Bleacher Report - Articles by Patrick Allen

Brawn GP Season Review Part Four: A Changing of the Guard in Britain?

Patrick Allen — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 08:01:59 -0500

After their fantastic start to the season, these next two races mark an interesting point in Brawn GP’s 2009 season.

A supreme performance in Turkey (for Jenson Button, at least) led many non-Brawn fans to start talking of a forgone conclusion and a boring 2009. Then, along came the British GP and a very different result……

TURKEY 2009

Saturday Qualifying

After a mixed three practice sessions I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Brawn GP come Saturday afternoon. Q1 was Vettel’s but Jens and Rubens Barrichello were not far off in P2 (Jens) and P3 (Rubens).

The second session was a bit more dramatic with fast times from Kubica, both Red Bulls, Trulli and of course the Brawns. However, yet again the session was Vettel’s, this time the Brawns weren’t as close though. Jenson finished in P3 and Rubens P7.

The third session was a great Red Bull vs. Brawn affair. Initially the fight was between Jenson and Webber, but Vettel and Rubens soon joined the fight. Yet again, Vettel flashed to pole, but Jens and Rubens managed to split the Red Bulls by finishing P2 (Jesnon) and P3 (Rubens).

The Red Bulls were clearly much faster with their hastily but excellently designed new diffuser. The race looked as if it would be a corker!

Sunday Race

As the drivers lined up to begin the race I thought it would be Rubens, on the clean side of the track that would be Brawn’s best hope of a great start. However, the support races had seemed to suggest that starting on the dirty side didn’t necessarily mean bad times.

Jens had a great start and comfortably held on to second place, but Rubens's anti-stall kicked in and the Brazilian slipped down the field to 13th! Meanwhile, as we watch the usual first lap excitement, the TV pictures suddenly cut to Jenson...in front of Vettel!

Crucially from the exit of turn nine, the young German made a mistake and Jenson sped past and into the lead. It was small moments like this that would later prove to be crucial in Jenson’s eventual title victory.

Rubens though was struggling, having quickly dispatched a BMW for P12, he was now fighting with the KERS of Kovalainen. Whilst Rubens fought hard with the McLaren in front, Jens pulled an amazing two seconds ahead of the pack.

It took Rubens 7 tense laps to finally dispatch the McLaren number two after a great move in the last corners...but no! Kovalainen pushed his magic button and zoomed past the Brazilian into turn one!

Understandably angry, Rubens pushed, but he unfortunately made contact with the Fin into turn nine which sent Rubens spinning back to 17th!

Rubens was down but not out. He passed his way back up to P14 with relative ease…all without seventh gear!

However, yet again the Brazilian’s frustration was shown when he ran into the back of Sutil at the end of lap 12 and damaged his front wing end plate. This meant that he had to pit.

Meanwhile, Jens was simply rocketing around. His first stop was perfect and he managed to rejoin ahead of Vettel. However, the race wasn’t over as the lighter Vettel began to put real pressure on Jenson.

By lap 23, Vettel was only 1:103 seconds behind Jens! On the last corner of lap 25 Jens went wide...but he hung on and from then on went into a terminator-esq mode of coolness.

In Jenson’s dirty air, Vettel began to lose time and Jenson’s superb driving meant that Vettel would now be looking more like a challenger for third than for first; (as Webber seemed to be on the better strategy).

At one cruel stage, Jens looked as if he was going to lap his team mate, but unfortunately, Rubens retired with 10 laps left anyway. This was the first time we saw a Brawn retiring and it was the unlucky icing on the cake for the unfortunate and now dejected Rubens.

In the end a supreme race from Jenson, but Rubens was constantly on the back foot and we all thought that one way or another, he was going to end up retired by the final lap.

BRITAIN 2009

Saturday Qualifying

Compared to Red Bull’s outrageous pace in practice, the Brawns were extremely disappointing!

Both BGP001s struggled with tyre temperatures. Whilst the Red Bull was very hard on the tyres (thus warming them up faster), the Brawns were much lighter. This has proved advantageous in Turkey’s heat, but not England’s cold!

A red flag finished Q1 early but this didn’t help the Brawns who had been week throught the first 20 minutes. Jenson pulled himself up to P5, Whilst Rubens was stuck in P11.

In Q2 Rubens was the faster man of the Brawns, but yet again it was the Red Bulls who dominated. Rubens finished in P4, Jenson P8.

Vettel finished the day in P1 but poor old Webber’s speed in Q3 was destroyed by a slow Ferrari in front and he could only manage P3. Rubens did a fantastic job to finish second, but Jens scored his worst 2009 qualifying in P6.

Sunday Race

Vettel held off Rubens into turn one as Jens is held up by a combination of a rubbish Trulli start and a fantastic Raikkonen get away.

The championship leader fell back to P9 and was now fighting with Massa, so much so that by the end of lap one, he was seven seconds behind Vettel already!

Jenson struggled for a while behind Massa, but on lap two, Massa went wide on the exit of Stowe corner and Jens got through.

It was over really by lap 10 as Webber had been held up by Rubens who was now 10:849 behind the leader; (Jens was almost 20 seconds down now).

Jenson did gain a place after a Nakajima pit stop on lap 15, and another when Raikkonen pulled in a lap later, but he was really struggling on his tyres.

On lap 20 and after one stop each, Rubens was P5, and Jenson, P9. However, both drivers were probably going to struggle in this middle stint with the unfavourable hard tyres.

At the half way stage, Rubens was P3 and Jens was in the last points paying position. This is how it stayed really for the next 10 laps.

The story for Brawn with 20 laps to go was one of Williams pressure! Rubens was 34 seconds behind the leader and had Rosberg to deal with whilst Jens was 51 seconds behind and fending off Nakajima.

Fortunately, both Brawns redeemed themselves with their late race performance. Rubens darted into the pits with 13 laps to go.

Massa in P4 had already made his final stop and was on a bit of a charge. Rubens had to have done a good in lap to get himself on the podium, he did so and held on to that P3.

As for the championship leader, well with just 11 laps left, Jens darted into the pits, and fitted softs. It looked as if he would be racing for P7 but after a fantastic job from Jenson in his in laps, the Brit was now P6.

As the new tyres on the Brawn were at last working well. Jens gave us all a bit of a show as he began to catch both Rosberg and Massa, both of whom were struggling on the hard compound tyre.

The Brit pushed to the end, but eventually ran out of time in the Williams’s dirty air. It finished with Rubens in P3 and Jenson, P6.

As I suggest in my title, the British GP marked an important turning point in the 2009 season. The supreme and seemingly unstoppable Brawn assault had been eased in the Turkish qualifying sessions and reversed throughout the British weekend.

Sure, Jenson did a fantastic job to win in Turkey but many commentators at the time and since have stressed that it was a case of Vettel losing the race with that fateful mistake.

The Red Bulls were unstoppable in England, but could the Brawns now mount an assault of their own at the next two races in Germany and Hungary?

Brawn GP Season Review Part Three: Brawn Terminate the Opposition

Patrick Allen — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:10:28 -0500

Well, little did I know when I set out writing these season review articles that they would be my last words on a team I’ve followed since 2003. Jenson Button was the reason I started supporting Honda, but I think, I would have stayed with the team if I didn’t think it was changing so much for the worse. No, I have instead decided to move on with Jens. That isn’t to say that I’m a fickle team changer! I don’t, nor will I ever support McLaren. From now on I’m and Jenson, Mark Webber and Fernando fan, the team is irrelevant (I kinda like it….it’s like I’m a maverick fan…..a man without a team!).

Anyway, enough of that rubbish. Here is the next part of my season review for the glorious Brawn GP team. LONG LIVE HONDA AND BRAWN!

SPAIN 2009

Saturday Qualifying

It was Rubens who was the man to beat in Brawn colours throughout the practice sessions. However, thanks to arguably one of Jenson’s best qualifying laps ever under the watchful eye of the Terminator, the Championship leader stuck his car on the front spot.

The first couple of sessions were shaky to say the least. In Q1 Jenson comfortably made it through in P2, whilst Rubens spent some time in the drop zone before rising to P5. Then in Q2 whilst Rubens smashed through in P1, Jenson struggled for pace and only made it to P5.

In Q3, the Toyotas, Red Bulls and Brawns were fast and it was great! It was tense, but Rubens looked like a man possessed. The day was surly his, but no, Jens (who had crossed the start finish line one second before the chequered flag), made his last gasp lap work and perfectly plucked P1 out from under his team mate’s feet!

Sunday Race

The last eight people to qualify on pole for the Spanish Grand Prix have won on Sunday and 2009 was no different. Jenson Button drove like a man possessed and simply delivered a fantastic performance.

Jenson seemed a little bit slow to get started and Rubens darted past into first. Thankfully Vettel and Massa were too busy fighting each other to threaten the Brawns.

Rubens’s fastest laps early on I expect led many non Brawn fans to turn off, surly it was all over.

However, the Ferrari and Red Bull kept the Brawns honest and on lap seven, Rubens was told to really push it to stay ahead.

The Brawns were very lucky that earlier in the race Massa had passed Vettel. This was because the Red Bull driver would have been a far more serious threat if he was in third.

A crucial part of the race came when Jenson stopped having put in consistent fast laps. It looked as if Jenson’s three stop strategy had been changed to a two stopper. interestingly, Rubens’s strategy was not changed. It was now down to Rubens; he had to put in consistent fast laps and keep Jenson at arms length.

Unfortunately for the Brazilian, for whatever reason, he wasn’t fast enough and the race win seemed to slip out of his reach.

On lap 30 Rubens pitted and re-joined in P4. The race was now Jenson’s to loose. He had to be consistently fast and stay ahead.

Some commentators began to suggest that Brawn had deliberately created a strategy that favoured Button, but Nick Fry denied this claim stating that it was up to the individual engineers to decide on their driver’s strategy. Unfortunately for Rubens, Fry was right. Car 23 was simply not fast enough, but it wasn’t all Rubens’s fault as the car was experiencing technical difficulties.

Jenson Button was in a class of his own, he made the hard tyres work for him like no other driver on the track.

With six laps left the Championship leader was the fastest man in Spain. Sure enough, Jens went on to claim his fifth career victory, Brawn’s fourth out of five races.

MONACO BABY 2009

Saturday Qualifying

After a reasonable few practice sessions, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Brawn for qualifying. Ferrari, McLaren, Williams, Alonso and to an extent Force India had been strong and I must say I was very excited!

Fernando Alonso said earlier that 70 percent of winning the race at Monaco depended on qualifying on pole. Apparently in twenty three years, only one driver has won from outside of the top three.

The Toyotas were out first today, but the session was quickly yellow flagged after a mistake from Massa near the swimming pool complex just four minutes in.

The first time was eventually set by Fisichella (1:19:473) and with five minutes gone there were 10 times on the board. The key question for Brawn was when to go out. Traffic would play a huge role at this Grand Prix and as the track came into its own, timing would be critical.

A safe Q1 was followed by a very tense Q2 in which Jens only made it through in P8! However, despite strong challenges from Rosberg, and Vettel, out of nowhere….Jens was absolutely hammering it! He was amazing. With a phenomenal lap, the Championship leader showed us all how truly great he is with yet another pole. Rubens must have been down, as for yet another week despite being faster than his team mate in all sessions, he simply couldn’t beat him in Q3. Still, P3 was good enough for the Brazilian.

Sunday Race

Both Jenson and Rubens started on the Super Soft tyres, which would have given them good traction off the start, but the tyres would probably start to lose grip after just eight laps! (Let alone the 20 odd laps the two drivers planned to complete.)

A fantastic start from both Jens and Rubens, saw Button comfortably take off, whilst his Brazilian team mate muscled brilliantly past the Finnish Ferrari in P2.

Jenson and Rubens now had to lap quickly, whilst looking after their tyres. Thankfully the professional veterans managed to take out and maintain a decent lead over the Ferrari of Raikkonen. Jenson was on fire, but by lap three, Rubens had set the fastest lap.

Unfortunately for Rubens, being in Jenson’s dirty air was damaging his rear tyres more than hoped. The Brazilian was warned on lap 10 to watch out for his tyres as Vettel had practically shredded his super softs back in P5.

Vettel had been doing a good job of backing up the Brawn’s fast competitors, but on lap 10 having pushed a little too hard, he fell behind Massa, Rosberg and Kovelinen with tyre damage. (The German would later crash out).

By lap 11 Jenson was about to lap World Champion and future team mate Hamilton. However, by this stage Ruben’s tyres were dead and Raikkonen was proving very difficult to deal with.

The Brazilian would need to pit and soon. Now, this is where Jenson’s class comes into it’s own. Yes, Rubens had dirty air, but Jens’s smooth, relaxed driving style meant that he could handle the difficult stage much better.

After everyone’s first stops, the Brawns were once again first and second. Jenson pulled away on a slower Rubens (16 seconds). The next rounds of pit stops proved to also be eventless and despite a couple of scary charges from the Ferraris, Jens and Rubes comfortably brought home the third Brawn one two.

The only thing Jenson did wrong all weekend is park in the wrong place, but that didn’t matter because we were treated to a fantastic lap of glory as the race winner leapt from his car and ran from the pits to the front of the grid. He was literally jumping for joy...and so was I.

Rubens had been struggling with a dodgy seatbelt throughout the race and so to finish where he did was great. However, these two races illustrate an important part of Jenson’s eventual title victory. In both Monaco and Spain Rubens was faster on Friday and throughout most of Saturday. Crucially, Jenson was able to pip his team mate in the dying moments and this gave him physical and mental advantages. So fantastic performances from two world class drivers yet again. Surly the season was over? Nope, Little did they know but the Brawn dominance was about to take a stark dive!

It's Official: Jenson Will Move to McLaren

Patrick Allen — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:03:10 -0500

Well the news we all knew was coming has finally arrived. World Champion Jenson Button will join fellow Brit and Champion Lewis Hamilton at McLaren for the 2010 season.

I knew it was a done deal when I read this morning that Kimi Raikkonen will be switching from F1 to the WRC next year (At least he’ll get some interesting racing there! Lets just hope Toyota joins him!).

Many people see this as the most exciting news of the season and we’ll no doubt be bombarded by every little piece of information about it until the F1 season restarts.

Apparently, Jenson thought McLaren was the best option for his career despite public warnings from the likes of Johnny Herbert and Martin Brundel—but what do they know? They’re only two of the greatest champions that never were!

Personally, I think Jenson has made a huge mistake. Many believe he will be destroyed by Hamilton next year. Whilst I still believe this won't happen until we see it and the new regulations could work in his favour, I think Jenson had a much safer drive at Merc GP.

I mean, it is all very well stating that Nico is the top driver but when push comes to shove—if Jens was 20 points ahead, MGP isn't exactly going to push for Nico to catch up! I think Jenson had a far better chance of whipping Nico than he does Hamilton. I also think that if Hamilton begins to pull away, the British press will be far more critical of Jens than they would be if he was being beaten at Merc GP.

Of course I have confidence in Jenson and I will no doubt continue to support and write about him. However, I think he has made a mistake and I cannot support McLaren. It really is down to Jens now, more than ever. If he thought this year was hard—he ain't seen nothing yet!

Jenson's Brawn Dilemma: Brawn GP Is No More

Patrick Allen — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:17:31 -0500

Over the past few weeks I have been wrongly criticizing Jenson Button for not simply putting pen to paper and re-signing with Brawn GP. I had believed that it was all about money, and whilst I understood his complaints, not being a millionaire myself, I rejected them as simply greedy demands. This obviously tainted my view of my sporting hero. However, there’s good news and bad news to now report.

The good news….I was wrong about Jenson, it isn’t all about money as far as he is concerned. The bad news……well Brawn GP is about to be turned into team Mercedes.

Yesterday it was revealed that Mercedes had bought Brawn GP. The German car Giant will now own 75% of Brawn in partnership with an Abu Dhabi investment company.

Brawn GP is no more, we will now know the Championship team as Mercedes Grand Prix.

The thing is, this new team wants German drivers. That seemed absolutely fine to me, in fact I was looking forward to having two of my favorite drivers in my team for next year (Jenson and Rosberg).

However, no doubt thanks to the friendship between Mercedes and Rosberg’s father, it looks as if Nico will be number one. The BBC website suggests that his team mate will be Nick Heidfeld.

