Brawn GP’s Button wins at Bahrain F1 Grand Prix

Jenson Button scored his third victory of this season on April 26 in the 2009 Bahrain F1 Grand Prix. His Brawn GP car continues to amaze on its barely-sponsored debut.

Toyota had a solid qualifying session as Jarno Trulli outran Timo Glock to pole.

On race day, the Toyota twins made their escape at the race start as Glock got ahead of Trulli, while Lewis Hamilton went from fourth place to initially run third. However, he was passed by Button at the start of the second lap.

Glock led until his expected early pit stop on lap 11, and Trulli followed him in a lap later. However, both their races became difficult when the team switched them to a harder tire, and both racers saw their lap times increase. A longer run before pitting allowed Button to comfortably claim the lead when he came in, and after that he never looked back as he established a large margin.

The battle behind Button continued. Trulli held onto second initially, despite struggling on the harder tire. He had Vettel and Hamilton right behind him until his second stop, at which point Vettel was able to get ahead and claim the position. Trulli was able to hold on to third, as Hamilton faded a bit in the final stint when he had to use the firmer tire. Nevertheless, his fourth-place finish was only 22 seconds behind Button.

Rubens Barrichello went for a unique three-stop strategy in an unsuccessful attempt to get out of traffic, and he lost time behind Nelson Piquet. Barrichello was able to secure fifth place as his strategy played out. Kimi Raikkonen took sixth and scored Ferrari’s first points of the year. Raikkonen finished ahead of a frustrated Glock and Fernando Alonso. Nico Rosberg and Piquet completed the top 10.

It was another frustrating day for Felipe Massa, who damaged his car’s nose in a first-lap battle between Barrichello and Raikkonen, and had to pit for a replacement. Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld also had to pit for new noses after early tangles, and they finished 18th and 19th after a terrible afternoon for the BMW Sauber team.

RESULTS

1. J Button Brawn-Mercedes
2. S Vettel RBR-Renault
3. J Trulli Toyota
4. L Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
5. R Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes
6. K Raikkonen Ferrari
7. T Glock Toyota
8. F Alonso Renault
9. N Rosberg Williams-Toyota
10. N Piquet Renault
11. M Webber RBR-Renault
12. H Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes
13. S Bourdais STR-Ferrari
14. F Massa Ferrari
15. G Fisichella Force India-Mercedes
16. A Sutil Force India-Mercedes
17. S Buemi STR-Ferrari
18. R Kubica BMW-Sauber
19. N Heidfeld BMW-Sauber
Ret. K Nakajima Williams-Toyota

POINTS TO DATE

Button 21
Barrichello 15
Vettel 10
Glock 10
Webber 9.5
Trulli 8.5
Heidfeld 4
Alonso 4
Hamilton 4
Kovalainen 4
Rosberg 3.5
Buemi 3
Bourdais 1
Massa 0
Raikkonen 0
Kubica 0
Piquet 0
Nakajima 0
Sutil 0
Fisichella 0

CONSTRUCTOR POINTS TO DATE

Brawn GP 36
Red Bull Racing 19.5
Toyota 18.5
McLaren-Mercedes 8
BMW Sauber 4
Renault 4
Scuderia Toro Rosso 4
Williams 3.5
Ferrari 0
Force India 0

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