May 11, 2009

Jenson Button won his fourth Formula One race of the season by taking the Spanish Grand Prix as Australia's Mark Webber claimed his second podium finish of the year.

Button's two-stop strategy proved decisive as he became the ninth straight winner from pole position at the Circuit de Catalunya, even after Brawn teammate Rubens Barrichello, the eventual runner-up, overtook him out of the start.

"I crossed the line first and this is a race where I didn't really think I was going to," Button said.

Barrichello's extra pit stop allowed Button to make up the difference, and the Briton won by 13 seconds to extend his championship lead over his teammate to 14 points after five races.

"I had the race in my hands and I was quite surprised when they told me they were switching Jenson to two (stops)," Barrichello said. "I would like to understand why they changed that."

Webber finished third ahead of Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel, who trails Button by 18 points in third overall.

Webber improved to fourth place, 25.5 points behind the leader.

Webber overtook Vettel in the closing laps after Vettel had finally passed Felipe Massa with four laps remaining following a battle between the two drivers throughout the 66-lap race.

Massa would eventually finish sixth - behind Renault's Fernando Alonso - as Ferrari remained without a podium finish for its longest opening period of a season since 1993.

F1GP - Spanish Grand PrixPos No Driver Team Time/Retired
1 20 Jenson Button Brawn 01:37:19.2020
2 21 Rubens Barrichello Brawn 01:37:32.2580
3 14 Mark Webber Red Bull 01:37:33.1260
4 15 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 01:37:38.1430
5 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 01:38:02.3680
6 3 Felipe Massa Ferrari 01:38:10.0290
7 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 01:38:11.5140
8 16 Nico Rosberg Williams 01:38:24.4130
9 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren +1 Lap
10 10 Timo Glock Toyota +1 Lap
11 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber +1 Lap
12 8 Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault +1 Lap
13 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams +1 Lap
14 19 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India +1 Lap
15 4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari DNF
16 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren DNF
17 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota DNF
18 12 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso DNF
19 11 Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso DNF
20 18 Adrian Sutil Force India DNF