It now looks as if Jenson will be moving to McLaren where many believe he will be dwarfed by Hamilton. I don't think that is true (as Jenson's smooth style could make all the difference next year), but I can tell you that McLaren are my Manchester United of the F1 world. For those of you who don’t know, I hate Manchester United!

This whole episode has completely spoilt the 2009 fairytale for me as Brawn GP……cough……sorry, Mercedes GP have now simply joined the ranks of big money Ferrari and McLaren. Although the team was re-branded last year as Brawn GP, it still felt like my beloved old Honda team. The driver line up was the same, Nick Fry was there ect. The re-branding never felt complete, and I liked that, but now it's over and the team will take a very new direction.

I am struggling to form sentences here to be honest with you. I actually feel the same as I did last December when it was announced that Honda were pulling out. I feel like I have now really lost my team and perhaps my interest in the sport.

I will never be a McLaren fan. I will remain a Jenson fan wherever he goes, but my weakening interest in F1 has taken an extra dive since yesterday.

Brawn GP Season Review, Pt. 2: Red Bull Throw Down the Gauntlet

Patrick Allen — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:51:28 -0500

Before launching into my second instalment of Brawn GP’s 2009 season review, I would like to have a quick rant about the situation in the team at the moment.

I have to say when it comes to BGP vs. Jenson Button, I’m actually on Brawn’s side. There are those who argue that as World Champ Jens deserves more cash, but last year the young Brit probably "earned" more money than I will ever have in my life.

He’s my hero, but he is a complete fool not signing a deal with Brawn. I mean, what are his other choices? Ferrari and Red Bull are closed, which only leaves McLaren if he wants to carry out a realistic defence away from Brawn.

The Brit has actually visited McLaren HQ recently with his manager, but Lewis Hamilton is the No. 1 driver at McLaren and probably always will be. I don’t want to get into a discussion over who is better out of the two world champions because I don’t know who would win. The fact is Hamilton would be No. 1, and this wouldn’t be good for Jens.

His only real option is Brawn GP; he owes Brawn an awful lot, and frankly I expect he can probably cope without a big shiny yacht to park in Monaco near his big shiny house! Sorry, Jenson, but if you go to McLaren, I think that’ll be it. I’ll either switch to Nando in the Ferrari, or simply switch F1 off.

CHINA 2009

Let’s forget about all that for now and launch into the next two races of 2009. Before the third race of the season in China, Brawn GP’s controversial diffuser was declared legal. They celebrated this news with strong performances in Practice One and Two, but were very disappointing in P3. Did this mean anything for qualifying?

Saturday Qualifying

It all began well with Button finishing Q1 in pole and Rubens Barrichello in second. However, the Red Bulls looked a threat, and, sure enough, they dominated Q2 and Q3 despite only putting in minimal runs. My driver of the day was Alonso, who, thanks to the extremely hard work of his team the night before, managed an astonishing qualification of Q2!

Post qualifying, many people believed that the three frontrunning Renaults were lighter than the Brawns, but I was nevertheless apprehensive about race day.

If Jens and Barrichello had qualified where they did in China 2009 in 2008 (Barrichello P4, Jens, P5) I would have been jumping for joy. However, Red Bull’s dominance, coupled with Brawn’s strange U-turn, left me feeling a little miffed.

Sunday Race

Wet conditions led to a slow and rather dull start, but when the race did eventually start it was a corker! Just before the safety car came in Renault decided to risk a potentially very beneficial strategy and pulled Alonso into the pits.

As the safety car was coming in on that lap, Alonso theoretically would be in a strong position with new tyres and fuel, even if he was at the back. Unfortunately for Alonso the strategy ultimately failed, but Renault's early decision boosted both Button and Barrichello up a place.

On lap eight the race was finally started properly. Sebastien Vettel immediately pulled away and was driving very well. After an unfortunate mistake on the last corner, Button was able to overtake Barrichello and gain third place.

After a Mark Webber pit stop, Button gained second (Barrichello third). It was now up to the Brawns to charge and open a gap between themselves and the rest of the pack.

Button did all he could, putting in personal best times, he was also helped by a safety car thanks to an incident between Kubica and Trulli. The Brawns thankfully had to pit around this time anyway.

Button pitted on lap 19, Barrichello one lap later. This strategy seemed to have worked for the Brawn drivers, who rejoined in positive positions. Button joined the pack in second (having put in fast laps before coming in) and Barrichello was seventh with many cars in front needing to come in soon.

Straight from the restart, Button was under immense pressure from third placed Mark Webber, and so began an exciting battle for second. Vettel was pulling away, and largely out of the picture, but Jens was closing occasionally whilst fending off a determined Australian.

By this stage Barrichello was going very slowly, which led many to believe he was on a one stop strategy; he wasn’t, he just couldn’t find the speed.

Meanwhile, an unlucky mistake from Button saw the Red Bull take P2. Then, just three exciting laps later, Webber made a mistake and Button was once again second! But then on the same lap into corners seven and eight Mark Webber was victorious with a nice manoeuvre.

It was brilliant driving from both men and very exciting to watch!

With five laps left, after their second stops, Button was in third and Barrichello had managed to make it to fourth.

Button finished two places up on his start. Barrichello finished where he began and strangely, despite his apparent slowness, had set the fastest lap of the race at some point. China was a fantastic race as an ex-Honda fan. The Brawns both drove competitively, but simply couldn’t match the Red Bulls.

BAHRAIN 2009

Saturday Qualifying

Brawn were never really strong, but comfortably made it through the qualifying stages. Though both drivers put in times that gave them pole positions, the Toyotas and the Red Bull of Vettel were all too often faster.

As Button stated after qualifying, the car simply wasn’t fast over single hot laps. This was a trend that would unfortunately develop into a rather huge monkey on Jenson’s back for the rest of the season. Jens finished a largely disappointing day in P4 and Barrichello P6. Reading back my old articles, I had forgotten how early Brawn’s qualifying pace dropped off.

Sunday Race

Into turn one, Hamilton overtook Button with excellent use of his KERS launch. Barrichello was a little slow off the start and after the second corner Jens was fourth with Barrichello in seventh. Then came perhaps the most important manoeuvre of the race. On lap two Jens put an absolutely perfect move on his British rival and out broke the McLaren into turn one.

In these early stages there were many exciting overtaking attempts; Barrichello overtook Kimi and the midfield battle was edge of the seat stuff! The two leading Toyotas began to pull away from Jens, but the determined Briton pushed on. Luckily for Button, Hamilton was now backing up the field, which included a dangerous Vettel (though this was also bad news for Barrichello).

Around lap eleven Glock pulled into the pits, promoting Jens to P2 and Barrichello to P5. Just one lap later, Trulli too pitted from the front. It was now down to Jens to push.

The Briton was initially not fast enough, but a fantastic manoeuvre from Alonso on Trulli gave Jens some breathing space.

By lap 15 after their first stops, Button was up to P3 (thanks to an Alonso stop) and Barrichello was in P9 struggling with a determined Piquet. Barrichello was beginning to get frustrated as he was faster, but the KERS in the Renault proved problematic. After Vettel stopped on lap 18, Barrichello finally found a way past Piquet which promoted Brawn’s number two to P8; (Jens was now P2). Now on a mission, Barrichello took Glock on lap 20 for a well-earnt P7.

After Raikkonen’s stop on lap 21, Jens was once again in front and once again had to prove himself. He drove perfectly, and thanks to Trulli struggling on medium compound tyres, Vettel and Hamilton were being held up.

After a storming performance Barrichello pitted on lap 26 (to rejoin in clear air), and the Brazilian charger rejoined in eighth.

There were questions about tyre management and at times the race looked tight, but in the end, Button had done enough to comfortably win it. An outstanding performance from Button saw him take his third out of four victories. Whilst Barrichello had been consistently fast, his strategy had not been quite right and P5 was the best he could do.

These two races were interesting. In both cases the Brawns qualified relatively poorly, but were able to come back and finish well. Red Bull were able to stake their claim with a phenomenal one two in China, but no body could beat Button in Bahrain.

Brawn GP Season Review Part One: The Brawn Supremacy

Patrick Allen — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:29:48 -0500

Here is my first instalment of my season review of Brawn GP’s marvellous 2009 season. I think I will usually do three races at a time (as I did for my 2008 Honda season review).

However, this being the first instalment and rather lengthy, I think I’ll make this one the first two Grand Prix of the season. As a bloke who’s supported Honda since Jenson joined in 2003, I’ve seen the lows of 2005 and 2007/08, and I’ve seen the highs of 2004 and late 2006. However, nothing could prepare me for the 2009 World Championship!

AUSTRALIA 2009

After losing Honda in December 2008, the lads at Brackley showed us that they could make a quick car. The BGP001 blew everyone away in the last pre-season test which led to many placing high expectations on the shoulders of this brand new team.

However, the 2009 season began as it would continue…steeped in controversy! Brawn GP, along with Williams and Toyota, were told that all of their hard work may well have been for nothing! A soured beginning to Brawn GP’s first race saw the new car in front of the Stewards on a tense Thursday.

Rival teams accused the three 2008 midfielders of finding a loophole in F1 regulations which allowed them to run a different diffuser and possibly shoot them up the grid to become front runners.

The Albert Park stewards ruled in favour of Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams, but Ferrari, Red Bull and Renault then lodged an official protest, questioning the legality of the designs. This meant a probable hearing of the FIA’s International Court of Appeal.

Brawn GP didn’t let this news bring them down though and Friday practice proved to be another mesmerising event. Both cars finished the practice sessions in positions that were unthinkable just one year earlier.

Saturday Qualifying

When questioned on Friday as to whether Jenson saw himself as the favourite for Sunday he replied, "Well I still think of us as the underdogs really." Considering those thoughts I can only guess that Jenson was as happy as I was to see that he had stuck his car on the front of the grid for the first time since Melbourne 2006.

Button’s achievement also marked the first time any team had been on pole position with their first car built since Jackie Stewart for Tyrrell in Canada in 1970.

In qualification rounds one, two and three, the Brawns finished first and second. Rubens initially had Jenson’s number but a fantastic last session from the Brit proved too much for his team mate. Rubens was able to put in the fastest time of qualifying though with a mesmerising 1:24:783 (Jenson’s pole time was 1:26:505).

Sunday Race

Jenson stormed off into the lead whilst poor old Rubens’s car went into anti-stall throwing the unfortunate Brazilian back to fourth place. The two Ferraris took advantage of KERS and got off to a rocket start, but after three laps Jenson was 4.4 seconds ahead.

As the coverage continued, it became clear that Rubens had been in a scrap in turn one and had damaged his front wing. This, on top of the immense pressure Vettel was putting on Button from the onset nearly killed me!

The race then turned into a head to head between Button and Vettel, with each trading fastest sectors. Whilst the battle at the front developed, Rubens had some work to do. He first dispatched Niko Rosberg and then Kimi Raikkonen. However, Rubens again damaged his car passing the Fin leading me to believe the Brazilian’s laps were numbered!

Jenson put in fast enough laps to beat Vettel in the pit stops and Rubens had got up to P7 by the end of his stop. When Kubica joined the front runners thanks to a good tyre choice, the fight turned into a three way battle for the win with the gap getting ever smaller and my heart leaping from my chest!

The contest for P1 got better and better with Vettel eating away at Button whilst holding off Kubica. I truly thought Kubica was fast enough to take both leaders when a mistake made trying to pass Vettel took both runners out! An absolutely fascinating end to the race saw Jenson lead the last three laps behind a safety car.

For the first time since Fanjio in 1954 Jenson Button won a race for a debuting car! He thanked everyone, and looked moved on the top spot of the podium. Rubens was like an excited little boy! Apologising to Ross Brawn about the damage he had caused to the car!

A great weekend topped with my hero on the top spot and my team leading the constructors!

Since 2006, the race winner at Melbourne has won the World Title, and 2009 was no different!

MALAYSIA 2009

Saturday Qualifying

Both Brawns seemed to struggle in Q1, but after some worrying moments Rubens finished the first session on top. Jenson did a good job to finish P7, but yet again his team mate was doing a better job early on.

However, this time Jenson didn’t wait until Q3 to impress. The Brit had small fights with Trulli, but finished Q2 convincingly first with a a mesmerising 1:33:784 (which proved to be the fastest time set on Saturday!). Rubens was strong but couldn’t go any higher than P6.

The final session was a battle between Jenson, Rosberg, Trulli, Vettel, and Rubens. The Brazilian Brawn man was initially fast, but he then dropped off the boil and could only finish P4. Meanwhile Jenson yet again shocked everyone by racing to his first ever back to back pole position.

Sunday Race

With clouds covering the sky the prospect of early rain was high. The race began with a very big worry for we Brawn fans as Jenson had his front wing and nose changed, (as the original nose intended for the race had been left out in the rain and been damaged).

All this aside, the start was mixed for Brawn GP. Rubens shot up the pack and put himself in fifth place. Jenson, on the other hand, struggled to get away and fell at the mercy to a brilliant Rosberg start. By the first corner Jenson was in P4 fighting with Alonso, and Rubens was in P6.

Alonso and Button fought it out until turn 13, when the Brit put an excellent move on the double world champ to take third place. Both Brawns then went on a bit of a charge!

Rosberg was flying out at front, but the Brawns put in fastest laps, Rubens on lap 8 and Jenson on lap 11. When Rosberg pitted on lap 15, Jens was in second and Rubens third. Just two laps later, thanks to Trulli pitting, Jenson was once again in front.

Then Jenson showed us why he deserved the title by putting in super times when it really mattered. Jenson entered a world of his own and put in two outstanding laps before pitting for new dry tyres. In fact, Jenson had driven so well that he re-joined in front of his competitors after his stop.

Rubens was first, but still needed to stop. Jenson had done a fantastic job and was effectively first!

On lap 20 Rubens pitted, but unfortunately struggled to get away with gear troubles; he re-joined in P4. Then on lap 21 the heavens opened and all of the teams dived into the pits for wet tyres.

And that is where it all went a bit mental! Both Brawns came back in for intermediate tyres after watching Glock excel on them, but both were also forced to fit full wets just a few laps later. Jenson eventually ended up in P1 and Rubnes found himself in P5, the safety car was called out and after a few spins the race was red flagged.

Despite keeping us all on tenterhooks, the race was never re-started and for the first time in his career, Jenson was a back to back winner! From weak starts, both drivers excelled, the team made genius decisions and Jenson and Rubens led the Driver’s Championship after the first two rounds.

After two Grand Prix weekends, it looked as if 2009 was going to be decided very quickly. Despite initial speed from Rubens, Jenson seemed to come best on Sunday. I didn’t know what to expect for the future, all I knew was that I was thrilled at its progress so far!

Minichamps Restores My Faith

Patrick Allen — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:34:24 -0500

I wondered if there was any point in writing this article, but I decided that I had given a slightly wrong message out in my previous rant.

As I have amended in my original article (The disgusting side of F1…..yet again!), I became aware after my fit of rage that it seems the £100 Jenson Championship set is a company exclusive. Needless to say my argument still stands as people will always milk us fans out of all the cash in our wallets!

However, I feel I might have painted minichamps in a negative light. If you’ve read my first article you’ll know I contacted my supplier and got a less than helpful response.

Well, soon after, I contacted minichamps directly and asked them if they had plans to release a 1:43 scale Button from Brazil (1:43 hopefully equalling affordable).

Minichamps were quick to reply "yes we have…..".

I wanted to get this quick article out primarily to correct mistakes I made through anger, but also to show that there are some companies that seem to care about fans. I’m the first to admit that the minichamps models aren’t cheap. However, the company nearly always releases an expensive model and a cheaper version. This is important, and I hope I speak for F1 fans in appreciating it.

I still believe that F1 on the whole overcharges us for stuff that will be unthinkably cheaper when next seasons products come around. I suppose you could argue that this makes good commercial sense, but where would F1 be without their fans?!

The disgusting side of F1…..yet again!

Patrick Allen — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:35:57 -0500

As many regular readers of Bleacher Report will know I am, and have been, a massive Honda fan since Jenson Button joined back in 2003. However, I am writing this article in a fit of rage!

From 2004 onwards I have been collecting every Jenson Button minichamps replica that I could afford. I bought the first pole version from 2004, and his first win model from Hungary 2006. These were for the high points, and yes I even bought the 2007 earth car, his awful 2008 RA108 and the less than impressive 2005 BAR.

