Silverstone, England

19-21 June 2009

Lap Distance 5.141 Km

Race 60 Laps 308.355 Km

Sebastian Vettel drove superbly to dominate the British Grand Prix at Silverstone today. Vettel led from pole position crucially beating Rubens Barrichello into the high speed Copse corner and from that moment the German driver was never troubled as he cruised to the chequered flag and victory. Mark Webber finished the race in second place making it a perfect weekend for the Milton Keynes based squad with Vettel also taking the fastest lap early on in the race. Webber was pleased with his second place after overhauling the Brawn GP car of Rubens Barrichello who ended the race in third place. Felipe Massa was fourth for Ferrari and Nico Rosberg a great fifth for Williams. Jenson Button was sixth after a race long struggle to get the temperature into his tyres and was never in contention for victory. In the closing stage it began to look like the championship leader would catch and pass Rosberg but although he caught the Williams he was never in with a chance of passing. Jarno Trulli drove a solid race to finish seventh for Toyota and Kimi Raikkonen took the final world championship point finishing eighth. Timo Glock and Giancarlo Fisichella rounded out the top ten. Lewis Hamilton had a torrid time with his McLaren struggling for grip throughout the race and spinning on the approach to Becketts. Despite this he provided some entertainment for the fans in a spirited battle with his ex team mate Fernando Alonso, his reward however was a lowly 16th place. Team mate Heikki Kovalainen was one of only two retirements after being hit from behind by Sebastien Bourdais who also retired. It remains to be seen whether this race indicates that Red Bull have caught Brawn in terms of pace or whether Silverstones fast open sweeps and curves suited the Red Bull car. It was however great to see a real circuit with real fans something the newer circuits in far flung corners of the globe simply cannot match for spectacle or atmosphere.

The F1 circus arrived at Silverstone for the first day of free practice for Sunday's British GP amid dramatic controversy. Last year it was the turn of FOM and the FIA to overshadow the event by announcing that the race was to move to Donington Park from 2010 but yesterday it was the F1 teams association FOTA whose dramatic statement that it was to set up a breakaway series from 2010 that caused major ripples throughout the sport. Time will tell whether FOTA has the determination to carry this through and for sure it will be a very rocky ride. Back to the action though on the first day of free practice and it was the Red Bull duo of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber that dominated the proceedings ending the day at the top of the timesheets and looking very strong indeed. Force India's Adrian Sutil was a surprise third fastest at the team's local circuit, a great performance sure to boost confidence at the Silverstone based squad. Williams' Kazuki Nakajima was fourth fastest, for once getting the better of his team mate and Friday expert Nico Rosberg who on this occasion had to settle for ninth place. Fernando Alonso ended the day in a healthy 5th place for Renault with ever under pressure team mate Nelson Piquet closing out the top ten. Rubens Barrichello was the highest place Brawn driver in the final session with Jenson Button down in fourteenth, a situation not expected to continue into the final free practice and qualifying. Lewis Hamilton had a tough day at his home GP but put in a typically gutsy effort to finish 7th fastest and Jarno Trulli took the final top ten place at eighth fastest for Toyota. Disappointingly for Ferrari Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen ended the day at the bottom of the timesheets way down in eighteenth and nineteenth positions. BMW also struggled with neither Heidfeld or Kubica making the top ten and having to settle for eleventh and fifteenth best times.

Sebastian Vettel drove superbly to secure pole position for tomorrow's British Grand Prix. The German driver fought off a tremendous challenge from his team mate Mark Webber who finished third fastest behind Brawn's Rubens Barrichello. Webber was furious with Kimi Raikkonen who slowed him on his final qualifying lap removing any chance of the Red Bull driver claiming his first pole position. Jarno Trulli will start from the second row of the grid alongside Webber with Kazuki Nakajima taking a great 5th place for Williams. Jenson Button was sixth in the final shoot out struggling with the balance and handling of his Brawn car on this occasion. Nico Rosberg claimed seventh best time with Timo Glock, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso closing out the top ten. Lewis Hamilton failed to make it through Q1 as the session was interrupted right at the end as a result of a high speed accident approaching Abbey for Adrian Sutil. The timing could not have been worse for Hamilton as there was insufficient time left for him to put in a final lap and he eventually finished way down in nineteenth place. Team mate Heikki Kovalainen fared better but only marginally going out in the second segment with thirteenth place. Felipe Massa also narrowly failed to make the final shoot out ending Q2 in eleventh place. It was another difficult qualifying session for BMW with Kubica and Heidfeld both going out in Q2 with 12th and 15th places..

