21/06/2009
NEWS STORY
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Mark Webber has every right to feel angry at Kimi Raikkonen's behaviour during the closing stages of Q3 yesterday, however, the Red Bull driver accusing the Finn of having a 'vodka moment' seems somewhat ironic.
That said, Raikkonen aside, it is doubtful that even Webber would have stopped Sebastian Vettel taking pole position, such has been the German's pace and determination throughout the weekend. The fact that he is the heaviest of the front runners truly underlines what a magnificent lap that was.
The Red Bulls look awesome, and it is clear that the recent updates, not least their own split diffuser and a 'platypus nose' are having the desired effect.
For much of the weekend, the Brawns have struggled, particularly World Championship leader Button. One has to wonder if the pressure of 'England Expects' is getting to the Frome boy in front of his home crowd, for Jenson has never looked entirely comfortable this weekend. On the other hand, Barrichello is looking cool and relaxed, and his qualifying performance, on a similar fuel load was excellent, Kimi Raikkonen not withstanding.
However, while Red Bull is making huge leaps forward, Brawn isn't standing still, and one can be sure that in the right, or wrong, conditions, team boss Ross Brawn could play a decisive role.
Behind the Red Bulls and Brawns, keep an eye on the Toyotas, with Trulli back on form and clearly eager to consolidate fifth place in the championship. Glock should also be good for a point or two today.
A great performance from Nakajima yesterday, but in all honesty the Japanese driver was running even lighter than Alonso. While it was good to see Kazuki finally out-qualify his teammate this season, we expect Rosberg to be the Grove outfit's best hope for a point or two this afternoon.
Ferrari admit that yesterday's session was "disappointing", with Massa failing to make it to Q2. Furthermore, with Raikkonen one of the lightest runners, things don't look too promising for the Italian team.
You can guarantee that Fernando Alonso will always give a good account of himself, and the fact that the Spaniard loves this track - winning here in 2006 - might go some way to helping Renault pick up a much needed point as it chases Williams for sixth in the Constructors' Championship.
Heidfeld has looked the better prospect for BMW for much of the weekend, while, with Lewis Hamilton starting fro nineteenth, McLaren will have to hope that Kovalainen can raise his game.
Toro Rosso has really struggled this weekend, however, keep an eye out for Force India, who have clearly made a step forward here. Sadly, Sutil's crash in Q3 - which also denied Hamilton the opportunity of improving - prevented the German making it through to Q2, however, he and his Italian teammate have been looking confident for much of the weekend. Pity about the naff photo op with dart player Bobby George. (See gallery).
Despite the many millions spent, only Ferrari will be using KERS today, with BMW - one of only four teams that has bothered with the controversial device this season - announcing that they have no intention of using it again.
In terms of tyres, the hard tyre is taking around 3-4 laps to get up to speed, so the soft tyre could be the favoured choice for the start. However, this England and as ever - even though today marks the beginning of the Summer Solstice - the weather remains a big factor.
Such was the damage to Adrian Sutil's car in yesterday's qualifying session, the team has had to bring in a new car from just over the road. Consequently, the German will start from the pitlane.
As the field prepares to head off on the warm-up lap, the air temperature is 16 degrees, while the track temperature is 29 degrees. While it has been overcast for much of the day, there are now far more blue patches with the sun just starting to break through.
Most of the field appear to be starting the race on a brand new set of the soft option tyres. A major exception, certainly at the front of the grid, is Nakajima.
The grid appears to take forever to form, but finally they're away. Vettel heads off Barrichello, while Raikkonen makes a superb start making up several places. A poor start sees Button slip back down the field to ninth behind Massa.
At the end of lap 1 it's Vettel, Barrichello, Webber, Nakajima, Raikkonen, Rosberg, Trulli, Massa, Button and Glock. Both Ferraris making good use of KERS.
Fisichella passes Kubica and Alonso, the Spaniard really struggling in the Renault. Elsewhere, Hamilton is up to fourteenth.
Massa runs wide on lap 3, and Button doesn't wait for another invitation. Elsewhere, Hamilton loses pace after almost tripping up over Alonso who had run wide.