Why did I buy these? Because I am a loyal Jenson Button fan, but I fear my loyalty is going to take a huge dive very soon! This article simply adds more and more evidence to the fact that Formula One has separated itself even further from the fans.

This year minichamps have announced more Jenson Button models than ever before. If you so choose you can buy the following:

Button from Australia

Button from Malaysia

Button from Bahrain

Button form Spain

Button final livery

Button two car presentation set from Melbourne

The 1:43 scale models will set you back £35. These are expensive, but I can just about afford them. Next we have the 1:18 scale models at a wallet strangling £60.

For the 2009 season that I had waited for and enjoyed so much, I decided to push the boat out a bit. I ordered the Australian model, and the final livery version, with a view to ordering a special championship model. Of course I looked forward to the final model more than any other.

When I heard that for some ridiculous reason the final livery version would be Jens from Silverstone I cancelled so fast it made my head spin. Why minichamps chose that race, (the beginning of Jens’s slump) I just do not know but that’s not what has driven me insane.

I contacted my supplier of F1 models and they assured me that a Championship model similar to the Hamilton model would be released soon. However, I have turned on my computer today to learn that the Jenson Championship car will be an absurd £100!! (I have since learnt that the £100 Championship car is not produced by Minichamps, but is an amendment of their model).

The car will be 1:18 scale (god knows which GP it will be from, although the picture is of the bloody British GP again!) and the extra money you’ll be paying, will be for a piece of metal with some etching on it.

I’m sure I’m not alone in the fact that I can’t possibly afford this and it makes me sick that I will most likely miss the opportunity to have a model that represents my hero’s championship year.

When I contacted my supplier to tell them how I felt, they merely replied that their 1:18 Championship models had sold for the past 10 years and that there were plenty of 1:43 scale models available on their site. HELLO you’ve totally missed the point!

They told me that all their fancy etching wouldn’t work on a 1:43 version….as if I didn’t realise that! All I want is an affordable model commemorating Jens’s achievement. To be honest with you all they need to do is change the packaging of a regular model.

Most 1:43 special models simply add fancy writing, change the backing picture or add a special box. I was able to buy a 1:43 version of Jenson’s first win….what is the difference?

They could even make their precious extra pounds by charging you for their tiny changes. I know its possible as well, as the very same website has 1:43 scale Championship Alonsos from 2005 and 2006!

To be honest with you, I still don’t know what to do. I wrote this article to vent some anger and reading it back I don’t argue as well as I would with a normal blood pressure! I guess I just want to know whether you feel the same way….is this another example of F1 bleeding the fans dry or am I just being tight?

Button Third at Final Race, Poor Rubens Misses Out on Championship Runner Up

Patrick Allen — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:23:42 -0500

Well, I’m not entirely sure how to present my opinion of this race to you. My original opener was along the lines of, what a shame to come from such an exciting race in Brazil and finish the year with another F1 flashy procession. Those final laps between Webber and Jenson may well blur peoples ultimate opinions of that race, but if you ask me, we only got about five laps of true excitement today.

The start of the race set a precedent really. A clean getaway from all of the cars and next to no overtakes. Rubens was knocked by Webber into turn one, and although he suffered some damage to his front wing, he didn’t lose out too badly.

Jenson was all over Rubens from the start and managed to squeeze past on the first lap probably around turn 11 (the manoeuvre was never shown). Jenson gained P4, and it looked as if Rubens was slipping back into the clutches of Kubica who had done a good job of passing Trulli.

Kubica moved in on Rubens, Jenson moved in on Webber, and the pack closed in on a surprisingly slow Hamilton, but there were no overtakes.

By lap five, Hamilton had found some speed, but the Red Bulls were fast, too. Jenson and Rubens both looked safe and we were well and truly in the realms of procession racing. Sure it was good news in a way that Hamilton wasn’t pulling away, but it looked as if Vettel was only going to pass him through a pit stop.

Rubens made his first stop on lap 16. He took on 9.0 seconds of fuel and rejoined in P10. A couple of laps later, Hamilton and then Jens took to the pits. Jenson rejoined in P8 after taking on 10.2 seconds of fuel, but he was instantly under pressure from Kobayashi.

The one stopping Japanese rookie put some pro pressure on his Brazil nemesis and quickly took Jenson’s P8 after a few exciting corners. Jenson had managed to rejoin in front of Rubens, but being passed by Kobayashi wasn’t exactly brilliant.

Vettel was so fast that his first stop rejoined him right back at the front. After their first stops Vettel was the man to beat; Webber looked strong and the two Brawns were doing a good job holding on to P5 (Jens) and P7 (Rubens).

Around lap 20, we got our first really bad bit of news. Hamilton’s poor pace was explained by the unfortunate Brit having to retire. Although there didn’t seem to be a physical problem with his car, the computer had flashed up with warning signs and it was thought best that he retire.

We later learned that his right rear breaks were finished. An unfortunate finale for Lewis then, but I think he’s earned himself a hell of a lot more fans in 2009.

The McLaren’s exit promoted Jens and Rubens but Kobayashi was doing a good job in between the Red Bulls and Brawns. The young Toyota driver pitted on lap 30 having done a stellar job, but he wouldn’t provide any more troubles for the front runners.

With 20 laps left, my reason for loving Alonso was illustrated. The Spaniard put Kobayashi under pressure and excellently made a successful pass for P10. This was a great manoeuvre, but it was ultimately pointless as it was Alonso’s in lap!

Thanks Nando for giving us some actual bloody racing!

On lap 40 Webber pitted for 7.6 seconds and rejoined in clear air, P6. With 14 laps to go, Rubens took on 7.2 seconds of fuel and rejoined in P5 to quietly finish his race.

Jenson and Vettel stopped on the same lap (one after Rubens). Jenson took on 5.9 seconds of fuel and exited the pits to easily hold on to P3.

I thought that was game over then, Red Bull first and Second, the Brawns closing out the top four. However, on the soft tyres Jenson was on fire and with nothing to lose he pushed like crazy in an attempt to pass Webber.

I must admit I didn’t think it would be as close and exciting as it proved to be. It took Jens a few laps to reel Webber in, but with just two laps to go the racing was brilliant. Jenson attacked like a Champion and Webber defended fantastically.

I only wish we could have had a few more laps. I think it was those few laps that saved the 2009 season from ending in a very dull way indeed. Rubens had a very quiet evening and although he did well to finish P5, I think he’ll be gutted that he didn’t end 2009 at least in P2.

Jenson finished his season how he began it, on absolute fire! He looked as excited on the podium today as he did in Melbourne and that was lovely.

It has been a long season, with good times and bad ones, but as a long time Honda fan I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I will certainly enjoy writing my season review this year!

The season should have finished in Brazil, but I imagine Abu Dhabi will prove to be a great success. I don’t know who we’ll see in Brawn colours next year, but I think Jens and Rubes have earned decent drives wherever they end up.

Well done Vettel and Webber today and well done again, Brawn GP, Jenson and Rubens...roll on 2010!

Hamilton Best, But Brawn in Strong Positions for the 2009 Finale

Patrick Allen — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 10:31:01 -0400

I wasn’t exactly surprised to see Hamilton finish the 2009 qualifying season on top. McLaren has looked strong all weekend so far, so the race for positions two downwards was what I was concentrating on. Could Brawn finish on a high with front row results, or was it going to be another case of missed chances in qualifying?

Qualifying One

Alguersuari was out first, followed a couple of minutes later by Jenson and Rubens.

The young Spaniard set the first time of 1:46:161, whilst Jenson’s 1:45:666 put him P3, and Rubens’s 1:47:570 put him in P12.

Both Brawns significantly improved on their second runs. Jenson took his championship car to P1 with a 1:41:916, whilst Rubens got himself up to P3 with a 1:42:128.

However, as time progressed Hamilton took his place as top driver, and Jens and Rubes slipped down to P7 (Jenson) and P10 (Rubens).

With five minutes left, Jenson had fallen to P8 and Rubens was now looking a little shirty in P12. It was all OK in the end though, as Rubens put in a P6 time, and Jenson wet the appetites of the British press by finishing second to Hamilton.

Q1 Results

JB: P2: 1:40:378

RB: P6: 1:40:574

Out: Alonso!! (unfortunately, just wasn’t fast enough, simple as that), Liuzi, Sutil, Grosjean, and Fisichella

Qualifying 2

This time it was Kovalainen who led the pack out and set a first time of 1:40:983, four minutes in.

Rubens’s first time of 1:43:547 struck him in P6, and Jenson’s 1:45:875 put him P10.

Just as they had done in the previous session, both Brawns rose thanks to second runs; Jenson was now P4, and Rubens P5.

As the session developed it became a fight between Red Bull and McLaren. Jenson did get himself up to P1 with a 1:40:201, but his time on top was short lived. Vettel pipped him at the end, but with no drama both Brawns comfortably progressed into Q3.

Q2 Results

JB: P3: 1:40:148

RB: P6: 1:40:421

Out: Raikkonen (another shocker!), Kobayashi, Kovalainen (gear troubles), Nakajima, and Alguersuari

Qualifying 3

On his 21st birthday, Buemi led the pack out and opened proceedings with a 1:46:967. Jenson had reportedly had tire warmth issues in Q2, and despite being strong most of the weekend, seemed to drop back a bit in Q3.

Rubens’s first time was a 1:47:273 which kicked him off in P4. Meanwhile Jenson’s 1:48:167 saw the Brit take P6.

Both Brawns put in strong performances, Rubens got up to P2 with a 1:42:442, and both had short stints occupying the top spot. However, the day was always going to belong to one man.

Despite strong charges from the Red Bulls and Rubens, Hamilton effortlessly claimed top spot and put himself in a prime position for the final race of the year. Rubens finished his qualifying season in P4, and Jenson will start one place back in P5.

Q3 Results

RB: P4: 1:41:786

JB: P5: 1:41:892

I don’t really know what to say about this qualifying session. Of course, I’m pleased to see both Brawns perform well, but I can’t help but tell you that I felt incredibly bored throughout qualifying today. I really can’t put my finger on why, and would be interested to know what other people think…

Regardless of my feelings, Jenson and Rubens have put themselves in encouraging positions for tomorrow’s race. I just hope all this ludicrous amount of money spent will give us more than just a night time scalextric race!

World Champion Jenson Button Tops the Final Practice Session of 2009

Patrick Allen — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 07:22:50 -0400

After a promising show yesterday in practices one and two, it was really lovely to see Jenson sticking himself up there to top the last practice sheets of his Championship year.

However, McLaren were strong throughout all three sessions and Lewis would almost certainly have beaten Jenson if he had had a couple more laps at the end to bring his tyres up to a decent temperature.

Raikkonen opened the proceedings and was followed out by various drivers to complete their sighter laps. Jens and Rubens were both out within about five minutes of the session's start.

The first time of the day was set by Fisichella (1:48:028), but he was quickly toppled by Raikkonen.

Rubens’s first time of 1:47:437 put him in P15 of 15 with about 38 minutes left. Both Brawns were out on the super soft tyres to get a good race balance. This might suggest that Brawn GP are going to go aggressively this weekend and try to use the softies for two stints on Sunday.

Jenson’s first time of 1:45:377 put him P15 of 17, whilst Rubens improved and got himself up to P9.

Jenson stole Rubens’s P9 on his second run before climbing to P1 with a 1:42:397. The current Champion didn’t stay on top for long though as his predecessor soon knocked him back down to P2.

With just under 30 minutes left, Jenson was P4, Rubens, P14 and Hamilton was still P1 on a 1:41:270.

Jens got back up to P2 with a pretty quick time but he was losing out in the middle sector to Hamilton’s KERS.

Rubens was lapping around P11 at this time and I think he was going for heavy runs. With 15 minutes left, Jens had fallen to P11 and Rubens was now P14.

I thought they were going to stay around these positions but with literally two minutes left Jenson got up to P7 and then P1 with a 1:40:625. Rubens, too, was going very quickly and after getting to P4 he was looking as if he would pip his team mate right at the end. He pushed hard but finished up in P3 just behind Hamilton.

When Brawn GP were asked if Jenson was driving better because the pressure was off, the team answered that that reason could explain 50 percent of their speed. The other 50 percent comes from a car really liking the circuit.

Whilst this is probably encouragingly true, I think the McLarens may well run away with it this weekend; but Jenson and Rubens will sure give em hell!

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps

1 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 1:40.625 21

2 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:40.627 0.002 18

3 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 1:40.907 0.282 20

4 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:40.934 0.309 22

5 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:41.241 0.616 18

6 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:41.263 0.638 20

7 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:41.310 0.685 23

8 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:41.322 0.697 20

9 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:41.372 0.747 22

10 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:41.373 0.748 23

11 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:41.403 0.778 19

12 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:41.478 0.853 22

13 10 Kamui Kobayashi Toyota 1:41.499 0.874 24

14 21 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:41.675 1.050 20

15 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:41.682 1.057 15

16 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:41.897 1.272 19

17 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:42.156 1.531 21

18 8 Romain Grosjean Renault 1:42.213 1.588 19

19 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 1:42.351 1.726 23

20 11 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari No time 0

Brawn GP look hot in Abu Dhabi Practice 1

Patrick Allen — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:58:59 -0400

As we head to the final round of the 2009 Formula One season, I’m gutted that I’ll miss the second practice session! Especially as Jackie Stewart will be co-commentating!

However, as the likes of Vettel and Rubens know, not everything can go your way in F1, and at least I’ll get to see Practice 3. Anyway, on with Practice 1.

Well, my first impressions of the new circuit are mixed. Much like the whole corporate crap that comes with Singapore, I’m supremely turned off by the very money orientated aspect of this track.

Yes, you need loads of money to stage an F1 weekend, but I can’t help but think the whole thing seems particularly superficial (but saying that, Monaco only seems different because of its history). I must admit, the track itself does look pretty attractive though.

Mark Webber was the first man out to try the new track for real (as opposed to on an X-Box!). It took three minutes for us to get a first look at the new World Champion on the black stuff, followed four minutes later by his teammate.

Alguersuari eventually set a first time of 1:50:886 and despite expectations of lots of running (to get to know the track), the early stages of P1 were as quiet as anywhere else this season.

In fact, it took a further 10 minutes just to get two times on the board. With 30 minutes gone, there were five times up, and Buemi was at the top.

With just 51 minutes to go, the closest thing we got to a Brawn Driver time was Rosberg, who now occupied the top spot with a 1:46:117.

The man he looks likely to replace began his day in P15 of 15. However, Rubens’s second time of 1:48:508 took him from P17 back up to P15, which wasn’t too bad early on.

Jenson’s 1:50:601, with 44 minutes left, stuck him in last place. But he soon climbed to P10. The Brit had a small spin going into turns 18 and 19 but he still looked as if he’ll be a fast one this weekend.

A 1:46:276 from Rubens got him nicely up to P11 and rather conveniently with 36 minutes left the three prospective Brawn GP drivers lined up P9 (Rosberg), P10 (Jenson), and P11 (Rubens).

After returning to the pits and undergoing pretty thorough set up changes, both Brawns rejoined the action. With 20 minutes left, Jens rose first to P8, and then to P1 with a 1:44:524.

The next four laps couldn’t have been more perfect for British, or erm ...cough ... Swiss and Monacanese fans, (or whatever the hell you call a person from Monaco). Jenson and Hamilton traded pole position before Lewis finally put in a time that would eventually earn him top spot for the whole session.

With 12 minutes to go, Rubens began his climb up the standings. He first went to P10, then P4, before finishing in P3 with a 1:44:207.

It stayed as McLaren, Brawn, Brawn right up until the dying seconds when Vettel popped up to split Jenson and Rubens.

As I said earlier, I’m gutted that I’ll miss P2 as P1 was a good’un for Brawn GP. However, that’s some great news for me to take away. Many commentators see this as Hamilton’s race to lose, but if P1 is anything to go by, he’ll have stiff competition from the Brawn boys.

