as much throughout the year so we do some extra training to prepare as some of the quickest corners are also left-handers".
Jenson Button is looking forward to the event. "I really enjoy driving the circuit and have been quite competitive there. We've seen some excellent racing with good overtaking opportunities at turns one and three. You can also pass down the hill into turn nine and at turns twelve and thirteen if you brake late enough. Turn eight is the corner that everyone talks about and it's probably the longest corner that I've ever driven. It's quite high G-force, up to 5G for seven seconds, which puts a lot of stress on your neck. You have to be as smooth as possible through the triple apex and if you get it right and take it flat, then it is one of those corners where you exit with a huge smile having made up a lot of time."
The team will introduce new parts for the Turkey race. Ross Brawn commented; "Development work on the BGP 001 car has continued apace at the factory and we will be bringing a new front wing along with some aerodynamic updates and new rear suspension elements. Istanbul Park is a thoroughly modern race track which presents an interesting engineering challenge to get the best out of the car through the high-speed sections and the slower turns at the end of the lap".
"Istanbul Park is quite a challenging circuit as it is one of very few tracks which runs anti-clockwise, just like my home circuit of Interlagos in Sao Paulo", comments Rubens Barrichello. "It's tough driving an anti-clockwise track as the muscles on that side of your neck aren't used as much throughout the year so we do some extra training to prepare as some of the quickest corners are also left-handers".
Jenson Button is looking forward to the event. "I really enjoy driving the circuit and have been quite competitive there. We've seen some excellent racing with good overtaking opportunities at turns one and three. You can also pass down the hill into turn nine and at turns twelve and thirteen if you brake late enough. Turn eight is the corner that everyone talks about and it's probably the longest corner that I've ever driven. It's quite high G-force, up to 5G for seven seconds, which puts a lot of stress on your neck. You have to be as smooth as possible through the triple apex and if you get it right and take it flat, then it is one of those corners where you exit with a huge smile having made up a lot of time."
The team will introduce new parts for the Turkey race. Ross Brawn commented; "Development work on the BGP 001 car has continued apace at the factory and we will be bringing a new front wing along with some aerodynamic updates and new rear suspension elements. Istanbul Park is a thoroughly modern race track which presents an interesting engineering challenge to get the best out of the car through the high-speed sections and the slower turns at the end of the lap".
Monday 1 June 2009
Istanbul form
Can anyone stop Jenson Button in Turkey? And even if they can, will it make the slightest bit of difference to the Brawn driver's seemingly irresistible path to a fairytale title for his 'new' team?
On paper, Button's five out of six record makes him an overwhelming favourite for Istanbul, but Brawn's nearest rival Red Bull promises to be much more competitive in Turkey, and Ferrari cannot be ruled out either.
ITV.com/F1 assesses the form of all 20 drivers as they prepare to resume battle in Turkey.
1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) - McLaren
Championship position: 9th, 9 points
If, as seems entirely possible, Monaco was Hamilton's only chance to fight at the front in 2009, how he will kick himself for the error at Mirabeau early in Q1 that wrote off his entire weekend. With Istanbul quite reminiscent of Catalunya, where McLaren had a miserable time, then even a points finish might be too much to ask.
Last five race results: 12th / 9th / 4th / 6th / 7th
(most recent first)
2. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) - McLaren
Championship position: 13th, 4 points
Kovalainen could have at least salvaged a few points from McLaren's desperately disappointing Monaco weekend, but instead he added to the tale of woe by crashing out. Last year Istanbul saw one of his finest performances yet, as he bounced back from his vicious Catalunya accident to fight for pole and then charge back through the field after a first corner puncture. He won't be near the front this year, but a similarly swashbuckling drive wouldn't go amiss.
