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European Grand Prix 2009
| Just one pole position in five years meant Rubens Barrichello was desperate to prove his racing pedigree at the European Grand Prix in Valencia recently - and he achieved just that. The latest F1 race took place in Valencia, Spain at the Valencia Street Circuit. The first Grand Prix race on this new circuit took place in August of 2008. The course runs around the harbour in Valencia's remodelled marina area. Throughout many portions of the race, the drivers hug the water's edge, whipping past docked yachts and such. In fact, they whip over a swing bridge at one point, which connects the north and south marina. The new street circuit is 5.419 kms. in length. The race distance of the Grand Prix of Europe is 308.883 kms. The lap record for the course actually occurred during this past Sunday's race. Timo Glock of Toyota set it with a blistering pace of 1:38.683. The Valencia Street Circuit demands precision, focused driving throughout, including the negotiating of its 25 turns. The race began with McLaren-Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton at the pole position. His teammate Heikki Kovalainen held the second grid position. Rubens Barrichello and his Brawn-Mercedes car began in the third spot. Right off the start Hamilton maintained premier position and began his quest for a second straight Grand Prix victory. Kovalainen also maintained his second place position at the start, with Barrichello third. Jenson Button of Brawn-Mercedes started fifth on the grid. However, he had tyre graining problems early on in the race, which impeded his progress. Lewis Hamilton kept up a strong pace until Lap 16. He then pitted, although Barrichello waited another three laps for his pit stop. By Lap 36 Hamilton was ahead of Barrichello by more than three seconds. Heikki Kovalainen was unable to keep the pace to match his McLaren teammate. Barrichello kept the pressure on Kovalainen and slipped ahead of him during the first pit stops. As the race progressed, Hamilton's crew radioed to him to do one more lap before coming in for his second stop. However, Hamilton was already at the entrance to the pit lane, adhering to a previous call to come in on Lap 37. Getting this new request too late, Hamilton pulled into his pit slot, only to find his tyres not ready, leaving Lewis poker faced as he left the pits to re-join the race. Rubens Barrichello pitted his Brawn car on Lap 40, from the lead position. He assumed this lead because of the Hamilton pit stop error. Upon emerging from this stop, Barrichello resumed his lead. From there onward, Barrichello drove a consistent, smart race. His controlled driving saw him eventually cross the finish line by a little more than two seconds over McLaren's Lewis Hamilton. Post-race, McLaren Team Principal Martin Whitmarsh conceded that Rubens Barrichello was too fast. He stated that Lewis Hamilton could really only hope for second in the day's race. While the confusion over the pit stop didn't help, realistically McLaren could not match Barrichello's pace. To his credit, Hamilton did keep the pressure on Barrichello after losing the lead. He couldn't rein him in, but he did gain eight valuable Grand Prix points. This gives him 27 points in total so far this year, with six races to go. Other Grand Prix of Europe race highlights included Romain Grosjean making his F1 debut for Renault. He finished the race in 15th place. Jaime Alguersuari, another newcomer to the circuit finished in 16th place in his Toro Rosso car. Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel's weekend went from poor to worse. During Saturday's qualifying, he had engine failure. On race day, it was deja vu, as he again experienced engine failure. This caused him to retire from the race on Lap 24. Vettel has 47 points this season in the race to the Drivers Championship. Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari drove a clean race. He had a good start, from grid position six. His strong start vaulted him to where he ended up securing third place and a champagne-spraying podium position. Not able to keep up with Barrichello or Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen nonetheless drove a quality race and finished in fourth. Nico Rosberg of Williams battled hard and secured fifth place, with Fernando Alonso of Renault finishing sixth. Britain's Jenson Button, despite tire troubles did end up in seventh place. This added two points to his Drivers Standings total. Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber passed Red Bull's Mark Webber during the second set of pit stops. This garnered him eighth spot and one point. Mark Webber, in third place in the Drivers Standings with 51.5 points had a rough weekend. He wasn't fast enough to finish in the top eight and made no progress in his quest to catch Jenson Button. Button continues to lead all drivers with 72 points. The team standings have Brawn-Mercedes leading the way with 126 points. RBR-Renault is in second-place with 98.50 points. Holding down the third spot is Ferrari with 46 points. For Rubens Barrichello, his ten points for finishing first give him 54 points. This is good enough for second place, as he battles his teammate Button for Formula One driving supremacy. For Barrichello, five years between GP wins is something he never wants to experience again. A chance for another victory awaits Barrichello and all Grand Prix drivers at the Belgian Grand Prix. The race at Spa-Francorchamps will add racing fuel to the fire as the Championship race heats up further. There'll be no Belgian waffling as the drivers hit the circuit ready to compete with intensity in Belgium. |
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