After 3 laps, Vettel leads Barrichello by .3s, despite the heavy fuel load. Webber is all over the Brawn, 2.4s ahead of Nakajima, who has his mirrors full of Raikkonen.
Just 5 laps into the race, Heidfeld is told to pit for a new front wing, however, Heidfeld say's "later, later". The German is currently running twelfth with Alonso, Kubica, Hamilton, Piquet, Bourdais, Buemi and Kovalainen forming a train behind him.
While Webber is all over Barrichello, Button is harrying Trulli. Elsewhere, Alonso is clearly frustrated at the fact he is unable to pass Heidfeld. Kubica and Hamilton having a great scrap for fourteenth, but will it end in tears?
Vettel posts a string of fastest laps, after 6 laps he has a cushion of over 6s to Barrichello, who is under enormous pressure from Webber. Try as he might, Alonso is unable to nail Heidfeld.
Watching Heidfeld frustrate every attempt from Alonso it's easy to understand why he chose to ignore the order to pit. The Spaniard dodges this way and that, but doesn't have the necessary traction to make it stick when it matters.
Out front, Vettel is stretching his lead by 1s a lap, the German in a class of his own, forcing a relentless pace.
Other than the Heidfeld/Alonso scrap, the other great dog fight involves Kubica and Hamilton.
After 12 laps, Vettel and Barrichello are the lengthy of the Hangar Straight apart, this is a Sunday afternoon cruise for the Red Bull driver.
"Concentrate now mate," Massa is told, "we expect Button to pit in four or five laps".
At the end of lap 15, as expected, Nakajima is first to pit, rejoining in tenth. At quarter-distance it's: Vettel, Barrichello, Webber, Raikkonen, Rosberg, Trulli, Button and Massa.
Next time around, Raikkonen pits, rejoining in tenth, having leap-frogged Nakajima.
"Can I come in early," asks a clearly desperate Hamilton. "Negative," he is told, "that won't work for us".
At the end of lap 18, Rosberg, Trulli and Button all pit, as does Alonso. Trulli emerges just in front of Raikkonen.
Net time around it is Barrichello who pits, along with Glock, promoting Webber to second. The Australian is now 19.4s behind his Red Bull teammate. Barrichello has switched to the harder tyre.
Surprisingly, Webber pits at the end of lap 20, the Australian sticking to softs, unlike Brawn, where both drivers are on hards now.
Webber rejoins the race just ahead of Barrichello, as Vettel and Hamilton both pit. The German sticks with softs, rejoining still in the lead, ahead of Massa, Webber, Barrichello, Rosberg and Trulli. Of this group, Massa still has to stop.
Fisichella and Heidfeld both pit, the Italian having got the Force India up to third at the time of his stop.
Replay shows Hamilton getting up close and personal with Heidfeld as the BMW driver rejoined the race following his pit stop,
Massa pits at the end of lap 23, rejoining in fifth. The Brazilian is having a good race, much better than expected.
"Jenson you're much longer than Kimi," Button is told. "We'll let you know when we have Trulli's fuel figure". The World Championship leader is currently eighth, 1.3s down on Raikkonen but under pressure from Nakajima, whose race has inexplicably turned upside down. The Japanese driver is only 3s ahead of a very eager Fisichella. Teammate Rosberg is up to fourth.
"Don't push your tyres too hard in the next few laps," Vettel is told, as Webber starts to lap up to 0.4s quicker than the German.
Sutil, who has yet to pit, is running in fifteenth, ahead of Alonso and Hamilton.
At 'half-time', it's: Vettel, Webber, Barrichello, Rosberg, Massa, Trulli, Raikkonen, Button, Nakajima, Fisichella, Glock, Piquet, Kovalainen, Kubica, Sutil, Alonso, Hamilton, Bourdais, Heidfeld and Buemi.
As Alonso sets up Sutil, Hamilton makes a move and passes the Renault driver at Luffield. Much to the delight of the crowd. Meanwhile, Vettel sweeps past to lap the lot of them.
As Hamilton sets his eyes on Piquet, Alonso re-takes his position when the Englishman makes a mistake at Becketts.
"Push Barrichello into a mistake," Rosberg is told, "you need to get past him". The German is just 0.7s behind the Brawn, however, Massa is only 1.5s behind the pair of them.
