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Red Bull Racing takes the British Grand Prix
A fantastic one-two for Red Bull Racing in the British Grand Prix means that as the championship moves into its second half, we can really begin to think about taking on the Brawn
team in the title fight.
Sebastian Vettel was never really challenged after taking pole position yesterday, pulling away from Rubens Barrichello in the Brawn at the rate of about a second a lap in the early stages.
Mark Webber was running a strong third and clever timing of the first of his two pit stops saw a few heart-stopping moments as he came down pit lane just as the Brazilian
charged down the start-finish straight.
They were pretty much side by side at the exit to the pit lane, but the Aussie had the edge and from then on, the Red Bull duo were never really troubled and in fact,
Sebastian was told from the pit wall to slow his pace to bring the car home. The Bulls were on a charge!
Barrichello picked up six points for third, but his Brawn team-mate, Jenson Button had the quietest weekend of his year, only managing three points for sixth place. This
means we have closed the gap dramatically in the Constructors' series, from around 40 to nearer 25 points. And Sebastian is now much closer to second placed Barrichello in the Drivers.'
All the work back at the factory to produce what, in aero terms at least, was pretty much a new car for this race, certainly paid off.
But let's not get carried away: there is still a long way to go and one less than brilliant weekend for our main rivals doesn't mean they've lost the plot. So for impartial race
fans (you won't find many of them in our camp) it could be a thrilling fight through the second half of the season.
There were some good performances further back, with Felipe Massa coming from eleventh on the grid to finish fourth, ahead of Nico Rosberg in fifth. Behind Button, Jarno
Trulli finished seventh for Toyota with the Kimi Raikkonen claiming the final point on offer for Ferrari, in eighth spot.
And in case you didn't notice, unlike in China, the Silverstone podium crew got it right and played the Austrian National Anthem for our Constructors' trophy, although
Adrian Newey didn't look as though he knew the words, as he clutched the cup. He'll have to take lessons. Team boss Christian Horner traditionally hosts a party at his home on
Sunday night in Silverstone and as the UK's BBC commentator said on the final lap of the race: "With a one-two finish, it's bound to get messy!"
As the entire team gathered for a celebratory photo outside the Energy Station an hour after the race, the Red Arrows did a flypast over Silverstone, but today the Home of British
Motorsport belonged to the Red Bulls.
Sebastian Vettel won his second race for Red Bull Racing this afternoon with Mark Webber right behind him in second. Car 15, SEBASTIAN VETTEL, (Finish
Position 1st, Start Position: 1st) "This is such a fantastic circuit. I think all the drivers enjoy it with its fast corners, it's a dream really – so to stay focused and keep your eyes
open all the time during the race is not easy! The start was very important, then in the first stint I tried to pull away and make a gap, as I knew it would be crucial for the whole
race. The car was fantastic, just unbelievable. I was able to push more and more and the tyres were very consistent. The second stint wasn't so easy; there were a lot of lapped
cars that were battling with each other, so the team told me to be careful. From the last pit stop I was in clean air and from then on I was just counting down each lap. I had
quite a big gap to Mark and was controlling the race from that point on. Everyone in the team has been working so hard, both in the factory and at the track. The way the
team has brought the car to where it is now is fantastic – and we've proven it's a step in the right direction, so I'm very pleased. I also want to thank Silverstone. I enjoyed
this race so much – when I looked in the grandstands everyone was standing up and clapping and when I took the chequered flag the atmosphere was so great. This is
what I was dreaming of when I watched British grands prix when I was younger when Mansell was driving. It's almost unreal now to think that I'm here and I've made it. I've won this grand prix and I'm very happy."
Car 14, MARK WEBBER, (Finish Position 2nd, Start Position: 3rd): "It's a great day for the team. I'm disappointed not to take the win, but I think I lost my chance for victory
yesterday during qualifying. I should have been on the front row and, if so, I would have tried to make Sebastian work a bit harder in the first stint when I was behind Rubens. I
saved a lot of fuel in the first stint, which meant we were able to jump Rubens at the first pit stop. I don't think I could have done much more today and congratulations to
Sebastian, he did a good first stint, which is what laid the foundations for his win. And the team? Well, the guys have buried themselves recently with night shifts and the
attention to detail that they go to is a credit to them. They're being led very well and they're responding to that. Results help and it's an incredible injection for them to get
the top result, a one-two on local turf. I enjoyed it today. Silverstone is an amazing track and it's incredible to go through that first sector, lap after lap. It's a great place to
drive a Formula One car and the British fans are always fantastic, so it was great today."
