May 25, 2009

World championship leader Jenson Button made it five wins out of six races this season when he drove his Brawn GP car to a consummate triumph in the Monaco Grand Prix.

The 29-year-old Englishman delivered a flawless performance as he and 37-year-old Brazilian team-mate Rubens Barrichello came home one and two for the second race in succession and third time this year.

Starting from his fourth pole position of this fairy-tale season and the seventh of his career, Button pulled clear at the start and, apart from brief interruptions due to pit-stops, led all the way with a supreme performance of mature and well-judged racing.

“Yeah, Monaco baby!'' he screamed on his car-to-pits radio after becoming the first man since German great Michael Schumacher in 2006 to complete a hat-trick of consecutive Grand Prix wins.

His win lifted him to 51 points in the drivers' standings after six of the 17 races in this year's championship, giving him a 16-point lead over Barrichello and increasing the Brawn team's advantage at the top of the constructors' standings to more than 40 points.

It was Button's first win in Monaco and he becomes the sixth British winner of the classic event around the streets of Monte Carlo.

The Ferrari duo of Finn Kimi Raikkonen and Brazilian Felipe Massa maintained the Italian team's improvement following their appalling start to the year by coming home third and fourth.

Australian Mark Webber finished fifth for Red Bull after his team-mate German Sebastian Vettel, 21, for once betrayed his relative inexperience by crashing, and German-born Finn Nico Rosberg, son of former champion Keke, was sixth for Williams.

Two-time champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso also drove a measured race to finish seventh for Renault ahead of Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais, who gave his countrymen something to celebrate by bringing his Toro Rosso car home for a point in eighth place.

Defending world champion Briton Lewis Hamilton, who started from last on the grid, endured another torrid afternoon and finished 13th while his McLaren Mercedes team-mate Finn Heikki Kovalainen completed a disappointing weekend for them by crashing while running seventh.

On a sunlit Mediterranean afternoon, a light breeze and blue skies made for an air temperature of 25 degrees, with a track temperature of 42 as the race began.

At the start, Barrichello made an excellent getaway and took advantage of Raikkonen's surge in pursuit of a pass on pole-sitter Button.

The Brazilian, third on the grid, followed his Brawn team-mate through Ste Devote and they were running first and second at the front.

After six laps behind Vettel's Red Bull, Massa attempted to pass him and overran at the chicane where he bounced across the run-off kerbs allowing not only Vettel but also Rosberg to overtake him when he rejoined and slowed.

Vettel, his tyres shot to pieces, was passed by Rosberg, Massa and Kovalainen before he pitted after 11 laps when Swiss Sebastien Buemi in his Toro Rosso crashed into Nelson Piquet's Renault.

On fresh tyres, Vettel tried too hard to rejoin the fray at the front and he showed his inexperience when, after 17 laps, he slid off and crashed into the barriers at Ste Devote, his race over.

Vettel said afterwards: “It's one race. It doesn't help if you don't score points when the others do, but it's a long way (until the end of the season) and there are a lot of races (left).''

Piquet, under pressure to keep his seat with Renault, was livid and said: “It was a stupid accident. These young drivers need to calm down, Buemi just slammed right into the back of me.''

Kovalainen, running seventh, crashed out after 53 laps when he lost control at the Swimming Pool exit and wrecked the front end of his McLaren.

“That was my mistake, I lost the car and I crashed. It was my mistake, nothing else. I took the kerb too much, lost the rear and came over,'' Kovalainen said.

Button was chased hard for one lap by Massa, before the Brazilian pitted again, after which it was business as usual with the two Brawns cruising home ahead of the two Ferraris.

F1GP - Monaco Grand Prix
Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired
1 20 Jenson Button Brawn 01:40:44.2820
2 21 Rubens Barrichello Brawn 01:40:51.9480
3 4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 01:40:57.7240
4 3 Felipe Massa Ferrari 01:40:59.3920
5 14 Mark Webber Red Bull 01:41:00.0120
6 16 Nico Rosberg Williams 01:41:17.8680
7 7 Fernando Alonso Renault 01:41:22.1210
8 11 Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso 01:41:47.4240
9 19 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India 01:41:49.3220
10 10 Timo Glock Toyota +1 Lap
11 6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber +1 Lap
12 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren +1 Lap
13 9 Jarno Trulli Toyota +1 Lap
14 18 Adrian Sutil Force India +1 Lap
15 17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams DNF
16 2 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren DNF
17 5 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber DNF
18 15 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull DNF
19 8 Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault DNF
20 12 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso DNF


Pos Driver Team Pts
1 Jenson Button (GBR) Brawn 51
2 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Brawn 35
3 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull 23
4 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 19.5
5 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota 14.5
6 Timo Glock (GER) Toyota 12
7 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault 11
8 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari 9
9 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 9
10 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 8
11 Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams 7.5
12 Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber 6
13 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 4
14 Sebastien Buemi (SUI) Toro Rosso 3
15 Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) Toro Rosso 2
16 Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India 0
17 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 0
18 Nelson Piquet Jr. (BRA) Renault 0
19 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber 0
20 Kazuki Nakajima (JAP) Williams 0


Pos Team Pts
1 Brawn 86
2 Red Bull 42.5
3 Toyota 26.5
4 Ferrari 17
5 McLaren 13
6 Renault 11
7 Williams 7.5
8 BMW Sauber 6
9 Toro Rosso 5
10 Force India 0