With the championship already decided the last race of the 2009 Formula 1 season at a brand new track in Abu Dhabi was about making history and having a strong finish to the season. At first it looked like Lewis Hamilton would have all of that as he was the fastest in practice and captured the pole position. When the lights went out he shot to the lead but unfortunately he suffered brake problems which ultimately put him out of the race early. It was the first mechanical retirement for Lewis and the McLaren Mercedes team all year so he couldn’t complain all that much.
With Lewis out all it took was some extra effort and a pit cycle for F1’s newest superstar Sebastien Vettel to take the lead and run away from the field. Once he got open air he was unstoppable and pressed on to a victory and history as being the first driver to ever win a race at the brand new Abu Dhabi race track. Check out the video below for a full post race report via SPEED.
Just like last year, the Brazilian GP was a big deal. Everyone was doing the math and trying to figure out who needed to do what to stay alive in the championship points battle. This race was even more important for Rubens Barrichello. Not only did he want to keep his championship hopes alive and continue the fight with his teammate Jenson Button but he wanted to finally win in front of his native Brazil with his family and friends looking on. For a while it looked like Rubens’ dream was about to come true as he drove like a racing god in the rain to earn the pole during qualifying and ran away from the pack as the race started. Unfortunately due to some mystery change on the car during a pit stop caused Rubens to fall behind and allowed Mark Webber to take and hold onto the lead to earn the victory.
Meanwhile, in mid-pack Jenson was comfortably positioned in 5th place. I know that doesn’t sound awesome but with Rubens struggling and Sebastien Vettel hanging out way in the back, 5th place was just enough for Jenson to lock in the 2009 title. Which he did by race end! Jenson Button is officially the 2009 World Champion!
Feels kind of climatic doesn’t it? Yet there is still one more race left so it definitely aint over folks! Check out the video below for the SPEED post race report.
For the second time the F1 cars raced with a background of the night sky and on a track saturated with super bright night-sun lights. That can only mean one thing; They’re back in Singapore! Before the race many were wondering if Alonso could repeat his ill-gotten win from last year or if instead the Brawn GP cars would continue their domination. However it seemed that almost all the drivers on the grid had trouble finding grip in Singapore’s tight, low speed corners. There were more than a few crashes during practice and qualifying. In fact both Brawn GP cars had a date with the wall at one point or another over the weekend.
Though, there was one driver who seemed to find harmony with the tight turns and high speed straights of Singapore, and that was Lewis Hamilton. He qualified on the pole on Saturday and that was all he needed. He lead the race practically from start to finish never getting a proper challenge from Brawn GP or Red Bull F1. He finished a full 10 seconds ahead of runner-up Timo Glock and third place Fernando Alonso. Check out the video below for the post-race wrap up.
For the second race in a row I don’t have to complain about Jenson Button furthering the boredom that is Brawn GP’s domination. This time I can tell you that a mile stone was finally reached for Mark Webber as he scored his first F1 win ever in his 8 year career and 100+ starts. The win was actually his second “first” of the weekend as the day before he landed his first ever pole position in qualifying by dominating all three sessions of qualifying with his fastest lap of 1.31.257 coming in Q1. Once race day came Mark capitalized on his starting position and despite a rocket start by Lewis Hamilton he held off the field and rode his way to his first victory. Congrats mark! Check out the post race by the SPEED Trio below.
So let me set the stage for you. Jenson Button has been kicking ass and taking names all season and seems virtually unstoppable. The only time he didn’t win so far was in China when Sebastien Vettel ran away with it. This weekend the F1 show rolls into Sliverstone; Thats England for you Geography majors out there. So the unstoppable points leader shows up to his home track… Game over right? WRONG! It looks like the Sliverstone curse was reset this year because neither Jenson Button or Lewis Hamilton could catch a break on their home turf. The best Jenson could muster was a respectable 6th place while Hamilton was waaaaaayyyyy in the back..so far that it isn’t even worth mentioning what position he finished in. No worries for the Brits though Jenson still retains a healthy lead over the rest of the field. Check out the post race recap by the SPEED trio below.