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps

1 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:43.939 18

2 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 1:44.035 0.096 20

3 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:44.153 0.214 28

4 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 1:44.207 0.268 23

5 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:44.667 0.728 23

6 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:44.687 0.748 32

7 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:44.688 0.749 14

8 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:44.805 0.866 25

9 11 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:44.955 1.016 33

10 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:44.958 1.019 25

11 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:44.988 1.049 22

12 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:45.123 1.184 20

13 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:45.649 1.710 27

14 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:45.679 1.740 25

15 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:45.704 1.765 27

16 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:45.865 1.926 23

17 21 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:46.239 2.300 22

18 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 1:46.267 2.328 26

19 10 Kamui Kobayashi Toyota 1:46.364 2.425 28

20 8 Romain Grosjean Renault 1:46.411 2.472 27

Jenson Button and Brawn GP Are World Champions

Patrick Allen — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:34:35 -0400

I can hardly type this article in between my absolute tears of joy! To any of you out there who thought that Jenson couldn’t do it, to those of you who thought he wasn’t worthy, the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix has proved you wrong.

That was the greatest Formula One race I have ever had the pleasure of watching and it was I have ever seen Jenson Button drive.

It all could have gone so differently. Jenson lined up in 14th position, with the dangerously fast Vettel just one place behind him thanks to a Liuzzi penalty.

My heart thumped as I remembered the usual chaos that Brazil brings, and this year was no different!

As Rubens made a beautiful start off the line I watched on the edge of my seat as Jenson carefully snaked around turn one and then turn two.

However, just behind Jenson, three cars including Vettel and Kovalainen were side by side, the two cars tapped each other and Kovalainen was sent spinning. Fisichella darted off the track to keep out of the early tangle, but there more action else where.

The camera cut to a Toyota smashing off the track, then we saw another car in ruin and finally the broken remains of Sutil’s Force India. As if this wasn’t enough, a small (but hilarious) fight broke out between Trulli and Sutil.

The safety car was out but Jenson had fantastically managed to pass Alguersuari and was up to eighth! As Rubens lapped comfortably at the front, Raikkonen and Kovalainen took to the pits.

In a rush to get the McLaren out ahead of the Ferrari, the silver car ended up leaving it’s box with the fuel hose still attached! Fuel was spluttering everywhere and when they hit Kimi’s exhausts we got a fire display!

The Ferrari eventually won the pit lane race and it was up to the Brawn GP mechanics to free Kovalainen of his optional addition.

It soon became clear when the absolute madness subsided that Alonso had been the third casualty of Sutil and Trulli’s tussle.

The safety car came back into the pits on lap four and Jenson was all over Grosjean for seventh. The Brit put a magnificently brave manoeuvre on the Frenchman and after swapping positions through turns five and six it was the Brawn man who came out on top.

Vettel had made a fantastic start as well and soon dispatched Grosjean to move ever closer to his title rival. Jenson meanwhile was moving up to the back of Nakajima. In another daring and exciting moment Jenson had gained another place after taking the Japanese driver into turn one.

Jenson’s next task was to pass Kobayashi and this would not be a walk in the park. Of course I realize I’m neglecting Rubens at the moment. The Brazilian was doing exactly what he needed to when on lap seven he went fastest of all.

However, Webber was fast as well and was looking very threatening! Back to Jens now and despite being all over the Toyota in front, he simply couldn’t get by.

By lap 16 Jenson had set the fastest lap of 1:14:293 and Jens was beginning to be backed into the clutches of Nakajima and Vettel.

Rubens darted into the pits for his first stop on lap 21. This would prove to be a key moment as unfortunately the Brazilian was released into terrible traffic in eighth position.

Rubens day went from bad to worse when Vettel capitalized on the heavier Brawn and took eighth place. Rubens then fell back into the clutches of Hamilton, and after a pit stop from Kubica rejoined the Pole ahead of Rubens it looked really bad!

Jenson was all over Kobayashi and complaining of foul play from the Toyota man. Still on lap 24 he finally managed to dispatch his rival and moved into second (thanks to pit stops ahead of him).

Jens now had to absolutely push and he knew it. He radioed in to say "let’s go! Let’s go!", really showing his emotions.

Meanwhile we got some great overtaking action from Kobayashi and Nakajima. Webber pitted on lap 26 for 8.3 seconds and rejoined in first place. Poor old Rosberg made Jenson’s day soon after by retiring with gear issues.

Jenson’s first stop came on lap 42. He stopped for 7.5 seconds and rejoined in 10th place. Rubens had made his way up to fourth now but had Hamilton all over him.

Soon after Jenson’s stop Nakajima crashed out as a victim to Kobayashi’s now visually dangerous driving. The Japanese rookie was darting from left to right in a lower formula style.

Jenson was again on form when from eighth he took Buemi into turn one and got himself into seventh! Vettel pitted on lap 37 for 9.2 seconds and thanks to a slight wheel issue rejoined behind Jens.

By lap 40 Webber led, Rubes was second and Jenson had got up to sixth. Four laps later Jenson was up to fourth thanks to stops in front of him.

Rubens took to the pits for what we thought would be his last stop with 21 laps left. He took on 6.3 seconds of fuel and rejoined in sixth.

Webber was in one lap later and rejoined in first. With 17 tense laps left, Jenson came in and completed a lovely 6.0 second stop. The Brit rejoined in sixth but was instantly overtaken by Kovalainen.

Vettel stopped just one lap later than this and had done enough to rejoin comfortably ahead of Jenson. The young German drove a blinder today, but he wasn’t the only one to do so!

Rubens was in third, but Jenson was at that moment the World Champion. The Brazilian Brawn man must have sunk into his seat when with just 12 laps left, Kovalainen pitted and promoted Jens to sixth.

It wasn’t going to get any better for Rubes either as during a fight with Hamilton for that last podium position, he suffered a puncture! This really spoilt an otherwise fantastic race as Rubens had no choice but to pit and take on new tyres.

This action meant that it was all over and all Jens had to do was finish the next eight laps. He did and by finishing in fifth, Jenson Button won the Formula One World Drivers Title for 2009. Rubens did his bit as well by finishing eighth and the Constructors Title went to Brawn GP.

Many doubted my Formula One hero’s talent (myself included at some stages), but today Jenson Button has proved to everyone that he truly deserves his title.

Ten years ago a young playboy named Jenson Button scored his first ever Championship points driving for Williams at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Now, older, wiser, and hairier, that young man from Somerset is the World Champion.

As Rubens Claims Pole, Jenson Looks Anything but Championship Material!

Patrick Allen — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:06:47 -0400

The terrible conditions that meant that there were only 13 minutes of practice in the morning, continued to cause problems for qualifying this afternoon.

When we finally did finish the day, after long delays due to dangerous conditions, I was simply left speechless.

Rubens did a mammoth job and thoroughly deserves his pole position. As for Jenson, well, those of you who have read my stuff before know what I think of him, but after today, I just can’t say anything really. A terrible, terrible performance.

Qualifying One:

The track was wet, the sky was dark, but the session began on time and was led by Vettel. Jens was out early too but Rubens was strangely staying in the pits.

Vettel set the first time of 1:39:694 but his lap had been tense. Just over five minutes in the session was red flagged when Fisichella aqua-planed and then stalled when exiting turn one. Initially we thought the red flag was due to Fisi’s off, but it later became clear that the session was ended because of the dangerous conditions.

At this time only seven cars had set times and Jenson was in a net P13, Rubens, P19! At this stage many commentators were commending the likes of Vettel for going out early and at least getting a time set. However, the fortunes of the young German were about to plummet!

The session restarted at 14:18 local time and this time Hamilton led the pack out. The conditions were marginally better, but the drivers looked less than comfortable out on track.

Hamilton set a time of 1:27:473 which was over 12 seconds faster than Vettel’s time. This did show a marked improvement and many drivers pushed that little bit harder.

Rubens was initially strong which was encouraging after his slowness in practice. The Brazilian’s first lap was impressive, but his second was better as he now sat in P2.

Jens was more reserved in his start. The Brit put in an initial P7 time before climbing to P4 and then setting a time of 1:24:930 to claim P3.

Just as they had in final practice, the Williams then began to dominate and locked out P1 and P2.

The rain began to fall more heavily again with just under seven minutes left, but the big news was that Vettel was out and struggling. The German title challenger was having immense trouble with his dry set up and simply couldn’t push hard enough. I personally think he should be commended for staying on the track.

Jenson meanwhile had fallen to P11, but a 1:24:297 got him safely back up to P4. With five soggy minutes left, Rubens was up to P5 and Jenson was in P6.

Brawn’s luck really came to life when two of their biggest threats simply couldn’t cope with the conditions. Hamilton struggled to even stay on the track and aqua-planed off in turn five, whilst Vettel’s charge was not enough. Both drivers returned to the pits without finishing their last laps.

As the rain fell harder still the session finished with Rubens and Jens in pretty good positions, and their biggest threat furious in P16.

Q1 Results

RB: P5: 1:24:100

JB: P5: 1:24:297

Out

Vettel, Kovalainen, Hamilton, Heidfeld, Fisichella.

Qualifying Two:

After long delays Q2 began at 14:56 and was overshadowed not only by the black clouds but the raised eyebrows of many drivers and commentators. The conditions simply weren’t safe enough and although Jens and Rubens were out on track early, nobody managed to set a time before Luizzi aqua-planed off at turn one. The Italian’s car was wrecked and the session was red flagged just three minutes in!

The session was finally restarted at 16:00 local time and Rosberg led the pack out. With nine minutes left Rosberg set his first time of 1:21:815.

Rubens’s first time was a 1:22:777 which put him in P4. Jenson had gone for a steady first lap and started Q2 in P8. The Brit then dropped to P11 before clawing his way up to P10.

The Williams team were the first to take the risk of fitting intermediate tyres with six minutes left, but the other teams soon followed suit.

Rubens meanwhile had impressively got up to P3 whilst Jenson floundered around P10. Then came what may well prove to be a championship changing moment.

Rubens came into the pits and fitted the inters whilst Jenson stayed out. Jenson made absolutely no improvement and simply wasn’t fast enough. He could only manage P14 with a 1:22:704.

It is important to stress that Rubens didn’t exactly sprint into Q3. The Brazilian limped across the line to finish in P10 right on the edge but that was all he needed to do.

Q3 results

RB: P10: 1:21:659

JB: P14: 1:22:704

Out

Kobayashi, Alguersuari, Grosjean, Jenson, Liuzzi

Qualifying 3:

Webber led the pack out for qualifying three but it was Buemi who looked fastest initially. Rubens put in a first time of 1:25:791, which gave him P4, but he looked like he was on a mission.

The Brazilian shot to P1 with a 1:21:167, but soon dropped down to P6 after great laps from other drivers including Rosberg, Trulli, and Webber. Rubens was not giving up though and with the Brazilian fans serving as his KERS button he thrashed his BGP around the track like a white stallion!

Rubens took pole, only to be knocked off by Webber, but then Rubens went even faster!

He eventually crossed the line with a 1:19:576 and it was pretty much a 'they think it’s all over...'it is now' moment!

Rubens Barrichello claimed his first pole position in five years, and what a critical one it may prove to be. He was absolutely awesome in Q3 and I think he thoroughly deserved his final position.

Meanwhile a likely gearbox change for Luizzi will promote Vettel to P15, just one place behind Jenson. I really don’t know how to conclude this article as primarily a Jenson fan...but a Brawn fanatic.

If you ask me, Jenson has done nothing to prove his critics wrong in the last few grand prix weekends. He complained of understeer after Q2 but I feel he should have gone for those inters. Sure, he has pulled out strong performances on Sundays, but his Saturday pace has cost him countless chances to wrap up the title. Where the bloody hell has his mojo gone!!??

Rubens on the other hand has really found something in recent weeks and he is the man to stop now. Of course I can’t predict a result tomorrow with all the weather issues today. However, I can categorically conclude that Rubens has done way more than he needed to, and Jenson has well and truly shot himself in the foot...with a bloody rocket!

Hey, at least Bernie will get his grand finale...

Brawn GP and Their 12 Minutes of Practice Three!

Patrick Allen — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:27:36 -0400

At 11:00 Brazilian time (15:00 British time), the skies around Sao Paulo were as black as could be. The rain was falling and the session was delayed as the medical helicopter was unable to take off.

There was only one hour available due to FIA rules, which state that there must be no less than two hours between practice three and qualifying. By 11:30 the rain was still falling, thunder was bellowing out around the circuit, and I was becoming ever more confident that we weren’t going to see any action at all!

But what did this mean for Brawn? Well, it wasn’t good news! Although Jenson had looked pretty good yesterday, neither driver had actually found a balance set up for qualifying and Rubens had looked extremely shaky in practice two.

Thankfully, with just 15 minutes to go, the session was opened by Fisichella, Kovalainen, and Rosberg. The Italian Ferrari driver went straight back into the pits, so it was the McLaren of Kovalainen that set the first time of 1:31:716.

The Fin’s time was quickly bettered by Rosberg, who along with Nakajima looked very strong throughout practice three. Was this genuine Williams pace?

Rubens left the pits relatively early but worryingly went straight back in again. Meanwhile, Jens set his first time of 1:30:757 which put him P5 of 5.

With 10 minutes left there were only five times up and Rosberg was top with a 1:25:060. Jenson clearly found some speed and climbed to P4, before finishing up in P3 with a 1:24:122.

Both Renaults had been off, but when Grosjean hit a huge puddle and smashed the front end of his car up the session was red flagged an effectively over.

Rubens did manage to set a time of 1:26:530 (P14) but he probably will not be particularly confident going into qualifying.

So we only got 12 minutes of practice three but who looks good for this afternoon? Many believe that Hamilton was doing the right thing finding speed and gathering intel. Similarly the Red Bulls seemed to be doing a good job in their short stint. The Williams looked very quick, but I’m not sure if that means anything at this stage. What of the Brawns then?

Personally I believe Jenson did a great job. He went out, found speed and finished third. However, some commentators believe that Brawn failed to carry out sufficient tyre and break tests which will significantly disadvantage them later on.

I unfortunately don’t expect much from Rubens as he looked no better today than he did yesterday. Of course we did only see 12 minutes of action today, but if you ask me the top 10 shoot out should be a corker with the Red Bulls and McLaren battling it out for pole, and Jenson looking good for a top five finish.

As for Rubens, I hope he finds the speed he needs.

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps

1 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:23.182 9

2 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:23.832 0.650 7

3 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 1:24.122 0.940 6

4 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:24.125 0.943 5

5 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:24.149 0.967 4

6 8 Romain Grosjean Renault 1:24.389 1.207 5

7 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:24.443 1.261 5

8 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:24.859 1.677 5

9 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:24.867 1.685 5

10 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:25.440 2.258 5

11 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:25.508 2.326 4

12 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.685 2.503 5

13 11 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:26.224 3.042 6

14 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 1:26.530 3.348 4

15 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:27.047 3.865 4

16 21 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:27.341 4.159 4

17 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.798 4.616 4

18 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 1:29.285 6.103 4

19 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:29.895 6.713 3

20 10 Kamui Kobayashi Toyota 1:30.259 7.077 4

Encouraging First Sessions for Brawn GP

Patrick Allen — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:56:47 -0400

I was unfortunately unable to watch the first practice session today and very nearly missed the second session! Thankfully, I made it back home in time to watch enough of P2 to come to some sort of conclusion.

Practice One

The Red Bulls stole the show in first practice, but Rubens managed to get his way inbetween them and finish an encouraging P2.

Jenson was pretty comfortable in the top 10 and managed to finish the morning in a good enough P7.

There were several minor incidents throughout Practice One, including: light drizzle, a Grosjean off and small mistakes from the likes of Rubens, Sutil, Buemi, and Liuzzi. If I was to just go by the results I would say it was a pretty good day at the office. However, the second session proved to me that the end times don’t actually represent the session as a whole.

I flew through my front door and quickly made for the TV. The session was 24 minutes in and Jenson was P4, with Rubens in P10. I understand that Jenson had understeer problems early in the session and when I joined, it looked as if he was back out after making some changes.

I must have had a positive effect, because as soon as I sat down to gather myself, Jens flew past the line with a 1:12:696 and promoted himself to P1!

Thirty minutes in, all of the cars had set times, Jenson was still P1 and Rubens was now in P12. Webber was going very quickly, but was unable to beat Jenson’s top time.

On several occasions throughout session two, Rubens went out for a lap and returned to the pits almost straight away. This was a worrying sign, in my opinion.

When Rubens did eventually set a new time, it was only a P12 1:13:197. As the Brazilian crossed the line, Buemi knocked Jenson off his top spot.

The Swiss driver went faster still on his second lap and looked pretty impressive, it must be said.

