Red Bull driver, Mark Webber, claimed his second career win at Interlagos. The Aussie started at P2, behind Rubens Barrichello of Brawn GP, overshadowed him throughout much of the race and finished with 61.5 championship points this season so far. His teammate, Sebastian Vettel, the expected underdog, started from a P15 grid position and finished an incredible P4. Unfortunately, that P4 isn't enough to keep the German in title contention against Button. Although all hope is lost for this only team and rival to beat the Brawn GP, Red Bull Racing still have something to look forward to, a celebration. Red Bull is now at 135.5 points.
At second position is BMW's Robert Kubica, who finished eight seconds behind Webber. At the beginning of the race, rival Barrichello was 3 seconds ahead of rivals Webber and Kubica, a comfortable gap, but his first pit-stop costed him dearly on his home ground as both rivals exited their pit-stops ahead of time. Kubica is at 17 championship points. His teammate Nick Heidfeld retired after his engine gave out on lap 21. BMW is now at 32 points.
In third place is last season's hero, Lewis Hamilton of McLaren, who put on an outstanding performance from a P17 to finish hard-earned P3. This Briton is now at 49 points. His teammate, Heikki Kovalainen, had a twisty weekend, on Lap1, in the second turn, Kovalainen make contact with Sebastian Vettel and Giancarlo Fisichella, resulting in the MP24 spinning off-track. After that chaos, Kovalainen pitted for fuel, for unknown reasons he exited with the fuel hose still attached to the MP24, resulting in the fuel being sprayed all over Kimi Raikkonen behind him. This caused the F60 to be enflamed in fire for a brief second or two. Kovalainen finished outside the points with a P9. Even after the dramatic events, Mclaren still have much to celebrate about as the team have jumped up to 71 points.
In P5 is this year's champion, Jenson Button of Brawn GP. The opening laps of the race made it easier for this Briton as Renault, Toyota, and Force India crashed and retired, also bringing out the safety car, which covered the first lap of the race. It was a great day for Button, The championship had been a long time coming for Button, particularly in a race where he started from a P14 grid position and climbed steadily up to a P5, confirming the championship with one race left to go. His teammate, Rubens Barrichello, had always had bad luck at his home town and was unable to convert his pole position into a win. The Brazilian took the last points with a P8 finish.
In P6 is Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen, the main cause for the Lap 1 crash. The Finn tried to pass the second place Aussie only to be blocked by him, also forcing Adrian Sutil of Force India behind to slow down, wherein, Jarno Trulli spotted an opportunity and drove outside the turn five only to collide at the rear of Sutil's VJM02. While Trulli was out of the track, Sutil's VJM02 spun back onto the circuit and collided with the blameless Fernando Alonso. Räikkönen's teammate, Giancarlo Fisichella, finished P11, seems like the Italian is looking forward to a retirement from F1.
In P7 is the unexpected Sebastien Buemi of Toro Rosso. Buemi actually got the spot due to a Barrichello's late demise at the pit-stops early on. The Swiss is now at 5 points. His teammate, Jaime Alguersuari, finished last. Rounding up the bottom finishers are Kamui Kobayashi, Toyota's new driver, at P10, an impressive finish for a newbie. At P12 is Vitantonio Liuzzi of Force India. At P13 is Romain Grosjean of Renault. Both the Williams drivers, Kazuki Nakajima and Nico Rosberg retired.
A perfect day for Webber, a perfect day for Button. Next race, Abu Dhabi, where the 2009 Formula One World Champion will end.
Source: PSC
Article by Kitbormi Lywait
