2009 F1 : Barrichello, Button in Monza 1-2 for Brawn

2009 Italian Grand Prix winner : Rubens Barrichello - Brawn-Mercedes

MONZA, Italy : September 13, 2009 - Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button gave Brawn GP a dominant 1-2 result in the thrilling Italian Grand Prix at Monza on Sunday.


Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) inherited third place on the final lap when reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) crashed after leading from pole position for most of the race. The remaining points positions went to Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes), Fernando Alonso (Renault), Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren-Mercedes), Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) and Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault).

Barrichello and Button also gave Brawn 1-2 results in Australia, Spain and Monaco this year, resulting in them leading the drivers' and constructors' championships. Button continues to lead the title chase on 80 points, but Barrichello closed the gap at Monza by two points and now has 66. Vettel is third with 54 while fourth-placed Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) crashed out of the race and can no longer be regarded as in contention for the title.

For once, at the start of the race all 20 cars got through Monza's notorious first chicane without tears as Hamilton led away from Räikkönen and Sutil. But at the next chicane, Mark Webber spun his Red Bull-Renault off the track and retired after contact with Robert Kubica's BMW Sauber.

Kovalainen had been fuelled heavy for a long first stint, and he had a torrid time of it on the opening lap as the cars behind him tried to get past. Initially he tried to have a go at Barrichello, but Button was close behind and he took the opportunity to surge past the Finn. Vitantonio Liuzzi, returning to Formula One after a gap of two years, was right on the pace and powered his Force India-Mercedes past Kovalainen on the back straight.

On the first pass over the start/finish line, Hamilton was leading from Räikkönen, Sutil, Barrichello, Button, Liuzzi, Kovalainen and Vettel. On the second lap, Vettel was under a lot of pressure and both Fernando Alonso (Renault) and Kubica got past as Hamilton set a fastest lap of 1'26.528 and opened up a lead of 1.8 sec over Räikkönen. Sutil was keeping a watching brief on the leading pair as behind him, Barrichello was under pressure from team mate Button for fourth.

On lap four, Hamilton set a new fastest lap of 1'25.714 as Rosberg pitted from 18th, erroneously thinking he had a puncture. The pit crew replaced all four wheels and he rejoined the race in last place.

Two laps later, Hamilton punched in another top lap of 1'25.354 as race stewards notified Kubica that he had to return to the pits for a loose front wing. The Pole completed that task two laps later as Hamilton continued to reel off a series of fastest laps, his 1'25.032 on lap 13 putting him 6.4 sec ahead of Räikkönen.

On lap 16, Kubica returned to the pits once again, but this time to retire, while his Williams team mate Rosberg was running last.

Hamilton and Sutil were the first to make routine stops for fuel and tyres. Sutil rejoined in seventh place just 0.7 sec ahead of Kovalainen who immediately attacked for the place.

On lap 18, Button posted his personal best lap time of 1'25.557 as a he tried to hang onto Barrichello who was 2.8 sec ahead.

Räikkönen pitted a lap later and emerged sandwiched between Liuzzi in fifth and Alonso in seventh as Barrichello took over the lead.

Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) was the next to be wheeled away into the garage and retirement as Monza's 340km/h straights took their toll on engines and the fierce kerbs lunched gearboxes and transmissions,.

Liuzzi had an excellent return to Formula One, running as high as fourth for Force India on lap 22, but then the engine revved up under full power at high speed as he lost transmission. He free-wheeled the car off the circuit and parked it - an unrepresentative result for a committed race by both team and driver.

Button was chipping away at race leader Barrichello's lead, reducing it from three seconds to 1.9 sec by lap 26, but the Brazilian responded to the challenge, setting a new fastest race lap of 1'24.999.

Kovalainen and Vettel pitted together on lap 27 and were followed by second-placed Button and race leader Barrichello. With the top five having pitted, the original order was reinstated.

As his fuel load decreased, race leader Hamilton punched in a new fastest lap of 1'24.869 as he stretched his lead over Räikkönen to 5.6 sec, but he would require 25 sec in hand for a second pit stop and Barrichello, 16.4 sec behind in fourth place, would be the danger man. With 20 laps left, Hamilton made a splash 'n dash last stop and emerged behind both Brawns.

Sutil set the fastest lap of the race - 1'24.739 - and when he and Räikkönen pitted, Barrichello was able to resume the lead, 5.4 sec ahead of Button with Hamilton third, 2.9 behind but lapping half a second a lap faster than both Brawns with a dozen laps remaining.