Last five race results: R / R / 12th / 5th / R
3. Felipe Massa (BR) - Ferrari
Championship position: 10th, 8 points
Massa had some typically over-excitable moments in Monaco - spinning into the barriers before he had really got going in Q1, and then making a mess of his chance to pass Vettel early on. But his excess of urgency could be forgiven on this occasion, because Ferrari had finally given its driver a front-running car again and he was eager to make the most of it. A fourth straight Turkey win will be a tall order, but such is his speed around Istanbul Park that it can't be ruled out.
Last five race results: 4th / 6th / 14th / R / 9th
4. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) - Ferrari
Championship position: 8th, 9 points
It was delivered with a characteristic lack of fanfare, but Raikkonen's third place in Monaco was a massive breakthrough. He beat team-mate Massa (who had made much better use of the improved Ferrari in Spain), and could have beaten at least one Brawn had strategies worked out slightly differently. Can he sustain that form and start doing his awesome talent justice again?
Last five race results: 3rd / R / 6th / 10th / 14th
5. Robert Kubica (POL) - BMW Sauber
Championship position: 19th place, 0 points
In the spirit of cost cutting, BMW probably should have saved the expense of travelling to Monaco and trundling around at the back all weekend. With a massive engine failure in practice, an early puncture and then brake problems in the race, Kubica's weekend was particularly dismal. A step forward is promised for Turkey when the double diffuser arrives, but wasn't Catalunya supposed to mark the beginning of a fightback too?
Last five race results: R / 11th / 18th / 13th / R
6. Nick Heidfeld (D) - BMW Sauber
Championship position: 12th place, 6 points
Another typical weekend in the life of Nick Heidfeld in Monaco - the BMW is slow, he quietly gets the most out of it and finishes in a forgettable position (11th) that is probably a much bigger achievement than it looks given his equipment. The team knows Heidfeld is doing his best though - when German press rumours suggested Heidfeld would be dropped for 2010, Mario Theissen was quick to insist that the drivers are the last thing BMW can complain about at present.
Last five race results: 11th / 7th / 19th / 12th / 2nd
7. Fernando Alonso (E) - Renault
Championship position: 7th place, 11 points
Seventh place was nothing for a double Monaco winner to get too enthused about, but Alonso's string of points finishes is significant, for last year excessive aggression and needless errors meant he took little from the team's worst races, whereas in 2009 at least he is still scoring during the dark days. But can the team deliver another late-season cavalry charge as it did in 2008, or is this what Alonso should expect all year?
Last five race results: 7th / 5th / 8th / 9th / 11th
8. Nelson Piquet Jr (BR) - Renault
Championship position: 18th place, 0 points
Piquet reckoned he was on for a few points by the time his strategy had played out in Monaco. But he never got to find out, because Buemi propelled him into the barriers while he was still getting into his stride. So all he could be judged on was qualifying, where he did a reasonable job to take 12th but still trailed Alonso.
Last five race results: R / 12th / 10th / 16th / 13th
9. Jarno Trulli (I) - Toyota
Championship position: 5th place, 14.5 points
It says a lot for Trulli and Toyota's strong start to 2009 that the Italian is still clinging on to fifth in the championship despite failing to score for two races now and having a dreadful time in Monaco, where the team was slower even than the BMWs. But he won't stay up there long unless Toyota can rapidly turn things around, for right now it looks like a team that has been emphatically leapfrogged by those it embarrassed in the early rounds.
Last five race results: 13th / R / 3rd / R / 4th
10. Timo Glock (D) - Toyota
Championship position: 6th place, 12 points
The one positive about Toyota's awful Monaco weekend was that Glock managed to come through from last to 10th in a car that had been pretty much the slowest thing in the place all weekend. That drive was one of the unsung achievements of the race, for although Glock was helped by a good strategy, he executed the plan to perfection even with an enormous fuel load crammed into the tank.
Last five race results: 10th / 10th / 7th / 7th / 3rd
11. Sebastien Bourdais (F) - Toro Rosso
Championship position: 15th place, 2 points
Typically Bourdais tempered his pleasure at finishing eighth in Monaco with a reminder that his F1 ambitions stretched far beyond single points so his delight could only be limited. In the context of 2009 so far, though, it was a fine drive and a great achievement, and one which team boss Franz Tost hopes can catalyse an upswing for the Frenchman who has still to consistently impress in F1.
