Classy Jenson Button triumphs again to make it four wins from five in Spanish grand prix

May 10, 2009 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Formula One

Jenson Button has won his fourth race of the season after recovering from a disappointing start to triumph at the Spanish grand prix.

Button’s Brawn team-mate Rubens Barrichello finished second, while Mark Webber achieved a creditable third after a fine performance in his Red Bull.

Button benefitted from his team’s decision to change from a three-stop to a two-stop strategy as Brawn continued their incredible start to the 2009 season with a one-two finish.

Although Button began the race in pole position, it was Barrichello who got off to the better start, shooting ahead of the Englishman to take the lead at the first corner, while Felipe Massa – aided by his Kers device – also nipped in front of Sebastian Vettel to assume third place.

In an incident-filled first lap two crashes required the intervention of the safety car. Toyota’s Jarno Trulli was the instigator of the first accident as he ran wide through the opening chicane on to the gravel after being bumped by the Williams of Nico Rosberg. As the veteran Italian returned to the track, the Force India of Adrian Sutil rammed into the left-hand side of his Toyota.

Behind that duo, the two Toro Rossos were involved in a separate incident, with Sébastien Bourdais hitting team-mate Sébastien Buemi from behind. The Frenchman’s car was temporarily launched into the air, running over the top of Swiss driver Buemi. Mercifully no driver was hurt but Buemi, Sutil, Bourdais and Trulli were all out before their race could really begin.

After four laps behind the safety car, the 66-lap race finally resumed, with Barrichello strengthening his position at the front, while further back Renault’s Fernando Alonso performed a spectacular overtaking manoeuvre on Mark Webber on the main straight, only for the Australian to respond with an equally gutsy counter-punch, immediately squeezing his Red Bull ahead of the Spaniard when it seemed he had run out of room going into turn one.

The field was then swiftly reduced to 15 at the end of lap eight as Heikki Kovalainen, involved in a horrific shunt at this circuit a year ago, retired his McLaren due to a mechanical failure. On a track renowned for its difficulty to pass, the reigning champion Hamilton – who had dropped to 16th and last after the opening lap melee – had moved up to 12th by the end of lap 10.

Hamilton fuelled for a 28-lap middle stint, with Brawn opting for a different tactic with Barrichello on the following lap as he took on board only 18 laps of fuel. Shortly before that, Raikkonen retired from 10th place as his Ferrari lost all power to add to an earlier failure with his Kers, eventually grinding to a halt out on the track.

At the end of lap 20, Massa and Vettel both came in at the same time, with the Brazilian just managing to squeeze his Ferrari out ahead of the Red Bull, with Barrichello continuing to lead ahead of a yet-to-pit Rosberg, with Button, Massa and Vettel running third, fourth and fifth.

Barrichello came in after lap 26 because whilst it was clear he was running a three-stop strategy, his team-mate Button had cleverly switched from three to two early in the race. Heidfeld and Hamilton also pitted at the same time, with the latter emerging just in front of Glock and Kubica, who both hounded the Briton for a lap.

Button made his second stop after 48 laps, dropping him to third at that stage behind Barrichello, who came in for his third and final stop at the end of lap 50. That pit-stop promoted Button to the top of the order again, with Barrichello slotted into second and Webber remarkably into third as he pitted for his second stop at the same time as the Brazilian, and so the front three remained at the conclusion of the 66 lap-race.