CHRISTIAN HORNER: "What a fantastic team result, a one-two, with both guys totally dominating the race. There were so many members of the team here today and, for
them to see what their cars can do, when they have put in so much effort, is just incredible. I'm thrilled for everyone at Red Bull, they've done a brilliant job. This track suits our
car and the drivers have been in fantastic form all weekend. Sebastian was outstanding today and Mark also did a brilliant job – he was very patient when he needed to
be behind Rubens in the first stint. It was a great team result. We've still got a long way to go to catch Brawn GP, but we're definitely moving in the right direction."
FABRICE LOM, Renault, Principal Engineer, Track Support:
"Wow, a magic result – first and second at the British Grand Prix. The team is so happy and, for the guys in Milton
Keynes, this victory is so deserved – they worked like hell to prepare this new package. It's a great result for them. For us as the engine partner to be part of this adventure is
a great pleasure – so congratulations to everyone back in the factories and let's enjoy this fantastic result."
Brawn GP Team takes 3rd
Brawn GP's Rubens Barrichello drove an assured race at
Silverstone today to bring his Brawn-Mercedes car home in third position at the team's home Grand Prix. Team-mate Jenson Button secured sixth position to score a valuable three points.
Both drivers began the race on the softer option tyre and whilst Rubens had a good getaway to maintain second position off the line, Jenson was boxed in behind a
slow-starting Trulli and dropped to ninth at the first corner.
Following similar two-stop strategies, Jenson pitted first on lap 18 for a long middle stint on the prime tyre. Rubens
came in one lap later, losing a place to Mark Webber who stayed out longer. Both Brawn GP drivers struggled with grip levels on the harder compound and were unable to
maintain tyre temperatures in the cool track conditions.
Their second stops came on lap 47 for Rubens who maintained his third position and lap 49 for Jenson who
jumped Jarno Trulli and Kimi Raikkonen to take sixth position at the end of the 60-lap race.
RUBENS BARRICHELLO: (Finish Position 3nd) "I'm really
proud of the third place that we achieved at Silverstone today. It's been a tough weekend for the team and we knew that if the track temperatures didn't increase, then it
would be incredibly difficult to beat the Red Bulls. The car has been well balanced and we certainly haven't lost performance since the last race, it's just that we have
suffered badly in the cool conditions with our tyre temperatures. I had a good start to maintain second but Sebastian then disappeared in front of me and we knew
that we were competing for third. There's been very little difference between the two tyre compounds this weekend but the softer tyre was definitely better in the race so it
was tough for us to do the long middle stint on the harder tyre. Still to come away with third and the best position that the team could have achieved this weekend is very
satisfying and I'm happy to have taken some points out of Jenson's lead."
ROSS BRAWN: "Today's result was a pleasing outcome to what has been a challenging home race for the team this
weekend. Rubens drove a very composed race to achieve his second consecutive podium finish at Silverstone whilst Jenson recovered well from a poor start to score valuable
points for our Championship challenge. We knew from the outset that our car does not work particularly well with the tyres at lower track temperatures and this was clearly
evident at Shanghai earlier in the season. The balance of the car and the pace shown by Jenson in the last few laps of the race are however encouraging and we will be taking
a close look at the issues that we experienced with the tyres to see what countermeasures can be taken. Congratulations to Red Bull for a superb one-two finish
today and we look forward to taking the fight to them in Germany."
Scuderia Ferrari takes 4th
Felipe Massa put in a fantastic drive at Silverstone to finish the British Grand Prix in fourth place, quite an achievement from eleventh on the starting grid. His Scuderia Ferrari
Marlboro team-mate, Kimi Raikkonen, picked up the final point for eighth place, having started ninth. Possibly because of the slightly warmer conditions today, the F60
performed better than yesterday and better than expected. On the podium, it was the Red Bull Renaults that dominated the event, securing a one-two courtesy of Sebastian Vettel
and Mark Webber. On the last step of the rostrum was Rubens Barrichello for Brawn McLaren.