With 40 minutes left, Rubens was unable to get higher than P12 and Jenson was holding on to his P2, despite tyre temperature issues.

Ten minutes later, not a lot had changed, as most of the field concentrated on long fuel runs. It was at about this time that the rain began to fall very softly. The track was officially classified as "wet" with 26 minutes left. However, the precipitation changed nothing and was too weak to even merit a change to intermediates.

With around 10 minutes to go, Rubens pulled himself from P19 to P7 as Webber’s P2 time relegated Jens to P3.

Alonso stole the show in the end with a lovely 1:12:314, but Rubens was able to spare his blushes and finish higher than his teammate in P3 (Rubens did this with a 1:12:459). Jens ended up in P5.

As I said earlier, the end times do not represent the general pace throughout Practice Two. Although Rubens eventually finished higher than Jenson, the Brit had been in the top three for almost the whole session. Conversely, Rubens had struggled and only raised himself in the last 10 minutes or so.

I think Friday's practice has shown that the Red Bulls will be quick, but that the Brawns may well challenge them with a good set up. Both cars struggled with tyre temperatures, but they both finished in the top five. We’ll know more by the end of tomorrow, but Sunday should undoubtedly be great!

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps

1 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:12.314 27

2 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:12.357 0.043 45

3 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 1:12.459 0.145 38

4 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:12.514 0.200 41

5 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 1:12.523 0.209 45

6 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:12.605 0.291 37

7 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:12.611 0.297 45

8 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:12.633 0.319 42

9 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:12.720 0.406 35

10 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:12.749 0.435 39

11 8 Romain Grosjean Renault 1:12.806 0.492 27

12 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:12.862 0.548 39

13 10 Kamui Kobayashi Toyota 1:12.869 0.555 40

14 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:12.929 0.615 41

15 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:12.948 0.634 38

16 21 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:12.950 0.636 36

17 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:12.992 0.678 39

18 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:13.026 0.712 42

19 11 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:13.041 0.727 40

20 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 1:13.275 0.961 38

Formula One: Sebastian Vettel's Win Puts Pressure on Jenson Button

Patrick Allen — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 03:44:07 -0400

What a strange race that was when all was said and done.

At certain stages, Brawn GP were Constructors Champions, Jenson went from poor to great and Rubens went the other way.

One key moment may also determine the World Championship. Vettel’s supreme win earns him not only the prestigious title of one of Patrick’s drivers of the day; it also keeps him in a close distance of the title.

After all the madness yesterday including crashes, red flags, and penalties I expected to see Jens line up in P12 and Rubens in P10. However, after more playing around and a gear box change for Kovalainen, Jens in fact started P10 and Rubes P6.

The start would be critical. Rubens's main goal, keep clean and hold onto that P6, any pass will be a bonus. Jenson’s task, keep Kovalainen at bay and try to make some places up.

The lights went out and the front rows got away cleanly. It was harder to make out the midfield so….shock horror…..I had to rely on Jonathan Legard’s commentary to help me understand the start!

Rubens got away well and held on to that crucial P6.

However, Jenson had had an awful getaway. A mixture of unlucky blocking and slight tentativeness meant that he had been passed by Kovalainen and Fisichella. Jens was P12 as the cars snaked around turn three.

The Briton fought back to take P11 from Fisi but he was unable to pass the heavier Kubica for P10. Vettel led the front runners off into the distance, whilst Jens continued his battle to keep his Grand Prix alive.

The Brit's opportunity came on lap three at corner ‘130R’. Jenson put a classic inside move on his Polish rival and it stuck. Well done Jens, but it was far from over, he now had to pass Sutil and Kovalainen to have a real shout at points.

By lap four, Rubens was 8.718s off the lead and Jens was 15.128s off. Webber was having immense troubles at the back of the pack as he made three stops in three laps with various issues.

The Australian’s problems were nothing compared to Jenson, though, who was struggling in dirty air with heavier cars behind him.

By lap nine, Rubens was almost one second faster than his teammate, but the Brazilian was beginning to fall away from Raikkonen’s P5.

Now, the next race incident was absolutely crucial. It was arguably one of the largest strokes of luck I have seen and could even prove to be vital for the Championship.

Jenson had to pass Kovalainen to have a serious shout at points, but Sutil was in between the McLaren and the Brawn. Sutil was lighter than his Finish rival and was quickly losing patience.

The young German driver stuck his car up the inside of Kovalainen and pulled off what looked like a complete move…however, Kovalainen didn’t back off and his front wing made contact with the Force India’s rear.

Sutil span and Kovalainen darted off the track, Jenson simply glided past into his gifted P8.

This single moment changed Jenson’s race completely and seemed to trigger a complete change in both Brawn drivers.

Jenson was revitalised and in clear air, and although it wasn’t happening yet, Rubens would begin to drop off the pace steadily from here on.

The Brazilian gained two places after stops from Hamilton and Trulli as Jenson put in personal bests and moved up to the back of Rosberg.

Jenson’s charge was temporarily put on hold when he stopped on lap 17 for 8.4 seconds of fuel. The Brit rejoined the race in perfect clean air and pushed on.

Rubens was in one lap later and took on 9.5 seconds of fuel. After their first stops, both drivers were in clean air, Rubens in P9, Jenson, P14.

It was from this point onwards that Jenson would take time off Rubens almost every lap. Rubens’s day was getting worse though as Rosberg (now in P2) was lapping fast enough to leap frog the Brazilian.

Fortunately, there wasn’t enough time and Rosberg had to stop earlier than expected. Rubens kept his place, but his potential 2010 replacement would not go away.

Kovalainen stopped on lap 24 and re-joined thankfully, but expectedly behind Jenson. The race was summed up by this stage as an event in which everyone was going fast….but no one was overtaking!

A special mention should go out to Webber who was lightning quick all afternoon, but racing for nothing.

The most exciting ‘race’ at this stage was between Trulli in P3 and Hamilton in P2. Again, though it was only a race if you were watching the lap times.

Trulli (who is my second driver of the day), eventually did enough to beat Hamilton and proved that he has real potential in there.

Kubica’s stop on lap 26 re-joined the Pole crucially behind Jenson who was now up to P9.

After Alonso’s stop one lap later, Rubens was P6 and Jenson was back into the points. The Constructor's title was Brawn’s again at this point.

Rubens was really hurting and had dropped down to 13 seconds behind his closest rival Raikkonen.

Meanwhile, Jens was moving ever closer, but was under pressure from Kubica. The only thing keeping Jenson off of Ruben’s back was Rosberg in between the two fighting Brawns.

However, the luck swung back Jenson’s way when my third driver of the day (Raikkonen) exited the pits with 18 laps left and stuck himself in between Jens and Kubica.

Raikkonen had done a fantastic job, putting in mega laps and looked as if he would leapfrog Heidfeld for P4.

Raikkonen and Jenson’s reward came when Heidfeld stopped and rejoined one lap later in front of Kubica, but behind the Finnish Ferrari. With 15 laps left, Rubens was slow but in P4, Jens was lookinf good in P6 and Kubica looked out of the picture.

Trulli’s immense speed paid off when he beat Hamilton in the pit stop race, but I was more interested in Jenson’s stop.

The Championship leader entered the pits with 13 laps to go. He took on 6.8 seconds of fuel and super soft tyres before joining in P8. If Jens really pushed now, he might have a shot at Rosberg.

Two laps later, Rubens went to the pits and took on 6.1 seconds plus super softs. He rejoined in P7 tantalisingly close to his team mate.

Rosberg was in P4 at this stage and his rejoining place would be crucial. He could end up between the Brawns (thus locking Jens out of the points), or behind them, or even in front!

It all became academic when Alguersuari span off at 130R, causing a safety car period with nine laps to go. Williams did well to get Rosberg in and put him out again in P5.

Everyone’s attention now went to the re-start.

Jens had been faster than Rubens, but Kubica would now be right up behind the Briton. With just four laps left the race was back on and there were initially no dramas.

The front runners sped off into the distance but the fight between the Brawns and the BMW was on. Rubens was slower than Jenson, who was slower than Kubica!

It was pretty tense but there simply wasn’t enough time, and thankfully the Brawns crossed the line in the last two points-paying positions. They were one point off the Constructor's title, so the irony of winning the championship on Honda soil never came.

It was absolutely lovely to see Vettel do that Schumi jump on the podium. It was like seeing a small excited boy emulate his hero after a kart race or something.

However, with the smile that came from that jump, I was also forced to frown.

I frowned because I feel, as Martin Brundel does, that Jenson’s title hopes look considerably more wobbly than they somehow did before the race began.

Jenson picked the pace up and drove excellently after his stroke of luck.

However, his qualifying positions are really messing up his races and although he looked strong today, Vettel will now be on a real charge. As for Rubens? Well he simply didn’t turn up today. He hasn’t really done enough over the past few races to comfortably challenge his team mate and you’ve got to argue that Jenson’s biggest threat comes from Red Bull's garage.

I hope that Rubens will improve for his home race. We head to Brazil with both Championships up for grabs and the potential for both of them to be won.

If Rubens can find his form again, he is the favourite. If not, well Vettel’s got to look good. The key for Jenson will be Saturday. It is all shaping up to be a very exciting weekend!

If Bernie’s written the script right (wink), the 2009 Brazilian GP should be awesome!

Drivers Title Top Three

Jenson: 85 points

Rubens: 71 points

Vettel: 69 points

Constructors Title Top Three

Brawn GP: 156 points

Red Bull: 120.5 points

Ferrari: 67 points

Red Flag Madness in Suzuka Qualifying but Brawn GP Come Out OK

Patrick Allen — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 03:18:36 -0400

Trulli finished the final practice session on top today which was good news for the Japanese fans.

Rubens finished up in P7 with Jenson only a couple back in P9. This being the first real chance at dry runs, many drivers were pushing to the max. There were several incidents, but the most crucial involved Webber. The Australian went of at Degner 2 and hurt his car enough to mean he would take no part in qualifying.

In theory it was good news for me as a Brawn man as Red Bull looked strong. Of course with Webber out of the title race he would have been crucial in supporting Vettel if both qualified strongly. However, Webber is a personal favourite driver of mine and when I heard about his troubles, I was anything but pleased.

Jenson was not happy with his car in the final session and made some very last minute changes before taking part in qualifying. The Brit tweeked his front and rear torsion bars in an attempt to control handling issues.

Buemi came out first for Torro Rosso, closely followed by Jenson who wanted to get an early feel for his car after the last minute changes.

Just three minutes in, Buemi became the session's first off victim. The Swiss driver skated off the track at the exact same place as Webber did in Degner 2. His rear wing was damaged, but his mechanics got him back out again and looking competitive.

Meanwhile, Jenson set his first time of 1:33:198 which put him P3. This wasn’t a great first time from Jens, but he did manage to go faster on his second attempt and raised himself up to P2 (having dropped down the standings).

Rubens’s first time was a P9 1:32:796 which meant the Brazilian would need to find a lot more speed. Vettel was fast from start to finish today and he began his domination early on with a P1 1:30:979.

Rubens got himself up to P2 on his second run but soon after with just 10 minutes left, Rubens was now P4 and Jenson P6. Amongst other fast runners, both Toyotas looked fast and just five minutes later Jens had slipped to P12 with his team mate only two places higher.

Everyone bar Vettel went back out on track to try and survive. The young German had done so well that he would carry over a spare set of unused tyres.

An ace lap from Buemi put him P4 and relegated the two Brawns to P13 and P14! Thankfully the two BGPs lapped fast enough to comfortably survive when Jens stuck his car in P3 and Rubens put his in P7. This would not be the last time I would be caught short of breath as a Brawn fan!

Q1 Results

JB: P3: 1:31:041

RB: P7: 1:31:272

Out

Fisichella, Nakajima, Grosjean, Liuzzi, Webber

Raikkonen opened this one and again Jens came out early, this time on super softs. The Ferrari driver set a first time of 1:31:195, but we only had four minutes of action as an Alguersuari shunt in Degner 2 caused the day’s first Red flag.

The young Spaniard had checks but was OK. The session re-started at 06:38 British time (14:38, Japanese time). The problem for Jenson was that he had not been able to set a time when he had first been out. The Brit had now unfortunately lost a set of brand new tyres!

It would be a big ask for Jens to get through now and he had even more time to think about his predicament when, with only a few minutes gone, the session was red flagged again!

As Trulli crossed the line to make it two times on the sheet, his team mate shot off into the barriers at the last corner. The German driver was taken to hospital and although he has a potential race ending leg wound, he is otherwise OK.

The session started again at 06:48 British time, (14:58 Japanese time), and was opened by Alonso.

With just five minutes remaining there were only four times up and there was no movement from either Brawn man! BGP were taking a huge gamble and would only take part in one crucial run.

Just over two tantalising minutes remained when the Brawns finally took to the track. Vetel had sped through to P1 with a 1:30:341, but early mistakes from Jens and Rubens left me wobbling to say the least!

The tyres came in though for both drivers as they progressed through their laps, but they had to avoid Buemi (who had shunted near the end of the lap and decided to continue to the pits). Rubens crossed the line first with a P6 time, whilst Jenson made it through in P4…PHEW!!

Q2 Results

JB: P4: 1:30:880

RB: P6: 1:31:055

Out

Rosberg, Alonso, Kubica, Glock, Alguersuari.

Sutil was out first this time, followed by a snake of cars. Jenson and Rubens exited the pits two minutes in…but just as they did…we got our third red flag of the day!

Can you guess which corner it was? You got it Degner 2!

The unfortunate driver was Kovalainen who was fine, but doing his career no favours. This off may have ruined Sutil’s lap but the exit of the Fin, coupled with the fact that Buemi’s car couldn’t be fixed meant that at least all the cars still running would qualify in the top eight!

The session started again for the final time at 07:24 British time, (15:24 Japanese time). Raikkonen set the first time of 1:33:010 with just four minutes left but the day was Vettel’s.

At this worryingly late stage neither Brawn had surfaced yet again! When they did finally show, neither was particularly fast and Jenson could only manage P7. Rubens fared slightly better in P5, but you have to hope as a Brawn fan that those cars are pretty heavy.

Q3 Results

RB: P5: 1:32:660

JB: P7: 1:32:962

After one and a half hours we finally got our standings. Vettel did exactly what he has to do to stay in the title fight and the Brawns will line up one behind the other (with the KERS of Raikkonen behind to add extra salsa!).

I imagine the Red Bull is simply bloody quick and if all goes to plan should romp to victory pretty convincingly. I think the Brawns probably did quite well today actually, despite their relatively low placing. Let’s hope those fuel levels are high.

One thing is for sure though, it should be a pretty tasty start tomorrow!

Who Will Be at Brawn GP in 2010?

Patrick Allen — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 05:55:37 -0400

Well, it finally happened. After all the rumours and speculation, Fernando Alonso has now been confirmed a 2010 Ferrari Driver. Now, Alonso is one of my all-time favourite drivers and I certainly want him to go down as a Legend and win many more titles, but this article isn’t about him.

The Spaniard’s move to red overalls has opened the floodgates in the F1 market and my team, Brawn GP are certainly effected by this mega...but expected news.

Though there has been the odd tip here and there that Robert Kubica is linked with Brawn, the stronger money is on a move to Renault, (though the Pole has not yet signed anything).

Renault haven’t signed anything either, but some believe that Kubica’s team-mate could end up as Timo Glock.

This all still leaves 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen in the dark. If rumours are to be believed, then it looks as if the Fin will move back to McLaren; although Kimi is making no firm commitments to anyone and could still switch to another discipline or even retire all together, (it’s alright for some!).

Kimi has also been linked with a move to Toyota who seem to be having a complete clean out. However, the Fin says he only wants to go to a competitive team.

So, as it stands, we most likely have Ferrari, McLaren full, Renault with one driver, and Toyota empty! This leaves several big names still floating around. I’m talking about Glock, Trulli, Hiedfeld, and Niko Rosberg.

Now then, on to Brawn. Well, I am disappointed to hear the rumour that Jenson is holding out for more money (which is doing him no favours in the ‘Jen’s is a money grabbing playboy’ camp). However, I can see why he may be doing it. Personally, I think he still owes the team his soul and should be jumping at the chance to drive for them!

All that said, I think we can comfortably assume he will be sitting in a white car next year.

