Published: 10 May, 2009, 18:15
Edited: 10 May, 2009, 18:15
Brawn GP pilots have claimed their second one-two win of the season as Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello finished first and second respectively at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.
Ross Brawn’s men had a great start to the race at Catalunya circuit, coming into the first corner ahead of the rest. But it was Barrichello who took the lead, passing both his teammate and pole-sitter Button, and Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull.
Lap 1 saw a massive collision in the back of the field. Jarno Trulli lost control of his car, and both Toro Rosso namesakes – Sebastien Buemi and Sebastien Bourdais – crashed into him, with Force India's Adrian Sutil also leaving the race.
After the restart, Brawn GP maintained their lead, but Barichello increased the gap between himself and Button to 11 seconds.
The Brazilian gave up the lead to his teammate later in the race, due to a three pit-stop strategy. Red Bull’s Mark Webber found himself in third, leaving Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and Sebastian Vettel to battle for the 4th position on the final laps.
Vettel looked a lot faster than his rival, and the German attacked with four laps to go, overtaking the Ferrari.
Massa then dropped another position, and allowed local favorite Fernando Alonso of Renault to finish 5th.
It was the second one-two win for Brawn GP this season. Button and Barrichello also finished first and second at the opening race in Australia.
Button remains a comfortable leader in the drivers championship, having won four races out of five this season.
And considering the fact that Barrichello is second in the table, Brawn GP is the clear favorite to triumph in the team competition.
1. Jenson Button – Brawn-Mercedes – 1:37:19.202 – 10 pts
2. Rubens Barrichello – Brawn-Mercedes – +13.0 secs – 8 pts
3. Mark Webber – RBR-Renault – +13.9 secs – 6 pts
4. Sebastian Vettel – RBR-Renault – +18.9 secs – 5 pts
5. Fernando Alonso – Renault – +43.1 secs – 4 pts
6. Felipe Massa – Ferrari – +50.8 secs – 3 pts
7. Nick Heidfeld – BMW Sauber – +52.3 secs – 2 pts
8. Nico Rosberg – Williams-Toyota – +65.2 secs – 1 pts