Last five race results: 8th / R / 13th / 11th / 10th
12. Sebastien Buemi (CH) - Toro Rosso
Championship position: 14th place, 3 points
Buemi's assault on Piquet vied with Nakajima's penultimate lap accident for the honour of being the daftest crash of this year's Monaco GP. Which was a shame, as until that point Buemi had performed very well in his first F1 street race, qualifying an impressive 11th. Given that his team-mate Bourdais scored, the potential was there for Buemi to do likewise had he kept his nose clean.
Last five race results: R / R / 17th / 8th / 16th
14. Mark Webber (AUS) - Red Bull
Championship position: 4th place, 19.5 points
Webber is still punching in the results even if Red Bull looks less like a Brawn-beater at present than it did a few races ago. The Australian is also getting the job done rather more efficiently than his highly-touted team-mate Vettel at the moment. But if Ferrari has grabbed Red Bull's 'best of the rest' spot, will Webber now be fighting for top five finishes rather than podiums?
Last five race results: 5th / 3rd / 11th / 2nd / 6th
15. Sebastian Vettel (D) - Red Bull
Championship position: 3rd place, 23 points
Now a massive 28 points behind Button, Vettel needs to quickly turn things around and start delivering if his title challenge is to prove more than a flash in the pan. Monaco was a mess - his aggressive strategy was stymied when he was blocked in qualifying and burned through his soft tyres too quickly, and then could not even salvage a few points after dumping his car in the barriers. Vettel and Red Bull still have the pace to attack Button, but are squandering too many chances.
Last five race results: R / 4th / 2nd / 1st / 15th
16. Nico Rosberg (D) - Williams
Championship position: 11th place, 7.5 points
Williams and Rosberg are starting to put in more consistent results - the trouble is all the finishes are about three places down on what they would have been had Rosberg delivered a few races ago, when the car was still among the benchmarks. The team has not been left behind - far from it - but this now looks like a respectable season rather than a major resurgence.
Last five race results: 6th / 8th / 9th / 15th / 8th
17. Kazuki Nakajima (J) - Williams
Championship position: 20th place, 0 points
Monaco was a great place for Nakajima to deliver his first Q3 run of the season, as he reminded everyone that he has a lot more ability than is often apparent during his anonymous midfield runs. So it was unfortunate that he failed to translate that form into strong race pace, and that his day came to such a clumsy end with a crash just a lap and a half from home.
Last five race results: 15th / 13th / R / R / 12th
20. Adrian Sutil (D) - Force India
Championship position: 17th place, 0 points
No Monaco sensation from Sutil this year, although along with team-mate Fisichella he did a good job to get Force India into Q2 with two cars for the first time. An unsuccessful strategy and huge tyre wear then spoiled his race early on, and barring a few more wet races, that could have been Sutil's last chance to shine for a while.
Last five race results: 14th / R / 16th / 17th / 17th
21. Giancarlo Fisichella (I) - Force India
Championship position: 16th place, 0 points
It could so easily have been Fisichella rather than Bourdais who took the sole available 'underdog point' behind the big guns in Monaco - and had he done so you can be certain it would have been greeted ecstatically by the team. It also would have been richly deserved, for Fisichella was at the top of his game all weekend on the streets. It will probably be back to the back in Turkey, though.
Last five race results: 9th / 15th / 14th / 18th
22. Jenson Button (GB) - Brawn GP
Championship position: 1st place, 51 points
He turns up, he struggles a bit in practice, talks pessimistically about his prospects, then nails the set-up and a perfect lap just when it counts in qualifying and goes on to snatch the glory from his rivals again in the race. That's how pretty much every weekend unfolds for Button at the moment, as he continues to pull away in the championship not because of a massive car advantage, but because he is maximising his chances so much better than his rivals.