What about Rubens then? It looks as if the Brazilian’s luck has run out and despite career saving drives over the past few seasons I think he has come to the end of his time with the ex-Honda outfit. This is a real shame, as I really admire and respect Rubinio and the way Honda and Brawn treat him does piss me off a bit.

I can’t see Rubens staying even if he does win the Title, but who would replace him at Brawn and where would he go?

Again, if we believe the rumours, Mercedes look to be moving towards far greater involvement with Brawn GP and that has led many to believe that a German driver is needed for good PR. The most likely move is Rosberg to Brawn, Rubens the other way to Williams.

However, there are three big German names available and one of them (Glock) comes from a team looking for a big name, competitive driver. I think we should discount a Hiedfeld switch to BGP, but I think both Glock and Rosberg have very strong chances in the battle to become Jens’s team-mate; but who would I choose?

Toyota seem pretty keen not to make any concrete agreements with the Timo which can’t do him any favours. However, despite showing promise here and there and getting a P2 last week in Singapore, the German has never really delivered on his potential. That’s not to say he isn’t a great driver.

He was strong in GP2, (winning the Series in 2007), and had a very respectable rookie year in F1. However, despite having a theoretically fast car, a series of very average performances in 2009 have led many to question the German’s talent.

This is a stark contrast when compared to Nico Rosberg who has gone a great way in proving his critics wrong this year. Since joining Williams in 2006, the young German has improved a great deal and even has an F1 record to his name (youngest driver to set a fastest lap in Bahrain 2006).

Rosberg has had a very strong 2009, scoring points in all but four races. He has regularly topped the Friday time sheets, outperformed his team-mate and qualified in the top 10 on Saturdays.

On race day, the Williams has always looked better than on Saturday, and Rosberg has been the bloke thrashing it around the track best. A frankly excellent season so far has only been spoilt by a strange and silly mistake last week in Singapore when he overshot the white line leading to a penalty.

I think you can probably tell who I’d like to see replace poor old Rubens if and when he gets the boot. I must admit, Nico is one of my three favourite drivers so I am biased, but I truly feel that he will gain more from Brawn if the team continues to be competitive into 2010.

Rosberg is also a small genius and I wonder if his engineering knowledge (he was offered a place to study at University in England), will also help him develop BGP further in the future.

Personally, I love Rubens and although nothing has been confirmed I think it looks as if he’s off next year. If I could pick my perfect team it would be a three car set up, piloted by Alonso, Button and Rosberg. However, I’ll happily settle for a Button, Rosberg line up in 2010.

As I say, I hate writing this in a way that discounts poor old Rubens, but if I were in charge of Brawn GP, I would be heading for Williams mobile HQ with my contract form rather than Toyota.

Rain, Rain Go Away, Come Back After Race Day! Brawn GP in Practice One and Two

Patrick Allen — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:34:28 -0400

I must admit, I wasn’t able to watch either practice session as I usually have been able to. I thought long and hard about waking up at 02:00 AM for Practice one, but what would I do in the two and a half hours between Practice one and two? I couldn’t get any sleep, that was for sure, so I decided that I didn’t want to screw up my body clock too much before a personally important week starting next Monday!

So apologies for the shorter analysis, my normal reviews will continue with qualifying and of course the race but I think if I had physically watched the sessions today we would all be able to discover how a zombie article would read!

Practice One

It was almost a perfect start for the home fans when Nakajima looked as if he would finish the first practice session on top. However, their hopes were dashed when Kovalainen sped to the top of the rankings with only seconds remaining.

The conditions were wet to say the least! And the track didn’t dry out over the hour and thirty minutes. Reading that made me regret not seeing the session for myself as I would have loved to see how the Brawns fared in the wet.

The early pace setters were those resurgent McLarens in the worst of the weather. Alonso, Vettel, Sutil and even Buemi had turns on top of the standings before Nakajima set what many believed was the final top time (of course he was pipped with seconds to spare).

Looking at the overall results for the session it looks as if Fisichella and Buemi were able to find some speed, (Fisi beating his team mate for the first time). The session was apparently determined by when you ran but to have Rubens finish in P9 with a 1:41:821 and Jenson way down in P18 with a 1:43.318 didn’t make for exciting reading!

The session was a slow starter (due to the rain), and when you look at where the Brawns' season long challengers finished, (Vettel P17 and Webber P11), I think it could be argued that this wasn’t a representative session. Having said that, Rubens still managed to finish in a very respectable position. Jenson later stated that the team had been concentrating on finding the right balance set up and monitoring the wet tyre wear.

When all said and done it doesn’t sound as if those of us who stayed in bed missed much!

P1 Results

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps

1 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:40.356 24

2 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:40.648 0.292 18

3 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:40.806 0.450 14

4 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 1:40.985 0.629 27

5 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:41.421 1.065 26

6 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:41.443 1.087 15

7 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:41.532 1.176 22

8 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:41.577 1.221 25

9 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 1:41.821 1.465 19

10 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:42.188 1.832 20

11 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:42.332 1.976 10

12 21 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:42.475 2.119 15

13 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:42.657 2.301 13

14 11 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:42.667 2.311 27

15 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:42.833 2.477 17

16 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:42.977 2.621 14

17 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:43.218 2.862 11

18 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 1:43.318 2.962 17

19 10 Kamui Kobayashi Toyota 1:43.407 3.051 16

20 8 Romain Grosjean Renault 1:43.572 3.216 22

Practice Two

I think I would have been extremely bored for the second session as there were only 13 minutes of action!

Not long after the morning session the heavens truly opened! Bar two brave Torro Rossos, the track remained empty for over an hour.

Though the conditions eased with just under half an hour to go, neither Brawn ventured out to record a lap.

Now I want to categorically state that I detest Twitter and under no circumstances would I ever visit the site. However, whilst researching the session I did find a Jenson Button ‘Tweet’ (‘tweet’? is that right...do I care!) which I though summed up his feelings quite nicely.

Anyway, Jens wrote: "Would love to go out and do a few laps but F1 cars can't run with this much water on the track, we will all end up in the gravel at turn one!"

Perhaps he could have tucked into the new for Suzuka, ‘Jenson Button cookies, whilst keeping dry under his ‘Jenson Button towel’, resting his head on a ‘Jenson Button Cushion’? It would only have cost him £52!...and who says F1 is more about the fans than the money? (Sorry I’m a bit grouchy, I never like reporting on stuff I physically haven’t seen.)

Oh well, it really doesn’t sound as if I missed much. Jens and Rubens certainly don’t seem too upset. I mean it’s not as if they were any more disadvantaged than anyone else. On a positive note all this lack of preparation should make for a fantastically frantic qualifying day!

I can’t wait!

P2 Results

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps

1 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:47.261 5

2 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:47.923 0.662 6

3 21 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:47.931 0.670 5

4 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:47.983 0.722 5

5 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:48.058 0.797 8

6 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:48.691 1.430 9

7 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:48.693 1.432 5

8 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:48.737 1.476 7

9 11 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:48.802 1.541 11

10 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:48.861 1.600 6

11 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:48.886 1.625 5

12 10 Kamui Kobayashi Toyota 1:49.054 1.793 7

13 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:49.382 2.121 7

14 8 Romain Grosjean Renault 1:49.405 2.144 6

15 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 1:49.553 2.292 5

16 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:49.872 2.611 8

17 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:50.179 2.918 10

18 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes No time 0

19 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes No time 0

20 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes No time 0

Hamilton First, but Brawn GP Are the Real Winners in Singapore

Patrick Allen — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 10:49:29 -0400

I really don’t know what to say! Brawn GP and in particular Jenson Button are the luckiest people in sport today. Starting from P9 and P10 to finish in P5 and P6 was in many ways thanks to great strategy, but similarly, just as important, immense luck!

After such a terrible qualifying session yesterday the good luck began from the outset for Brawn GP when both drivers were promoted a place onto the clean side of the track thanks to a BMW weight penalty.

Jenson was going to be running heavy and strategically looked pretty good and after Rubens’s shunt yesterday all of his core components (most significantly his new gear box) had survived unharmed.

Nevertheless, both drivers had to get off to a good start and don’t forget neither of them started in the points.

The start of the grand prix summed up the race really, glimmers of excitement but largely processional and clean. Hamilton whizzed off into the lead as Rosberg put a lovely move on Vettel to gain P2. Rubens had got off to a very respectable start and was pretty safe whilst Jenson had done a very good job to pass Nakajima.

Jenson had also experienced his second bit of luck off the start as the worry of Raikkonen’s KERS had been neutralised by a poor getaway from the Ferrari No. 1.

The race then began to settle into a pretty boring procession with only turn seven offering an opportunity for a pass. By lap five the top three were racing each other quite nicely but pulling away from the pack. Now here came Brawn/Button’s third bit of luck this time in the shape of Webber.

The Australian, who was still mathematically in the title race at the beginning had to concede two places to Alonso and Glock having passed them both off the race track; Webber was now in P6.

By lap 10, Rosberg was lapping quickly but that was about as exciting as it got. Jenson was not going fast enough to capitalise on his strategy and I think for the first time in my life I may well have to agree with Jonathan Legard! The commentator compared the race to watching a Scalextric event (of course he meant the sparks, the lights, the cars…) I, on the other hand, thought it looked like a bunch of cars going in circles!

By lap 14 the closest and most exciting race was between the last six cars and even there no one was really threatening a big move and everyone was simply getting frustrated.

Things heated up a bit two laps later for we Brawn fans as a 8.4 second pit stop from Vettel meant that Rubens was ahead of the young German and now in P5. Another lap later I believe the race took a real negative knock when poor Rosberg lost concentration and crossed the white line before exiting the pits.

The rules are clear, Rosberg had to take a drive through which was such a shame because I really wanted to see him challenge for his first win. However, guess what this also was…yet more great news for Brawn of course! Rosberg’s exit meant one fewer competitor for both BGP guys.

Rubens pitted on lap 19 from P4 and re-joined in P10. Meanwhile, thanks to all the stops, Jenson was up to P7. A couple of laps later came Jenson’s first and only bit of bad luck when a Sutil shunt meant that the Safety car needed to be brought out.

Jenson pitted straight away and took on 9.4 seconds of fuel but he had pitted early and so was still behind Kovalainen and Rubens when he rejoined in P8 (Rubens was P6).

The ‘race’ resumed on lap 25 with Webber all over Jenson and Kovalainen all over Rubens. Rosberg was yet to take his penalty at this stage but after waiting three laps he came in and his race was finished. This promoted Rubes to P5 and Jenson to P7.

Now it was Vettel’s turn to try and give us a show from P2. The young German pushed like crazy and was mighty close to Hamilton but his downfall came with yet more good luck for Brawn!

Vettel pitted with 22 laps left and rejoined in P7 only to learn that he had sped in the pit lane and would have to face a drive through penalty. It wasn’t game over for Vettel as he still looked good to beat the Brawns but it was game over for any racing I thought.

With 18 laps left Vettel came in and re-joined in a better than expected P9. OK, so the Brawn good luck simply kept coming right until the end. This time Brawn had Webber to thank again as the Australian suffered a horribly long pit stop thanks to break troubles. The pit stop alone took a lot of pressure off Jens, but when Webber crashed out just a few laps later, it pretty much ended his title challenge.

With 16 laps left, Glock came in and Rubens got up to P3, Jenson, P5. Soon after Rubens came in at the same time as race leader Hamilton and the Brazilain re-joined in P7. Webbers exit brought about yet more luck for Jenson (Mark just loves to give!).

The Australian’s crash had led to McLaren fearing for another safety car and so they brought in Kovalainen early. The Saftey car never came and that took Kovalainen out of the race really.

Well, I say that, but in actual fact Jenson still had a very tough job to do. The current Championship leader had to push extremely hard to re-join the race after his stop in front of both his team mate and the McLaren.

Jenson finally showed us all why he deserves to be a champion by putting in some awesome laps and easily joining the race in P5 after a 6.4 second stop. Jenson then went on to push Vettel in P4 before having to lift after brake issues threatened a late exit for the Brit.

Rubens was now in P6 but also had brake issues. The resilient Brazilian clearly wanted to push Jens to the limit but he simply couldn’t afford a no pointer.

So when it all finished, Hamilton had done well to win from the front; Glock did well for P2 and well done Alonso for a well earned P3. However, the true winners of today were those Brawns in P5 and P6. In actual fact Jenson has now extended his lead over his rivals and although Rubens probably finished lower than hoped, P6 wasn’t too bad.

With three races left now it’s arguably a two horse race. Vettel did well today, but he was really hurt by his penalty. Webber, I think is unfortunately finished for this year. I truly hope that the last three rounds will be more exciting than today, but I never held high expectations for a track that I realise is popular, but personally hate!

Driver’s Title

Jenson: 84

Rubens: 69

Vettel:59

Constructors Title

Brawn GP: 153

Red Bull Racing:110.5

Ferrari: 62

Shambolic Performance from Brawn GP in Singapore

Patrick Allen — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 11:47:50 -0400

Well, what the hell can I say! After all that good work yesterday Brawn GP’s star drivers, particularly Jenson Button, have looked anything but potential Champions today!

My worst fears were realised when I learned that Jens had indeed struggled throughout final practice with a poor set up (rather than my prediction that the team were quietly testing). However, the news gets worse for Brawn fans!

Rubens had to change his gear box which gave him a five place penalty for Sunday. This was actually a good bit of strategy from Brawn on paper (as Rubens was fast anyway and of the next three races, this would be the best to take a five place dive).

However, in reality Rubens did extremely well just to scrape into Q3 and frankly if he hadn’t hit the wall at the end of the final session (thus messing up Rosberg and Vettel) he would have finished far lower than he eventually did!

Anyway, on with the qualifying.

Qualifying One

Alguersuari was out first and set a time of 1:50:169, five minutes in. Both Brawns were slightly nervous about their struggles going into the session, so both were out quickly.

Rubens set his first time of 1:51:289 (P6) and Jens set his of 1:48:632 (P1). Rubens was going very quickly on his second lap and quickly knabbed P1 from his team mate with a 1:47:939.

However, Rubens was in turn quickly dispatched by Rosberg, then Vettel and finally Hamilton. Jens had fallen back a bit but a nice lap of 1:47:559 put him up to P3.

With five minutes left, Hamilton was first, Jens was P4 and Rubens, P7. In testing there had been a wide gap between front row and back but neither Brawn felt secure and so both returned to the track.

Jenson did his job and shot up to P2 with a 1:47:180. Meanwhile Rubens dropped to P13, then 14 and then P15! The pressure was on but thankfully the Brazilian found at least some speed and got himself through with a 1:47:397 (P6).

Q1 Results

JB: P2: 1:47:180

RB: P6: 1:47:397

Out

Sutil, Alguersuari, Fisichella, Grosjean, Liuzi

Qualifying Two

This time Vettel led the pack out and set a first time of 1:51:995. He was quickly followed by Jenson on the super soft tyres who set a pole time of 1:47:412.

Rubens looked great early on too when his first time of 1:47:126 stuck him in P1. The title challenger’s time on top was short lived though as first Webber and then a phenomenally quick Rosberg took P1. Rosberg had been on fire and smashed in a 1:46:197, excellent stuff from a driver I both rate and like.

My early confidence in BGP had been misplaced, as with 8 minutes left Rubens was in P8 and Jenson, P11!

Just three horribly tense minutes later Jens was now P13 and Rubens P10! Both Brawns were out and putting in personal bests, but these times were barley good enough to survive.

Jens passed the line with a 1:47:141 which put him…….NO! P11! A combination of poor set up and frankly poor driving from Jens left the Brit with just one lap left on tyres that had already seen better days.

As Jenson simply floundered and failed to make the cut, Rubens actually pulled his finger out and put in a super special 1:46:787. This lap was by no means special because of the place it gave Rubes (P6), what made it special was the fact that he had actually made it through despite all of the pressure and traffic. Well done Rubens and Jenson, well, there’s nothing more I can say.

Q2 Results

RB: P6: 1:46:787

JB: P12: 1:47:141

Out

Nakajima, Button, Raikkonen, Buemi, Trulli

Qualifying Three

Whiz kid Rosberg opened the final session and as I gathered up my note pad and pen (which had been thrown in disgust across the room!) the young German crossed the line with a 1:48:348.

Rubens’s first time was a 1:48:828 which was a P3 time at this stage. However, after all ten cars had completed their laps, Hamilton was first with a 1:47:891 and Rubens was now in P5.

