Vettel wins the British Grand Prix in 2009

Sebastian Vettel stormed to victory in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone yesterday, totally dominating the event from the front. Current championship leader Jenson Button could only take sixth place in the cool conditions but his team mate Rubens Barrichello finished third behind the second Red Bull of Mark Webber.

As so often recently it was not a particularly thrilling race with Lewis Hamilton providing most of the action in his battles for sixteenth place.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The British Grand Prix
Silverstone, Britain;
60 laps; 308.355km;
Weather: Dry.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1h22:49.328
 2.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +    15.188
 3.  Barrichello   Brawn GP-Mercedes     (B)  +    41.175
 4.  Massa         Ferrari               (B)  +    45.043
 5.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota       (B)  +    45.915
 6.  Button        Brawn GP-Mercedes     (B)  +    46.285
 7.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  +  1:08.307
 8.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  +  1:09.622
 9.  Glock         Toyota                (B)  +  1:09.823
10.  Fisichella    Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +  1:11.522
11.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)  +  1:14.023
12.  Piquet        Renault               (B)  +     1 lap
13.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +     1 lap
14.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  +     1 lap
15.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +     1 lap
16.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +     1 lap
17.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +     1 lap
18.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +     1 lap

Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:20.735

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)    25
Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)    24

World Championship standings, round 8:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Button        64        1.  Brawn GP-Mercedes     105
 2.  Barrichello   41        2.  Red Bull-Renault     74.5
 3.  Vettel        39        3.  Toyota               34.5
 4.  Webber        35.5      4.  Ferrari                26
 5.  Trulli        21.5      5.  Williams-Toyota      15.5
 6.  Massa         16        6.  McLaren-Mercedes       13
 7.  Rosberg       15.5      7.  Renault                11
 8.  Glock         13        8.  BMW Sauber              8
 9.  Alonso        11        9.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari      5
10.  Raikkonen     10
11.  Hamilton       9
12.  Heidfeld       6
13.  Kovalainen     4
14.  Buemi          3
15.  Kubica         2
16.  Bourdais       2

Sebastien Vettel on his way to pole position in the British Grand Prix

His team mate Mark Webber is third on the grid with Rubens Barrichello (Brawn) second in a Red Bull sandwich.

Jenson Button was disappointed with sixth place complaining he could not obtain a good balance with his car.

I still believe Jenson has a chance of victory tomorrow though especially if the weather is warmer and the car is able to generate more heat into its tyres.

The major upset of the qualifying session was Lewis Hamilton who finished 19th because the session was halted after Adrian Sutil (Force India) crashed at the Abbey Chicane without harm forcing Lewis to abort his best lap.

Here are the full details of the session:-

Pos  Driver       Team                       Q1        Q2        Q3
 1.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:18.685  1:18.119  1:19.509
 2.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:19.325  1:18.335  1:19.856
 3.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:18.674  1:18.209  1:19.868
 4.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:18.886  1:18.240  1:20.091
 5.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:18.530  1:18.575  1:20.216
 6.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:18.957  1:18.663  1:20.289
 7.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:19.228  1:18.591  1:20.361
 8.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:19.198  1:18.791  1:20.490
 9.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:19.010  1:18.566  1:20.715
10.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:19.167  1:18.761  1:20.741
11.  Massa        Ferrari               (B)  1:19.148  1:18.927
12.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:19.730  1:19.308
13.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:19.732  1:19.353
14.  Piquet       Renault               (B)  1:19.555  1:19.392
15.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:19.559  1:19.448
16.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:19.802
17.  Bourdais     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:19.898
18.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:19.909
19.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:19.917
20.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:20.236

The Grand Prix circus is in turmoil at the moment and as so often the case it’s all because of money. There are currently ten teams in F1 and only two of them have signed up with the FIA, the governing body, to take part in next year’s championship. The major car manufacturer backed teams, Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes, Renault, BMW, Toyota, Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Brawn are currently refusing to race next year.

Williams and Force India have agreed to race under the terms of the the FIA. The other teams don’t agree to the proposed budget cap of £40 million to run each team.

FIA President Max Mosley in talks with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone

The eight renegade teams do agree that cost cutting needs to be implemented in these austere times but feel that the proposed budget restrictions are too harsh to be put in place for next year.