Last five race results: 1st / 1st / 1st / 3rd / 1st
23. Rubens Barrichello (BR) - Brawn GP
Championship position: 2nd place, 35 points
Barrichello will start beating Button at some point this year, but the chances are by then there will be an uncatchable gap between them in the championship. The results are deceptive, because there is very little to choose between the Brawn duo on raw pace. The difference is that Button relentlessly gets the job done, whereas little things - high tyre wear, discomfort with brake set-up or slightly less than perfect qualifying laps - keep costing Barrichello crucial seconds, and therefore poles and victories.
Last five race results: 2nd / 2nd / 5th / 4th / 5th
ITV.com/F1's top tips for Turkey
Winner: Massa
At some point the itv.com/f1 form card will bow to the inevitable and tip Button for victory, but for Turkey the choice is Massa given his amazing form at the track and Ferrari's clear progress.
Star performer: Hamilton
It wouldn't be the first time that Hamilton made up for a big disappointment with a heroic performance next time around, although a strong top five would be his limit in McLaren's current situation.
Disappointment: BMW
The update package could be too little, too late, given how bad things got for BMW in Monaco, and how little effect the previous development effort seemed to have.
On paper, Button's five out of six record makes him an overwhelming favourite for Istanbul, but Brawn's nearest rival Red Bull promises to be much more competitive in Turkey, and Ferrari cannot be ruled out either.
ITV.com/F1 assesses the form of all 20 drivers as they prepare to resume battle in Turkey.
1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) - McLaren
Championship position: 9th, 9 points
If, as seems entirely possible, Monaco was Hamilton's only chance to fight at the front in 2009, how he will kick himself for the error at Mirabeau early in Q1 that wrote off his entire weekend. With Istanbul quite reminiscent of Catalunya, where McLaren had a miserable time, then even a points finish might be too much to ask.
Last five race results: 12th / 9th / 4th / 6th / 7th
(most recent first)
2. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) - McLaren
Championship position: 13th, 4 points
Kovalainen could have at least salvaged a few points from McLaren's desperately disappointing Monaco weekend, but instead he added to the tale of woe by crashing out. Last year Istanbul saw one of his finest performances yet, as he bounced back from his vicious Catalunya accident to fight for pole and then charge back through the field after a first corner puncture. He won't be near the front this year, but a similarly swashbuckling drive wouldn't go amiss.
Last five race results: R / R / 12th / 5th / R
3. Felipe Massa (BR) - Ferrari
Championship position: 10th, 8 points
Massa had some typically over-excitable moments in Monaco - spinning into the barriers before he had really got going in Q1, and then making a mess of his chance to pass Vettel early on. But his excess of urgency could be forgiven on this occasion, because Ferrari had finally given its driver a front-running car again and he was eager to make the most of it. A fourth straight Turkey win will be a tall order, but such is his speed around Istanbul Park that it can't be ruled out.
Last five race results: 4th / 6th / 14th / R / 9th
4. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) - Ferrari
Championship position: 8th, 9 points
It was delivered with a characteristic lack of fanfare, but Raikkonen's third place in Monaco was a massive breakthrough. He beat team-mate Massa (who had made much better use of the improved Ferrari in Spain), and could have beaten at least one Brawn had strategies worked out slightly differently. Can he sustain that form and start doing his awesome talent justice again?
Last five race results: 3rd / R / 6th / 10th / 14th
5. Robert Kubica (POL) - BMW Sauber
Championship position: 19th place, 0 points
In the spirit of cost cutting, BMW probably should have saved the expense of travelling to Monaco and trundling around at the back all weekend. With a massive engine failure in practice, an early puncture and then brake problems in the race, Kubica's weekend was particularly dismal. A step forward is promised for Turkey when the double diffuser arrives, but wasn't Catalunya supposed to mark the beginning of a fightback too?