Everyone rejoined the action and Q3 was really shaping up for something special. Hamilton had set the pace but both Red Bulls were fast and Rosberg was on a major charge.

But, with just 29 seconds left the session was red flagged as Rubens crashed out by shunting with a barrier. Hamilton, I believe was lucky to get P1 and I felt most sorry for Rosberg whose lap was ruined.

In actual fact Rubens’s crash had done him a favour as he would almost certainly have slipped down the ranks if the session hadn’t been stopped all together. So Rubens was a lucky boy but his mechanics will not be best pleased!

To be honest with you I’m not sure what to write in conclusion. Rubens actually did pretty well when all said and done. He scrapped into Q3 and will start from P10 which is disappointing and doesn’t help his title hopes, but he is ahead of Jens and that’s all he can do right now.

Jenson on the other hand…well I have defended and will continue to defend my F1 hero until the day he retires. However, I have absolutely nothing to say in his defense today. The set up went wrong in P3 yes, but he clearly let his nerves get the best of him in Q2. Of course he is only human……but some humans are Champions and others……well they throw it away.

This is a circuit that Jenson really needs to do well at as Rubens looks good for at least Brazil, and of course those Red Bulls aren’t out until it’s over. I still have faith in Jens and let's face it, he has nothing to lose tomorrow.

I will end on a positive note though. Fernando Alonso won last years race from P15……. :)

Brawn GP: A Very Quiet Third Practice in Singapore

Patrick Allen — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 08:22:17 -0400

After a great day yesterday, Brawn GP was really quiet today in the final session of F1’s night race.

The team was extremely satisfied with their overall pace, seemed to struggle far less than the rest of the pack, and was only really concerned with rear break temperature. Rubens had the edge over Jens yesterday, would it be the same this morning...errr, I mean this evening?

Vettel led the pack out for their installation laps, but as usual the Brawns waited until everyone else had gone out before completing theirs. About four minutes in, Rubens went out first followed by Jenson.

The first time was set by Fisichella and was a 1:58:445. This time was not representative of Fisi’s pace as he was really held up by a Renault throughout his lap. This was, and will be, a huge problem for all of the teams of the weekend as traffic messed up a lot of drivers' times.

With around 42 minutes left, Jenson came out and set a time of 1:51:195. This put the Brit in P5 of nine runners. Rubens’ soon followed with a 1:51:590 (P7 of 10).

Rubens certainly had the edge over Jenson again today as he quickly rose to P4, whilst his teammate, who was complaining of understeer, could only manage P8.

Again, on their third attempts Rubens was far more encouraging. The Brazilian’s 1:49:486 got him up to P2, whilst Jenson’s 1:49:486 only promoted him to P6.

30 minutes in, Hamilton was first with a 1:48:346, Rubes was P3 and Jens, P9. Not a lot changed over the next few minutes as both Brawns returned to the pits and gently fell down the rankings.

With just ten minutes left, Rubens had climbed back up to P5, but Jens had fallen to P13 and wasn’t improving. I think, or at least I hope, that the Brawns were comfortably and leisurely completing heavy fuel runs.

Five minutes later, Vettel was first with a 1:47:909, Rubens was P6 and Jenson, P16. Both Brawns were back out again on the super soft tyres at the end but despite setting personal bests, traffic hindered any significant improvements.

Rubens was super fast in sectors one and two but his 1:48:551 was affected by a slow Renault and he could only finish in P7. Jenson too set good pace initially, but he could only finish in P14.

Hamilton finished on top but I don’t think the low results for Brawn in P3 were bad. I can’t see how such a strong performance yesterday could turn around quite so drastically...but this is F1!

No, I think more likely, Brawn was comfortable with yesterday's performance and so ran lengthy heavy fuel loads this morning/evening. Traffic was also a major issue and the Brawn strategists will have their work cut out in a few hours. All in all though, not a bad session for BGP.

Pos. No. Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps

1 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:47.632 15

2 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:47.909 0.277 17

3 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:48.332 0.700 18

4 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:48.420 0.788 14

5 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:48.501 0.869 16

6 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:48.526 0.894 13

7 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 1:48.551 0.919 16

8 10 Timo Glock Toyota 1:48.673 1.041 17

9 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:48.754 1.122 17

10 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:48.757 1.125 12

11 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:48.831 1.199 17

12 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:48.864 1.232 16

13 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:48.876 1.244 15

14 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 1:48.921 1.289 17

15 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:49.032 1.400 15

16 21 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:49.055 1.423 16

17 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:49.122 1.490 17

18 11 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:49.399 1.767 17

19 8 Romain Grosjean Renault 1:49.641 2.009 16

20 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 1:50.039 2.407 21

Consistent Second Session for Brawn GP in Singapore

Patrick Allen — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 11:30:02 -0400

After a very encouraging first practice, the second session was another step in the right direction for a Brawn team hoping to step further into the lead this weekend.

I think the only other thing to say at this stage was what a pleasure it was to have Jackie Stewart commentating for the BBC. With intelligent and interesting comments coming out of him every time he opened his mouth, it only made me wish that the Beeb would kick out Legard and stick someone like Stewart in the box!

Heidfeld was the first man out and set the first time of 1:57:379. Jenson’s first time was around seven minutes in and was a 1:55:148, which put him P8 of 10 runners. Over the next few minutes Jens fell down the rankings, but a 1:51:447 stuck him back up in P4.

Meanwhile, Ruben’s first time of 1:54:924 put the main title challenger in P18 (Heidfeld was still first).

The Brazilian’s second run was only good enough for P13, but on his third try, he occupied P4 (Jens had dropped to P10, 19 minutes in).

A very encouraging 1:50:346 helped Rubens climb even higher to P3. In fact, the only man keeping the Brawns off the top of the sheets was Mark Webber with a brilliant 1:49:317.

With 30 minutes gone, Rubens was in P3 and Jens was down in P14. The Brit’s car was in the garage and there was a hive of activity around his front wing. Jens had been strong early on in this second session but he had definitely dropped off the pace and with only 10 laps completed, I was a little worried.

We got our second red flag of the day when poor old Webber made a mistake going into the final corner and shunted into the barriers. This happened with 56 minutes left and at this stage, the Australian was first with Rubens at P3 and Jens in P15.

Rosberg re-opened proceedings 10 minutes later (testimony to the excellent race marshals who also only took 10 minutes in the first session).

Jenson and Rubens were amongst the first few cars to come out quickly after the re-start and whatever those mechanics were doing to Jens' car, it worked!

Jenson sped right up to P3 with a 1:49:400! He soon went one better with a 1:49:311 P2 lap.

With 30 minutes left, Heidfeld was in P1, Jens was P3, and Rubens was down in P11, suffering with traffic problems.

When Rubens did get some clear air, he managed to pull out a 1:49:616, which got him up to P6.

Both Brawns then went on to put in consistently fast laps and though neither car got any higher and in fact ended up P5 (Jens) and P11 (Rubes), Singapore’s second practice session had been a fantastic one for BGP.

Having set brilliant pace in first practice, the Brawn team was able to evaluate lengthy runs and stay very much in the top half of the grid despite carrying pretty heavy fuel loads.

Traffic will be the main issue in qualifying, but hopefully an experienced team such as Brawn will be able to plan around that. Great stuff for we Brawn followers and hopefully a marker of things to come this weekend.

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps

1 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:48.650 31

2 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:48.924 0.274 27

3 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:48.952 0.302 30

4 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:49.098 0.448 31

5 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 1:49.311 0.661 34

6 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:49.317 0.667 14

7 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:49.333 0.683 33

8 10 Timo Glock Toyota 1:49.342 0.692 30

9 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:49.358 0.708 28

10 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:49.609 0.959 24

11 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 1:49.616 0.966 30

12 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:49.710 1.060 31

13 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:49.795 1.145 29

14 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:49.941 1.291 29

15 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:50.023 1.373 34

16 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 1:50.253 1.603 31

17 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:50.527 1.877 29

18 21 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:50.605 1.955 28

19 8 Romain Grosjean Renault 1:50.972 2.322 17

20 11 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:51.423 2.773 31

Brawn Dominate Practice One and a Small Singapore Rant!

Patrick Allen — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 08:03:46 -0400

The recent events at Renault have left many motorsport fans feeling a need to leave Formula One behind. In fact, as a Brawn fan it would be nice to finish my love affair with the sport on a high.

The situation isn’t made any better by the track we go to this weekend which epitomises everything I have grown to hate about Formula One. Before you start leaving nasty comments about my anti-night race views, these are just my opinions and I do realize that Singapore’s GP is a popular one; (the grandstands were pretty full for a Friday).

I simply feel that street circuits, the whole corporate feel of the event and the ridiculous waste of energy and money in lighting the place, (this coming from someone who is by no means a green campaigner), leave a very bitter taste in the mouth of a fan who enjoys classic circuits. The emphasis is on drivers and cars not on what ‘he or she’ is wearing in the paddock. I mean the cars are painted with glitter paint for this race so that they glimmer like garish jewellery in the fake light.

Ironically, if it wasn’t for all of the fabricated dramas last year I believe that Singapore would have simply been a more expensive and brighter Valencia! (hmmm should Bernie be up against the FIA with Renault?).

Anyway, I apologize for my negativity on a day that as a Brawn fan has started really rather well. Whether or not I turn my back on Formula One can wait, as for now I simply want to continue as normal and cover the progress of my favourite team…..

Vettel lead the pack out in the relatively bright early evening light. The newly branded Brawn of Jenson Button—Canon are back and on the BGP001—left the pits for his installation lap 5 minutes in and was followed out by his team mate a few minutes later.

For this race Brawn GP have big upgrades for their front wing and a lot of new additions to the rear of the car. These new parts all help to increase down force.

After an 18 minute wait, Alguersuari set the first session time of 2:00:874. With just one hour left, there were only three times on the board. Many drivers may have shared Vettel’s view that there was no point in going out whilst it was still relatively light. More likely was the fact that the track severely needed cleaning and no one was willing to do it!

With 55 minutes to go, Webber was P1 with a 1:53:076 and the Brawn drivers were preparing for their opening laps.

Jenson shot up to P9 on his first run with a 1:55:309. His second attempt raised him to P2, and then it was a case of third time lucky when a 1:51:589 put the Brit on top.

Just as Jens crossed the line the unthinkable happened!

Renault’s number two driver, Grosjean, went off in Piquet corner! (turn 17). With 48 minutes left, the session was red flagged and all you could really do was laugh.

Rubens led the pack back out again when the session re-opened 10 minutes later. The Brazilian’s first proper time was a 1:53:502 (P9).

Jens was also back out again but had this time removed his rear ‘hub caps’ to help with brake cooling. Rubens’s second lap took him up to P5, whilst Jenson who had dropped a few places, re-took P1 with a 1:51:181.

The Brawns then began to dominate for a short while. Jenson went faster still and Rubens got up to P3 (1:51:274).

With 15 minutes left, Jens held P1 and Rubens had only slipped to P5. However, the Brazilian Title challenger wasn’t finished and blitzed around the track to put in a pole time of 1:50:107.

Jenson slipped down the rankings a bit, but a final time of 1:50:356 insured a Brawn GP one/two finish. So all in all it was a great start for the current leaders in the Championship. I hope the afternoon event will prove to be just as positive!

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps

1 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 1:50.179 19

2 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 1:50.356 0.177 22

3 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:50.416 0.237 21

4 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:50.567 0.388 16

5 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:50.614 0.435 16

6 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:50.699 0.520 21

7 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:50.715 0.536 17

8 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:50.815 0.636 15

9 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:50.865 0.686 19

10 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:51.089 0.910 25

11 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:51.427 1.248 23

12 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:51.544 1.365 14

13 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:51.643 1.464 28

14 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:51.656 1.477 15

15 10 Timo Glock Toyota 1:52.083 1.904 20

16 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:52.135 1.956 20

17 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 1:52.390 2.211 24

18 21 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:52.905 2.726 23

19 11 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:53.232 3.053 25

20 8 Romain Grosjean Renault 1:53.458 3.279 9

The Boys Are Back in Town! As Brawn Destroy the Opposition in Monza

Patrick Allen — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 10:24:40 -0400

Well, Rubens had a few gear box issues in the lead up to the start but that didn’t worry the Brazilian one bit. It was also lovely to see the driver’s reactions at the end as Jenson and Rubens were all over each other and clearly showing that they are great friends; (they were like naughty children in the press conference!).

So another Brawn GP won, two was just what the doctor ordered and the Championship is now essentially between two drivers, awesome sauce!

I must admit I wasn’t quite as tense as perhaps I should have been as the lights went out at the start. Maybe I knew the Brawns were on strong strategies? Or maybe I have Derren Brownesque fortune telling skills? (for the American readers….Derren Brown is our David Blaine).

Anyway, my adrenaline soon began violently pumping as the cars pulled away! Rubens got off to a fantastic start and darted into the middle of the pack. Jenson too had a great start and went a bit wide before beginning a fight with the slow moving and lairy-looking Kovalainen.

Jenson did the business and put a beautiful and crucial manoeuvre over on Kovalainen as the unfortunate McLaren driver's day went from bad to worse.

Amongst the first lap chaos, Raikkonen had a brilliant start to get up to second place, Liuzi took Kovalainen, Webber crashed out, Vettel slipped down the pack and all I could write on my note pad was ‘wow’. However, the important information was that Rubens was now in fourth and Jenson was sixth.

As the first few laps developed, Hamilton was blitzing round the track doing all he could to eke out a crucial gap as he was on a two stopper. Jens initially moved in on Rubens but a few scruffy laps pushed the Brit back a bit. Meanwhile Rubens had found his zone and was keeping the gap between him and Hamilton minimal.

The leading McLaren needed about a 15 second lead by his pit stop to beat the one stopping cars behind him, and by lap seventh, Rubens was 11.082 down, with Jenson 13.624 back. Rubens was doing his job perfectly but Jenson was starting to look a little bit ragged.

The Championship leader pulled his finger out though and was putting in personal bests by lap 10. However, by this stage Hamilton was crucially 17.547 seconds clear of car 22; it was going to be a close run thing!

On lap 15 Hamilton darted into the pits and took on 7.8 seconds of fuel plus a pair of medium compound tyres. This put Hamilton fifth, with Rubens up in third and Jenson fourth. The Brawn's now had to push like mad to make their strategy pay off.

After Sutil stopped a few laps later, Jens and Rubens were on the limit and doing a fantastic job. This section of the race belonged to Jenson though, as he put in personal bests and fast lap times. After Raikkonen’s stop on lap 18 the lead belonged to the Brawn's and it was looking difficult for their main contenders.

Jenson actually had Sutil to thank for a little bit of good fortune. Raikkonen might have given Jens a bit of a hard time but Ferrari were forced to bring their number one driver in and short fuel him to get him out in front of the very speedy looking and threatening Force India of Sutil. This mini race took two cars out of the race for Jens and Rubens but Hamilton was still very much in the picture.

Jenson began to put real pressure on his team mate and by lap 22 was only 2.133 seconds behind first place. The afternoon was slightly spoiled when gear troubles ended Liuzi’s fantastic weekend, but this downside quickly gave way to the excitement of the battle between the Brawn's.

The race at the front was putting extra pressure on Hamilton who was forced to push like crazy to stay in contention for second. By lap 24 Jenson was only down 1.996 on his team mate but he had to stop four laps later. Jenson had done a great job on his in-laps but had he done enough to challenge for the win?

The Brit took on 9.1 seconds of fuel and the medium tyres in what was a beautifully slick stop. Rubens was in just one lap later and took on 8.6 seconds of fuel, but he too had done some excellent in-laps and when it actually came down to the race for the first corner, Rubes was miles ahead.

By this stage, if all went to plan, Rubens had the race in the bag. However, Jenson’s day was far from over when a resurgent Hamilton began to heavily breathe down the second placed man’s neck.

Initially it looked as if McLaren had messed the day up, bringing their man in much earlier than expected. All they had really done was take away his slim chance of a win. Rubens always looked more likely to take the chequered flag but if Hamilton could nab second it would have been a pretty successful day for the World Champion.

It was tense as Hamilton moved ever closer to current Championship leader and they traded lap times; of course if the McLaren could get in between the Brawn's it would be crucial for the Title race.

