2009 British Grand Prix: Seb Sublime at Silverstone

Sebastian Vettel stormed to victory at the British round of the World Championship as home favourite Jenson Button stuttered to sixth.

Australian Mark Webber followed his team mate home in second to record Red Bull's second 1-2 of the season. Rubens Barrichello completed the podium for Brawn GP.

It was a truly dominant performance by both Vettel and Red Bull, finishing a huge 40 seconds clear of the third placed car. The race winner spent the first stint pulling out an entire second per lap on the rest of the field in a complete class of his own, giving him the freedom to ease towards the finish line for the remainder of the race.

It is also Vettel's first victory in the dry after wet wins in Monza last year and China in the early season.

"The start was very important and in the first stint I tried to push as hard as I could and make a gap. That worked perfectly and I had a fantastic car. The tyres were fantastic as well. This was a step in the right direction." 

Felipe Massa and Nico Rosberg drove extremely well to finish 4th and 5th respectively, just seconds ahead of championship leader Button, who was hugely disappointed with the weekend.

Button got away from the line well but was immediately blocked by the slow starting Toyota of Jarno Trulli, dropping the home favourite down to ninth, behind the KERS powered Ferrari's.

"I had good pace when I was on the soft tyres. The pace in the last stint compared to Rosberg and Massa was magnificent. But I had nowhere to go at the start. Everybody shot by on the outside. It is down to our tyre temperatures today."

Jarno Trulli and Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the top eight.

Reigning World Champion and British hero Lewis Hamilton had an entertaining race, battling through the mid-field, but ultimately could only manage 16th.

In the middle stint of the race Hamilton found himself sandwiched between the two Renault's, constantly swapping positions with former team mate Fernando Alonso. The sight of Formula One's two most currently celebrated drivers side by side into Copse and Hanger Straight will live long in the memory of the fans who witnessed it.

"I gave it my all today. Despite fighting for the lower positions, I was absolutely on the limit for the whole race. We knew it would be difficult, and I enjoyed my battle with Fernando, but we didn’t have the pace today to get into the points."

Mclaren driver Heikki Kovalainen struggled around the track he secured pole at last season and ended the race as the first retirement following a collision with Sebastien Bourdais.

The Finn had just emerged from his only stop in front of Hamilton, who duly passed down the Hanger Straight, only to find himself pressured by the Torro Rosso of Bourdais on the exit of Stowe. Weaving right then left, the Finn left Bourdais nowhere to go, but straight into the Mclaren's rear wing. Both retired within a couple of laps.

"Bourdais just ran into the back of me and damaged the left-rear corner. I had to stop because the damage had made the car undriveable."

The self proclaimed home of British motor racing may well be saying goodbye to Formula One this afternoon, but the incredible atmosphere alone has seen the circuit off in style. Many people within the Formula One paddock singing the praises of the rural Northamptonshire circuit and the brilliant following of its fans.

Hamilton claimed, "it was the best race in terms of crowd for a long time in F1."

The championship lead may only have been reduced to 23 points, but the fight is now definitely on. Betting companies that have already paid out on Button's championship win could well be regretting that premature decision! Button at least knows better.