They would prefer a more gradual reduction in budgets over the next few years so as to avoid unneccessary redundancies not only for the teams but also the peripheral companies involved. They may form a breakaway series of races and as Ferrari (the major force and crowd puller in F1) hold the ace cards, it is no idle threat. The FIA would be left to run the ‘official’ F1 series but without the star names.

The key to resolution is talks and meetings. The FIA and the teams must reach a compromise to avoid two rival devalued series of races happening next year. This would not work in the long term as has been seen in USA with their open wheel racing series becoming a shadow of its former self after an acrimonious split.

The brinkmanship on both sides will come to a head sooner or later and I hope a suitable solution will be found for both sides.

Sponsors and fans may become disillusioned with the whole affair and with the resultant loss of  TV revenue (the major income source for the whole circus) the show will implode. Bernie Ecclestone has a major part to play now, he has to ensure there is no split and should protect the investment he has made over the last forty years building up F1 into the global brand it has become. There is a real danger that the the end of the road is nigh…

Lewis Hamilton won the British Grand Prix last year, this year he will be fortunate to place in the top eight. Such are the changing fortunes in Formula One.

Lewis Hamilton wins at Silverstone in 2008

His car is just not quick enough around the fast sweeping bends at Silverstone to keep pace with the top cars such as Brawn and Red Bull.

So who are the favourites to do well in this year’s race on Sunday 21st June? Jenson Button, having won 6 of the 7 races so far this season,  must be a key candidate. But his team mate in the Brawn team Rubens Barrichello cannot be ruled out at this, one of his favourite tracks.

The Red Bull cars are super quick at the moment and both Mark Webber and Sebastien Vettel will be in with a great chance of victory on Sunday afternoon.

What about Ferrari chances? The car has been much improved over the last couple of races so may finish on the podium with a little luck, particularly in the hands of Felipe Massa. His team mate  Kimi Raikkonen continues his lacklustre form.

The major car manufacturer teams BMW, Renault and Toyota will be fighting for the crumbs at this race, although Fernando Alonso in the Renault will push to the extreme and Jarno Trulli in the Toyota usually qualifies well.

My tip for victory? I’m going for Button in the Brawn to make it 7 out of 8 with Barrichello second.

Silverstone first hosted the British Grand Prix in 1948 and has hosted the race every year since 1987. There has been some memorable British victories in the race over the years, notably Nigel Mansell in 1987, 1991, 1992, Damon Hill in 1994, Johnny Herbert in 1995, David Coulthard in 1999, 2000 and Lewis Hamilton in 2008.

Nigel Mansell gives Ayrton Senna a lift after the race in 1991

Jenson Button is one of the favourites to win on Sunday 21st June 2009 although some experts suggest his Brawn car wont be the quickest at the track. Button cannot be discounted as he has won 6 of the 7 races held so far this year. The Red Bull cars are expected to put up a stern fight for victory.

There have been many disputes over the years between the BRDC (the owners of the track) and the Formula One authorities or more precisely Mr Bernie Ecclestone. Continual threats to move the Grand prix to another circuit unless substantial improvements were made to the track finally came to a head this year.  Despite the fact Silverstone is a fine racetrack 2009 will see the last F1 race here for the forseeable future.  I am looking forward to this swansong event and hope for a typically thrilling Silverstone type finish.

Jenson Button was born on 19 January 1980 in Frome, Somerset, England. He began his Formula One career driving for the Williams team in 2000. On 6th August 2006 he won his first Grand Prix in Hungary. He currently drives for the Brawn GP team and has won six of the first seven races so far in this 2009 season. A record shared only by Michael Schumacher and Jim Clark.

The Turkish Grand Prix is held at the new Istanbul Park Circuit. This circuit is only one of four anti-clockwise circuits in the present Forumla One calendar and races have been taken place here since the 2005 season. Formula One supremo,Bernie Ecclestone is quoted as saying it is “the best race track in the world” because of the amazing four apex corner called Turn 8. Jonathan Legard, shares his thoughts on the Turkish Grand Prix on his blog in his post, My Turkish Grand Prix preview where he includes some great clips of the track in his video.

Winners of the Turkish Grand Prix

• 2005 -Kimi Räikkönen – Race Report
• 2006 -Felipe Massa – Race Report
• 2007 – Felipe Massa – Race Report
• 2008 – Felipe Massa – Race Report
• 2009 – Jenson Button – Race Report