Last five race results: R / 11th / 18th / 13th / R
6. Nick Heidfeld (D) - BMW Sauber
Championship position: 12th place, 6 points
Another typical weekend in the life of Nick Heidfeld in Monaco - the BMW is slow, he quietly gets the most out of it and finishes in a forgettable position (11th) that is probably a much bigger achievement than it looks given his equipment. The team knows Heidfeld is doing his best though - when German press rumours suggested Heidfeld would be dropped for 2010, Mario Theissen was quick to insist that the drivers are the last thing BMW can complain about at present.
Last five race results: 11th / 7th / 19th / 12th / 2nd
7. Fernando Alonso (E) - Renault
Championship position: 7th place, 11 points
Seventh place was nothing for a double Monaco winner to get too enthused about, but Alonso's string of points finishes is significant, for last year excessive aggression and needless errors meant he took little from the team's worst races, whereas in 2009 at least he is still scoring during the dark days. But can the team deliver another late-season cavalry charge as it did in 2008, or is this what Alonso should expect all year?
Last five race results: 7th / 5th / 8th / 9th / 11th
8. Nelson Piquet Jr (BR) - Renault
Championship position: 18th place, 0 points
Piquet reckoned he was on for a few points by the time his strategy had played out in Monaco. But he never got to find out, because Buemi propelled him into the barriers while he was still getting into his stride. So all he could be judged on was qualifying, where he did a reasonable job to take 12th but still trailed Alonso.
Last five race results: R / 12th / 10th / 16th / 13th
9. Jarno Trulli (I) - Toyota
Championship position: 5th place, 14.5 points
It says a lot for Trulli and Toyota's strong start to 2009 that the Italian is still clinging on to fifth in the championship despite failing to score for two races now and having a dreadful time in Monaco, where the team was slower even than the BMWs. But he won't stay up there long unless Toyota can rapidly turn things around, for right now it looks like a team that has been emphatically leapfrogged by those it embarrassed in the early rounds.
Last five race results: 13th / R / 3rd / R / 4th
10. Timo Glock (D) - Toyota
Championship position: 6th place, 12 points
The one positive about Toyota's awful Monaco weekend was that Glock managed to come through from last to 10th in a car that had been pretty much the slowest thing in the place all weekend. That drive was one of the unsung achievements of the race, for although Glock was helped by a good strategy, he executed the plan to perfection even with an enormous fuel load crammed into the tank.
Last five race results: 10th / 10th / 7th / 7th / 3rd
11. Sebastien Bourdais (F) - Toro Rosso
Championship position: 15th place, 2 points
Typically Bourdais tempered his pleasure at finishing eighth in Monaco with a reminder that his F1 ambitions stretched far beyond single points so his delight could only be limited. In the context of 2009 so far, though, it was a fine drive and a great achievement, and one which team boss Franz Tost hopes can catalyse an upswing for the Frenchman who has still to consistently impress in F1.
Last five race results: 8th / R / 13th / 11th / 10th
12. Sebastien Buemi (CH) - Toro Rosso
Championship position: 14th place, 3 points
Buemi's assault on Piquet vied with Nakajima's penultimate lap accident for the honour of being the daftest crash of this year's Monaco GP. Which was a shame, as until that point Buemi had performed very well in his first F1 street race, qualifying an impressive 11th. Given that his team-mate Bourdais scored, the potential was there for Buemi to do likewise had he kept his nose clean.
Last five race results: R / R / 17th / 8th / 16th
14. Mark Webber (AUS) - Red Bull
Championship position: 4th place, 19.5 points
Webber is still punching in the results even if Red Bull looks less like a Brawn-beater at present than it did a few races ago. The Australian is also getting the job done rather more efficiently than his highly-touted team-mate Vettel at the moment. But if Ferrari has grabbed Red Bull's 'best of the rest' spot, will Webber now be fighting for top five finishes rather than podiums?