This past Sunday Brawn GP earned their third victory and first win for Jenson Button that wasn’t behind a safety car. Following just behind Button was Sebastien Vettel and Jarno Trulli (Trulli scored the first pole position for Toyota on Saturday). For a while Vettel had a handle on the race but Jenson and his Brawn Mercedes took control. Move over Ferrari and McLaren. The new Ken and Ryu of the Formula 1 grid are now Brawn GP and Red Bull Racing.
The surprizes just keep coming with Formula 1 this year. Just when I was starting to think Brawn GP would be the dominator all season Red Bull Racing gets their driver Sebastien Vettel the pole position and then Vettel and his team mate Mark Webber get RBR a 1-2 finish respectively! This is the second time that Vettel has earned a team its first win. The first time he did it was last year with Red Bull’s junior team Toro Rosso by doing the same thing with RBR he is the first person to earn maiden wins for two different teams since Jackie Stewart back in the 70s.
The conditions for this race were beyond horrible with a massive down pour that flooded the entire track. So much so that the first 8 laps were under caution until the rain let up. After that all Vettel had to do was make sure he treated the car like a newborn child and nursed it around the track without spinning. While back in his pit box his team had to make sure they knew what tire to give him and at what time. When all was said and done Sebastien crossed the line first and brought home RBR’s maiden victory.
You thought with the Long Beach Grand Prix in our back yard we’d forget about Formula One?! Not bloody likely! Anyway lets get on with it. In the first race of the season that a Brawn GP car doesn’t take the pole is also the first race that Red Bull Racing gets its first pole position ever thanks to Sebastien Vettel. While announcers and on lookers were surprized that Lewis Hamiton finally made it to the Q3 session Vettel was busy masterminding his blazing lap. Once he got out of the pit he didn’t put a wheel wrong and just when it looked like Mark Webber was going to win the pole position Vettel swoops in and snatches it away from his teammate and then Fernando Alonso swoops in and takes second position away from Webber but the Austrialian still hung onto third.
Stay tuned to SPEED this weekend to watch the Shanghai GP.
Qualifying Results
1 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Renault) 1:36.184
2 Fernando Alonso (Renault) +0.197
3 Mark Webber (Red Bull Renault) +0.282
4 Rubens Barrichello (Brawn Mercedes) +0.309
5 Jenson Button (Brawn Mercedes) +0.348
6 Jarno Trulli (Toyota) +0.651
7 Nico Rosberg (Williams Toyota) +1.213
8 Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) +1.905
9 Lewis Hamilton (Mclaren Mercedes) +2.411
10 Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso Ferrari) +3.137
11 Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber)
12 Heikki Kovalainen (Mclaren Mercedes)
13 Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
14 Timo Glock (Toyota)
15 Kazuki Nakajima (Williams Toyota)
16 Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso Ferrari)
17 Nelson Piquet (Renault)
18 Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber)
19 Adrian Sutil (Force India Mercedes)
20 Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India Mercedes)
Here is another video treat from Red Bull Racing’s 4th Sector via SpeedTV. In this piece we see Red Bull Racing’s 2008 car transform into the new 2009 RB5 according to each change in allowed in the rule book. I have a feeling this will be come another motorsport viral classic like their famous lap of Singapore video.
It looks like ol’ Berger wont be the head man over at Toro Rosso anymore according to SPEED. Recently Mr. Mateschitz (CEO of Red Bull) bought back the 50% stake in the Toro Rosso team that was once owned by Gerhard Berger. With Gerhard out of the mix some think this might result in a major shake up within the team and some have even suggested that they might invite Scott Speed back across the pond (not bloody likely). All that is known currently is that its still in Mateschitz’ long term plan to eventually sell the team off again. Seriously, this team has been passed around more than a wizard shaped bong at a frat party.
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