As Hamilton reeled in the Brawns, Sutil was closing rapidly on fourth-placed Räikkönen, 0.9 sec ahead and he closed for battle on lap 42 as further back, Vettel ran very wide and took a long trip across the gravel. He rejoined the track without damage.

Hamilton set a fastest Sector 1 time as he got to within 1.6 sec of Button with nine laps left. All three leading cars were now within sight of each other on the straights, covered by 5.9 sec.

Jarno Trulli (Toyota) tried to get past Kazuki Nakajima (Williams-Toyota) for 11th place, but there was contact between them in the first chicane, which allowed Timo Glock in the second Toyota to draw alongside team mate Trulli. The Italian defended far too robustly and the result was that he ran wide and off the track, and although he rejoined within a hundred metres or so, he had last another place to Sébastien Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari).

With three laps remaining, Barrichello had a 3.9 sec lead over Button who was 1.2 sec ahead of Hamilton. Räikkönen (+21.6) was fourth with Sutil 0.6 sec behind him.

On the final lap, Lewis Hamilton set the fastest Sector 1 time of the race but then exiting the first Lesmo Corner he spun out and crashed the car, leaving Barrichello and Button to score a Brawn 1-2.

Race Result : Formula 1 - 2009 Italian Grand Prix

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Time	Pts
1	23	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn-Mercedes	1:16:21.706	10
2	22	Jenson Button	Brawn-Mercedes	+2.8 secs	8
3	4	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+30.6 secs	6
4	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	+31.1 secs	5
5	7	Fernando Alonso	Renault	+59.1 secs	4
6	2	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	+60.6 secs	3
7	6	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+82.4 secs	2
8	15	Sebastian Vettel	RBR-Renault	+85.4 secs	1
9	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Ferrari	+86.8 secs	-
10	17	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	+162.163 secs	-
11	10	Timo Glock	Toyota	+163.925 secs	-
12	1	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	Accident	-
13	12	Sebastien Buemi	STR-Ferrari	+1 Lap	-
14	9	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	+1 Lap	-
15	8	Romain Grosjean	Renault	+1 Lap	-
16	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	+2 Laps	-
Ret	21	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India-Mercedes	+31 Laps	-
Ret	11	Jaime Alguersuari	STR-Ferrari	+34 Laps	-
Ret	5	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	+38 Laps	-
Ret	14	Mark Webber	RBR-Renault	Accident	-

Driver Championship Standings :

Pos	Driver	Nationality	Team	Points
1	Jenson Button	British	Brawn-Mercedes	80
2	Rubens Barrichello	Brazilian	Brawn-Mercedes	66
3	Sebastian Vettel	German	RBR-Renault	54
4	Mark Webber	Australian	RBR-Renault	51.5
5	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	Ferrari	40
6	Nico Rosberg	German	Williams-Toyota	30.5
7	Lewis Hamilton	British	McLaren-Mercedes	27
8	Jarno Trulli	Italian	Toyota	22.5
9	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Ferrari	22
10	Heikki Kovalainen	Finnish	McLaren-Mercedes	20
11	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Renault	20
12	Timo Glock	German	Toyota	16
13	Nick Heidfeld	German	BMW Sauber	12
14	Giancarlo Fisichella	Italian	Ferrari	8
15	Robert Kubica	Polish	BMW Sauber	8
16	Adrian Sutil	German	Force India-Mercedes	5
17	Sebastien Buemi	Swiss	STR-Ferrari	3
18	Sebastien Bourdais	French	STR-Ferrari	2
19	Kazuki Nakajima	Japanese	Williams-Toyota	0
20	Nelsinho Piquet	Brazilian	Renault	0
21	Luca Badoer	Italian	Ferrari	0
22	Romain Grosjean	French	Renault	0
23	Jaime Alguersuari	Spanish	STR-Ferrari	0
24	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Italian	Force India-Mercedes	0

Constructor Championship Standings :

Pos	Team	Points
1	Brawn-Mercedes	146
2	RBR-Renault	105.5
3	Ferrari	62
4	McLaren-Mercedes	47
5	Toyota	38.5
6	Williams-Toyota	30.5
7	BMW Sauber	20
8	Renault	20
9	Force India-Mercedes	13
10	STR-Ferrari	5

[Source : Super Wheels , F1 Official]