01 S Vettel
1m 19.4s
02 M Webber
1m 19.682s
03 J Button
1m 20.227s
04 R Barrichello
1m 20.242s
05 F Alonso
1m 20.458s
06 F Massa
1m 20.471s
07 J Trulli
1m 20.585s
08 L Hamilton
1m 20.65s
09 N Rosberg
1m 20.815s
10 G Fisichella
1m 20.838s
11 A Sutil
1m 20.913s
12 H Kovalainen
1m 21.029s
13 N Heidfeld
1m 21.103s
14 K Raikkonen
1m 21.179s
15  S Bourdais
1m 21.384s
16 T Glock
1m 21.386s
17 K Nakajima
1m 21.489s
18 N Piquet
1m 21.525s
19 S Buemi
1m 21.59s
20 R Kubica
1m 21.801s
 

01 S Vettel
1m 19.509s
02 R Barrichello
1m 19.856s
03 M Webber
1m 19.868s
04 J Trulli
1m 20.091s
05 K Nakajima
1m 20.216s
06 J Button
1m 20.289s
07 N Rosberg
1m 20.361s
08 T Glock
1m 20.49s
09 K Raikkonen
1m 20.715s
10 F Alonso
1m 20.741s

Eliminated Q2>
11 F Massa
1m 18.927s
12 R Kubica
1m 19.308s
13 H Kovalainen
1m 19.353s
14 N Piquet
1m 19.392s
15  N Heidfeld
1m 19.448s

Eliminated Q1>
16 G Fisichella
1m 19.802s
17 S Bourdais
1m 19.898s
18 A Sutil
1m 19.909s
19 L Hamilton
1m 19.917s
20 S Buemi
1m 20.236s
 

01 S Vettel
1m 19.456s
02 M Webber
1m 19.597s
03 A Sutil
1m 20.141s
04 K Nakajima
1m 20.209s
05 F Alonso
1m 20.237s
06 R Barrichello
1m 20.244s
07 L Hamilton
1m 20.417s
08 J Trulli
1m 20.458s
09 N Rosberg
1m 20.468s
10 N Piquet
1m 20.608s
11 R Kubica
1m 20.622s
12 H Kovalainen
1m 20.733s
13 T Glock
1m 20.762s
14 J Button
1m 20.767s
15  N Heidfeld
1m 20.932s
16 S Bourdais
1m 20.945s
17 F Massa
1m 21.005s
18 K Raikkonen
1m 21.132s
19 G Fisichella
1m 21.413s
20 S Buemi
1m 21.668s
 

01 N Rosberg
1m 18.999s
02 K Nakajima
1m 19.102s
03 J Trulli
1m 19.125s
04 S Vettel
1m 19.371s
05 F Massa
1m 19.596s
06 K Raikkonen
1m 19.855s
07 T Glock
1m 19.868s
08 F Alonso
1m 19.917s
09 M Webber
1m 19.946s
10 R Barrichello
1m 20.028s
11 L Hamilton
1m 20.048s
12 J Button
1m 20.157s
13 N Piquet
1m 20.232s
14 S Bourdais
1m 20.459s
15  A Sutil
1m 20.548s
16 G Fisichella
1m 20.572s
17 H Kovalainen
1m 20.638s
18 N Heidfeld
1m 20.696s
19 S Buemi
1m 21.024s
20 R Kubica
1m 21.039s
 

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01  S Vettel
02  M Webber
03  R Barrichello
04  F Massa
05  N Rosberg
06  J Button
07  J Trulli
08  K Raikkonen
09  T Glock
10  G Fisichella
11  K Nakajima
12  N Piquet
13  R Kubica
14  F Alonso
15  N Heidfeld
16  L Hamilton
17  A Sutil
18  S Buemi

Retired
L38 H Kovalainen
L40 S Bourdais

Fastest Lap
S Vettel
1m 20.735s L16