It was edge of your seat stuff right up to the last lap, made even more tense when the camera suddenly swooped over to a McLaren in bits. Initially I was jumping for joy but where was Jenson? Had Hamilton attempted a last ditch move and taken them both out?

Those few seconds between realising that and physically seeing Jenson cross the line in second were amazing! But at the end of the day Jenson had made it and Hamilton threw away crucial constructor's points with a mistake as he pushed hard for second place.

Alan Partridge, aka Jonathan Ledgard, then began talking about rivalry between the Brawn boys but their reaction in park ferme yet again proved the silly BBC man wrong. Jens and Rubens were clearly the two happiest blokes in Italy and were all smiles hugs and even play fighting!

It was lovely to see such nice guys having such a great time and it only strengthened my belief that Brawn GP are a thoroughly nice and deserving team. The Brawn's are back in town and the final four races should be immense!

Drivers Championship

Jenson: 80

Rubens:66

Vettel: 53

Constructors Championship

Brawn: 146

Red Bull: 105.5

Ferrari: 62

Fantastic Qualifying for Brawn

Patrick Allen — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 09:30:27 -0400

What a difference two weeks makes! After a poor Spa performance, Brawn have come to Monza with a totally different ethos! Jenson looks calmer and seems to have re-found his form, and Rubens is determined to push for the title and a drive for 2010. Yes, when all is said and done Rubens finished today in P5 and Jenson in P6, and yes, the "sports reporters" on tonight’s BBC News will report Lewis, the king, Jenson poor in P6.….but that as per usual, that will be a completely wrong!

Jenson and Rubens were on fire in all three sessions and I bet you very strong money that they are on a one stop strategy!

Qualifying One

Fisichella was first out to the cheers of thousands of apprehensive and passionate fans. The Ferrari driver set the first time of 1:25:590.

Rubens set the first Brawn time of 1:25:375, which put him P6. Jenson was straight on it and sped his way up to P3 with a 1:25:484. Then the Brawns found their mojo and hammered it! Rubens blitzed past the line with a 1:24:036 to take pole and Jenson followed up with a strong P2 1:24:189.

Rubens then went even faster and with 10 minutes left was still first. Jenson had fallen to P8 but he wasn’t going to finish Q1 back there! He put his foot well and truly down to clock in a 1:23:403, stealing pole from his team mate. Unfortunately for Jens, his time on pole was short lived after a quick lap from Hamilton.

With four minutes to go, Hamilton was first, Jens was P2, and Rubens was P3. Meanwhile Vettel was only P10 and Webber was way back in P19!

The Red Bulls found some pace and scraped into Q2 whilst at the other end of the grid Raikkonen finished up on top with a 1:23:349.

Q2 Results

Jenson: P3: 1:23:404

Rubens: P4: 1:23:483

OUT

Glock, Nakajima, Rosberg, Buemi, Alguersari

Qualifying Two

For the first time I can remember Jenson opened the proceedings in Q2 on the harder tyres. He was fast throughout his first lap but backed off in sector three and set a first time of 1:24:623. Rubens’ first time shot the Brazilian up to P1 with a 1:24:101, but he was quickly knocked down by Jens with a 1:23:427.

The Brawns were simply stealing the show at this stage. The news could not have been better, Rubens rocketed to P1 with a 1:22:976, making him the first driver to break into the 1:22s, and Jenson had driven so well in Q1 that he had a spare set of super softs to play with!

Jenson climbed from P6 to P3 but it looked as if Brawn’s thunder was going to be stolen by the amazing form of both Force Indias! Sure enough both of the Indian cars made it through which was amazing, but whilst BBC’s Alan Partridge (oh sorry Jonathon Ledgard) was harking on about Fisichella’s exit, Jenson quietly crept up to P1 with an amazing 1:22:955.

Q2 Results

Jenson: P1: 1:22:955

Rubens: P3: 1:22:976

OUT

Trulli, Grosjean, Kubica, Fisichella, Heidfeld

Raikkonen set the pace in the final shoot out with a 1:25:586 but the pressure was very much on the Brawn boys who would only be making one run!

With five minutes left there were only three times up, but all 10 cars were now on track. Jens’s first time was a 1:26:208 which put him P8. Rubens too was slower than expected with a 1:25:612 (P7).

It increasingly looked as if the Brawns were going for a one stop strategy, and who could blame them? Hamilton looked a shoe in for pole so why try and beat him just to be massacred by his KERS tomorrow?

Jenson put in a great time of 1:25:030 to get his presumably heavy car up to P4, but he was then knocked down a place by his team mate with a 1:25:015. Despite an exciting last minute push from Sutil, Hamilton ended the day in pole. Jenson will start from P6 and Rubens will be in P5. Crucially The Red Bulls will be behind Brawn in P9 and P10.

All of this should make for a hugely exciting first lap!

Three of the top four have KERS, and with Sutil added to the equation it should be fascinating. Rubens looks good in P5 and despite having a KERS car right behind him, Jenson has two cars between him and the Red Bulls.

Tomorrow should be a beautiful day!

Brawn Back in Business in Italian Final Practice

Patrick Allen — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 06:26:09 -0400

Last night, Monza was drenched by thunderstorms, but you wouldn’t know that going to the track this morning as the sun beautifully coated the circuit and heated the fans, rewarding them for their loyalty.

Second practice was not a pretty one for Brawn, who were hampered by technical issues. However, today was much more like it, and after a very positive final test session, I truly can’t wait for the real fun to begin this afternoon!

Sebastien Buemi led the pack out for their morning installation laps. Jenson was out after three minutes, and Rubens completed his sighter soon after.

Strangely, Mark Webber seemed to be having real trouble, and this time it wasn’t Renault’s fault. The Australian was out of his car, leaning over Vettel’s, and tapping his teammates right mirror.

We later learned that Webber’s car had a loose mirror, (amongst other small issues), and all this meant was that Red Bull’s final practice would be even less constructive than they feared. It would be half an hour before Webber joined the action.

Fisichella set the first time in his new shiny red car. The Italian clocked in a 1:28:402 but seemed to be struggling with what many believe to be a pretty loose handling car.

Jenson Button’s first run would be a five-lapper with used hard tyres to test race pace. His first time came with 40 minutes left and was a 1:28:146. He then climbed to P8, before getting as high as P3.

Rubens Barrichello’s first time was a 1:28:218, which could only place him P15, and the Brazilian didn’t go much faster on his next few laps. At this stage, Hamilton was P1 with a 1:24:778.

With 30 minutes left, Jenson had fallen and climbed back up to P6, whilst Rubens remained around P16.

A few minutes later, poor old Fisi’s nightmares came to life when he locked his front right wheel and wrote the left side of his car off! All this didn’t stop Rubens getting himself up to P12.

After a short break, Jenson rejoined the track and after staying P7, put in a time of 1:24:607 (P4).

Sutil put in a rocket time seconds later to gain P1 with a 1:23:735. Despite losing time in the first couple of sectors, Jenson managed to get up to P3 on his third lap.

Time passed and not a lot changed. With five minutes left Sutil was P1, Jens was P3, and Rubens was down in P15, but it was time for the low-fuel runs!

Rubes came back out with super soft tyres and shot almost straight up to P2 with a 1:23:837. Jenson, too, was out on the softer compound and went one better with Brawn’s first P1 of the weekend (1:23:404). This first P1 was a very short-lived one, though, as Sutil seamlessly re-took his pole seconds later.

With the session over, Sutil held on to his great pole, Jenson finished P2 and Rubens in P4. Significantly, the Red Bulls were P17 (Webber) and P18 (Vettel) and they will have a lot to do in qualifying!

This afternoon's session will apparently be the most exciting all season. The race will be between the McLarens, Brawn, Raikkonen, Force India; probably Red Bull, and Renault have a shot too! It should be great!

But for we Brawn maniacs, the good news is that the blokes in the white cars go into qualifying with strong practice sessions behind them!

I hate it when Ledgard says this…I hate the phrase…but I can’t think of a better way to end this, (apologies in advance)..."BATTLE JOINED."

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps

1 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:23.336 21

2 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 1:23.404 0.068 21

3 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:23.490 0.154 18

4 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 1:23.575 0.239 20

5 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:23.633 0.297 18

6 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:23.803 0.467 20

7 21 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:23.849 0.513 21

8 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:23.915 0.579 17

9 10 Timo Glock Toyota 1:23.959 0.623 21

10 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:23.996 0.660 18

11 8 Romain Grosjean Renault 1:24.197 0.861 15

12 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:24.302 0.966 20

13 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:24.326 0.990 17

14 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:24.392 1.056 20

15 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:24.572 1.236 23

16 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:24.621 1.285 21

17 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:25.154 1.818 13

18 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:25.244 1.908 16

19 11 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:25.791 2.455 10

20 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 1:25.951 2.615 10

Technical Issues Spoil Brawn's Fun in Italian Second Practice

Patrick Allen — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 10:01:07 -0400

After such an encouraging morning session it was pretty annoying to see both Jens and Rubens so close to the bottom of the pack at the end of Friday. Jens had definitely been affected by a series of small issues and I expect Rubens had some problems too.

To be fair both drivers were using a lot of used tyres and as usual I expect the Brawn team were concentrating on raw testing rather than low fuel runs. Nevertheless, not a great afternoon for BGP.

Buemi led the pack out this time, but it was Rosberg who set the first time of 1:29:578 just four minutes in. Jenson’s first time was good enough for P11 of 16, whilst Ruben’s began with a P16 (now of 17 runners). It is worth mentioning that poor old Rubes was held up by traffic early on.

Jens’ second attempt raised him to P5 and after a great third time of 1:25:923, the Championship leader was P3. Much the same as in first practice, Rubens took his time, again only getting up to P11 on his second attempt.

Both Brawns, (and basically everyone other than McLaren), were struggling with attacking the new 15cm high curbs in the first few corners and this was affecting their lap times.

Still, despite this Jenson got up to P2 with a 1:25:696, only to be quickly knocked down a place by his teammate; (Rubens did a 1:25:582). At this stage McLaren’s Kovalainen was first with a 1:25:311.

Half an hour in and thanks to a few quick times from other drivers, Rubens had fallen to P4 and Jens was down in P7; (Heidfeld was now first on a 1:24:693 with super soft tyres). Encouragingly for Brawn, Red Bull seemed to be struggling as well. Vettel isn’t really taking part in Friday at the moment to save his engine, but he did get his car up to P8.

Webber on the other hand was clearly in trouble down in P14.

A short while later, Webber was out of his car having only completed five laps. The mechanics did a great job on the Red Bull to get it back out again quickly but clearly the Australian was not having a great time and crucially for his team, he was the man who needed to be doing the most testing.

From here onwards the Brawns began to steadily fall down the order and despite fitting the super softs didn’t really get themselves up again for the rest of the session. With 50 minutes left, Jens may have been held up by traffic but he wasn’t improving on his P13 pace.

Unfortunately, car 22 was hit with several minor but time consuming problems, including gear troubles, electronic and cockpit issues. Rubens meanwhile got himself up to P5 with a 1:25:293 which was pretty good going.

With 40 minutes left Sutil was on fire and deservedly held P1 with a 1:24:314, Rubens was P6 and Jens was P14. Ten minutes later not a lot had changed, but we did learn that it was electronic issues that had messed up Webber’s afternoon.

From P16 Jenson did manage to get up to P13 with a reasonable 1:25:424 but it wasn’t enough and the Brit finished the session in a disappointing P19. Rubens had fallen to P15 and could not improve either; he finished in P16.

After such a great first session it does look as if Brawn have taken a large step backwards. However, I think they were saving tyres and unfortunately hit by time consuming issues. It was interesting that the Red Bulls also suffered with a few problems today.

It’s hard to make predictions about Saturday and Sunday based on practice, but I think it is safe to say that KERS will dominate and with six cars fitted with that irritating magic button, Red Bull and Brawn may well have to fight over the lower points paying positions.

Hopefully tomorrow will be much more like this morning for BGP, and if that is so, we should have a great qualifying session to look forward to!

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps

1 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:23.924 28

2 8 Romain Grosjean Renault 1:24.163 0.239 31

3 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:24.297 0.373 35

4 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:24.482 0.558 41

5 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:24.622 0.698 40

6 10 Timo Glock Toyota 1:24.634 0.710 36

7 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:24.693 0.769 34

8 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:24.796 0.872 39

9 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:24.799 0.875 36

10 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:24.884 0.960 44

11 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:24.902 0.978 32

12 21 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:24.921 0.997 39

13 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:24.967 1.043 40

14 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:24.979 1.055 25

15 11 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:25.003 1.079 34

16 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 1:25.140 1.216 35

17 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:25.215 1.291 38

18 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:25.386 1.462 27

19 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 1:25.424 1.500 32

20 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 1:25.543 1.619 36

Promising First Practice for Brawn in the Italian Sunshine

Patrick Allen — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 05:58:41 -0400

As the F1 circus rolled into Monza for the final chapter in 2009’s European battle, the result is as predictable as Fernando Alonso’s future! On paper, it should be a Brawn or Red Bull winner; however, in reality Ferrari, McLaren, BMW, and who knows, even Force India, have a shout!

As for Brawn GP, well they come to Monza looking to build on a positive race from Rubens and looking to boost Jenson’s ever decreasing point lead.

Nick Heidfeld was first out in the beautiful Italian Sunshine to set his sighter lap. He was followed by most of the other drivers and of course, if you’ve read my Friday articles before, you’ll know that the Brawns always come out last!

Jens waited seven minutes to join the action, followed four minutes later by his new cleanly shaved teammate (I love beards as much as the next bloke but come on Rubens that goatee was ridiculous!).

It was Buemi who gave us our first time of 1:29:687. After about 30 minutes most of the teams were waiting for the track to be cleaned which of course meant that there weren’t many times on the board (at this stage only five, with Hamilton in P1 with a 1:25:410)!

Jenson was finally out on track with 51 minutes to go and clocked in a very respectable 1:27:388 (P12 of 16). Rubens exited the pits a couple of minutes later and added his name to the time sheets with a 1:28:358 (17 of 17).

Jens began to improve on his times, rising first to P7 and then to P2 with a 1:25:765. Rubens was taking a little longer to find the groove and could only manage to get up to P9. Nevertheless, I think Brawn’s early practice form was very promising; both drivers quickly found pace and neither were particularly unhappy.

Hamilton stayed first whilst Jens lapped comfortably on the P2 pace. Rubens was struggling with a small lock up into turn one so he didn’t really improve on his P9.

However, on his next lap, the Brazilian had found his groove and was right up behind his teammate in P3 with a 1:25:026. This meant that with 39 minutes left, Hamilton was first, Jens was second and Rubens was third.

Jenson may have been half a second slower than his British rival at this point but Hamilton had really been attacking the track and I think Brawn were just being a little more cautious (they have of course got a lot more to lose!).

There was a slight issue when Jenson returned top the pits which unfortunately messed up the rest of the session really. The rear left of his car caught fire as a component under the bodywork over heated in the tough Italian conditions.

There were no dramas and the only damage seemed to be a bit of burnt carbon fibre. Still, the car needed to be checked over and this cost time.

With 19 minutes to go, Jens had fallen slowly to P6 and Rubens had glided down to P9. Both Brawns rejoined the action but both had locking issues as they just pushed that little bit harder.

The session finished with the McLarens on top and Jens in P7, Rubens in P12. All in all, this was a pretty great practice after the disappointing results in Spa. Jenson was clearly quick and was only hindered by a small fire whilst Rubens took his time but found pace by the end. Hopefully practice two will prove to be just as positive as the first session.

Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired Gap Laps

1 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:23.936 26

2 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:24.332 0.396 27

3 20 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:24.471 0.535 24

4 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:24.477 0.541 21

5 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:24.683 0.747 25

6 12 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 1:24.703 0.767 35

7 22 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 1:24.706 0.770 21

8 3 Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 1:24.732 0.796 24

9 14 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 1:24.759 0.823 19

10 4 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:24.761 0.825 26

11 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 1:24.813 0.877 20

12 23 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 1:24.826 0.890 24

13 16 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:24.927 0.991 29

14 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:25.150 1.214 28

15 8 Romain Grosjean Renault 1:25.612 1.676 18

16 21 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:25.689 1.753 29

17 11 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 1:25.742 1.806 30

18 15 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 1:25.951 2.015 8

19 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:26.020 2.084 23

20 10 Timo Glock Toyota 1:26.325 2.389 17