Last five race results: 5th / 3rd / 11th / 2nd / 6th
15. Sebastian Vettel (D) - Red Bull
Championship position: 3rd place, 23 points
Now a massive 28 points behind Button, Vettel needs to quickly turn things around and start delivering if his title challenge is to prove more than a flash in the pan. Monaco was a mess - his aggressive strategy was stymied when he was blocked in qualifying and burned through his soft tyres too quickly, and then could not even salvage a few points after dumping his car in the barriers. Vettel and Red Bull still have the pace to attack Button, but are squandering too many chances.
Last five race results: R / 4th / 2nd / 1st / 15th
16. Nico Rosberg (D) - Williams
Championship position: 11th place, 7.5 points
Williams and Rosberg are starting to put in more consistent results - the trouble is all the finishes are about three places down on what they would have been had Rosberg delivered a few races ago, when the car was still among the benchmarks. The team has not been left behind - far from it - but this now looks like a respectable season rather than a major resurgence.
Last five race results: 6th / 8th / 9th / 15th / 8th
17. Kazuki Nakajima (J) - Williams
Championship position: 20th place, 0 points
Monaco was a great place for Nakajima to deliver his first Q3 run of the season, as he reminded everyone that he has a lot more ability than is often apparent during his anonymous midfield runs. So it was unfortunate that he failed to translate that form into strong race pace, and that his day came to such a clumsy end with a crash just a lap and a half from home.
Last five race results: 15th / 13th / R / R / 12th
20. Adrian Sutil (D) - Force India
Championship position: 17th place, 0 points
No Monaco sensation from Sutil this year, although along with team-mate Fisichella he did a good job to get Force India into Q2 with two cars for the first time. An unsuccessful strategy and huge tyre wear then spoiled his race early on, and barring a few more wet races, that could have been Sutil's last chance to shine for a while.
Last five race results: 14th / R / 16th / 17th / 17th
21. Giancarlo Fisichella (I) - Force India
Championship position: 16th place, 0 points
It could so easily have been Fisichella rather than Bourdais who took the sole available 'underdog point' behind the big guns in Monaco - and had he done so you can be certain it would have been greeted ecstatically by the team. It also would have been richly deserved, for Fisichella was at the top of his game all weekend on the streets. It will probably be back to the back in Turkey, though.
Last five race results: 9th / 15th / 14th / 18th
22. Jenson Button (GB) - Brawn GP
Championship position: 1st place, 51 points
He turns up, he struggles a bit in practice, talks pessimistically about his prospects, then nails the set-up and a perfect lap just when it counts in qualifying and goes on to snatch the glory from his rivals again in the race. That's how pretty much every weekend unfolds for Button at the moment, as he continues to pull away in the championship not because of a massive car advantage, but because he is maximising his chances so much better than his rivals.
Last five race results: 1st / 1st / 1st / 3rd / 1st
23. Rubens Barrichello (BR) - Brawn GP
Championship position: 2nd place, 35 points
Barrichello will start beating Button at some point this year, but the chances are by then there will be an uncatchable gap between them in the championship. The results are deceptive, because there is very little to choose between the Brawn duo on raw pace. The difference is that Button relentlessly gets the job done, whereas little things - high tyre wear, discomfort with brake set-up or slightly less than perfect qualifying laps - keep costing Barrichello crucial seconds, and therefore poles and victories.
Last five race results: 2nd / 2nd / 5th / 4th / 5th
ITV.com/F1's top tips for Turkey
Winner: Massa
At some point the itv.com/f1 form card will bow to the inevitable and tip Button for victory, but for Turkey the choice is Massa given his amazing form at the track and Ferrari's clear progress.
Star performer: Hamilton
It wouldn't be the first time that Hamilton made up for a big disappointment with a heroic performance next time around, although a strong top five would be his limit in McLaren's current situation.
Disappointment: BMW
The update package could be too little, too late, given how bad things got for BMW in Monaco, and how little effect the previous development effort seemed to have.
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