Kovalainen, currently twelfth, makes his sole stop at the end of lap 34, with Sutil, the only other driver yet to stop, pitting shortly after. Kovalainen rejoins ahead of Hamilton, however, the 2008 champion quickly passes his teammate.
Bourdais runs into the back of Kovalainen, the Finn appearing to catch the Frenchman on the hop at Becketts. Both drivers limp back to the pits, the McLaren driver with a left-rear puncture, the Toro Rosso needing a new nose.
At the end of lap 38, Kovalainen heads back into the pits, his car clearly having incurred more damage than originally expected.
Next time around Alonso and Bourdais both pit. The Frenchman climbs out of his car which, like the McLaren, has obviously been damaged more than we first thought.
Nakajima makes his second stop at the end of lap 40, the Japanese driver up to ninth again at that point.
Raikkonen, currently eighth, pits at the end of lap 42, promoting Fisichella back up into the points. The Finn rejoins in tenth.
Button complains that the car is bottoming in Turn 1 (Copse), as Rosberg makes his second stop, rejoining in ninth.
At the end of lap 44, as Hamilton spins and goes cross-country, Vettel makes his final stop, rejoining in second, 9.2s down on his teammate. Hamilton also pits.
Massa pits at the end of lap 45, as does Fisichella. The Brazilian rejoins in seventh, ahead of Rosberg, who he has leap-frogged. Next time around, Trulli pits from fifth.
Race leader Webber pits at the end of lap 47, rejoining the race in second just 6.8s later. As the Australian heads out of the pitlane, Barrichello enters, as does Heidfeld.
Therefore, with twelve laps remaining, Vettel leads Webber by 15.7s, with Barrichello a further 22.8s behind in fourth. Button is third - but still has to stop - with Massa fifth, ahead of Rosberg and Trulli.
At the end of lap 49, Button makes his final stop. Fitting a set of softs, he rejoins the race 6.3s later in sixth, ahead of Trulli and Raikkonen.
Button is advised that Massa and Rosberg - currently fourth and fifth - are on the harder tyre and struggling. Indeed, the World Championship leader is currently lapping around a second a lap quicker than the pair of them. He is 4.9s behind the Williams driver, setting up a grandstand finish.
As Vettel extends his lead to 21.3s, Button closes to within 2.5s of Rosberg. Webber posts his fastest lap of the race.
With 3 laps remaining, Button is just 0.8s down on Rosberg, and the crowd, sensing a better finish than expected for the championship leader, reacts accordingly, willing him on.
Despite the promises of Max Mosley and the Overtaking Working Group, Button is unable to close in on Rosberg, such is the effect of the dirty air behind the Williams. A big slide in Becketts reminds the World Championship leader that maybe its best to settle for three points than none.
Vettel takes a faultless win, proving that is doesn't have to be raining cats and dogs for him to make his mark. Talking of which, Mark Webber makes it a Red Bull 1-2, and while he will be delighted with the eight points he will run his third position on the grid and the fact that he failed to make his way past Barrichello at the start of today's race.
Massa and Ferrari will be delighted with fourth, surely a lot more than they were expecting 83 minutes ago.
A great drive from Rosberg, his second consecutive finish, which consolidates seventh in the Drivers' Championship, while teammate Nakajima will be wondering where it all went wrong.
Button will surely be disappointed with sixth, however, it could have been worse. A mature drive matched with good strategy sees the Englishman head to German in three weeks time with a 23 point lead.
A typical workmanlike performance from Trulli while Raikkonen adds another point to Ferrari's tally.
Commiserations to Force India, who had every right to expect more here.
While not wishing to take anything away from Sebastian, other than a few scraps further down the field it was a largely processional race, probably what we should have expected on what is the longest day of the year.
In the weeks ahead the politics are sure to dominate, however, you can rest assured that at Brackley and Milton Keynes the Brawn and Red Bull crews will be focussing on what looks set to be a thrilling second half of the season.
The fight between Toyota and Ferrari for third, and Williams, McLaren and Renault for fifth, sets us up nicely for a long hot Summer, so much better than the endless bickering from Mosley and Co.