It was a chilly 16 degrees as 19 cars lined up on the grid,
with Sutil starting from the pit lane, having to race with a spare chassis after his qualifying crash. As the lights went out, the top three were in grid order, while Trulli dropped
four places, Alonso was also slow away and Kimi had a minor moment, going off the track.
On the second lap, Felipe was passed by Button for eighth
place. At the front, Vettel pulled out a lead over Barrichello at the rate of about a second a lap in the early stages, with Webber not really challenging the Brawn. Behind them
on lap 10, the order was Nakajima in fourth, then Kimi, Rosberg, Trulli, Button, Felipe in ninth place, with Glock completing the top ten. The best battle at this point was
for 12th place as Heidfeld, with a damaged front wing on the BMW fought off Alonso in the Renault.
The first man to refuel was Nakajima in the Williams on lap
15, followed one lap later by Kimi. On lap 18, Rosberg, Trulli and Button all pitted, with the Italian Toyota driver coming out just ahead of Kimi, which slowed the Ferrari man. When
Barrichello came in, it promoted to Webber to second, 19.4 behind his team-mate. The key moment for the leading trio came on lap 20, when Webber refuelled and managed to
come out just ahead of Barrichello. When Vettel pitted on lap 21, this temporarily promoted Felipe to the lead. The Brazilian was the last of the lead group to refuel, which
proved to be a good strategic call, as he rejoined in a promising sixth place. Showing what an unusual championship this is proving to be, most of the excitement came from two world champions, Alonso and Hamilton
scrapping in the minor positions.
By lap 30, Felipe had moved up to fifth behind Rosberg, with Kimi seventh ahead of Button. On lap 34, Bourdais' Toro Rosso hit the back of Kovalainen's McLaren and both
men would eventually retire a few laps later. Eight laps later, while the two Red Bulls were unchallenged in front, a three way battle developed for third place between
Barrichello, Rosberg and Felipe, the three men separated by under two seconds. Kimi was the first to make his second refuelling stop on lap 42, fitting the harder Bridgestone
tyres. Three laps later, it was Felipe's turn to come in for the harder tyres for his final stint to the flag and Massa now gained a place, moving up to fourth ahead of Rosberg.
On lap 49, championship leader Button came in and unlike most of his rivals, he was now on the softer tyres and began lapping quicker than everyone, closing rapidly on
Rosberg, but he never managed to get past the Williams.
So after 60 laps, Vettel took his second win of the year, ahead of team-mate Webber and Barrichello in third. Felipe
finished fourth, 3.8 seconds behind his fellow countryman. Fifth was Rosberg, followed by Button and Trulli, with Kimi picking up the final point for eighth place. The result means
that while still fourth in the Constructors' championship, Ferrari has closed the gap to Toyota to 8.5 points, Felipe has moved up from eighth to sixth in the Drivers' while Kimi stays tenth.
AT&T Williams takes 5th
Silverstone delivered another points-scoring finish
team in front of a home crowd. Nico Rosberg claimed a
second successive fifth place finish, his four points promoting the team into the top half of the Constructors' Championship to fifth place. Despite gaining track position
in the first lap and running in fourth up until his first stop, Kazuki Nakajima was unable to convert the competitive pace he's demonstrated all weekend and dropped down the order to end the race in P11.
Nico Rosberg: (Finish Position 5th)(+45.915 (1:21.054, 3rd). I am very pleased for the whole team, and for myself, that we had another good race. We still didn't get the result
that we are capable of today, but Barrichello was slow in the middle stint and I was stuck behind him and that cost me the place to Massa. If that hadn't happened, we would
have had a solid fourth place. I have to say a big well done to the team because everyone is doing a really great job and we are moving ahead in terms of development. We are
consistent on every track so I'm looking forward to the races to come.
Sam Michael, Technical Director: It was great for the team to pick up more points today with Nico's fifth place and it shows we're still heading in the right direction with
development. Nico drove well, it was just a shame he was caught up in traffic for the majority of the race as I think he could have done more. He showed that he was quick by
setting the third fastest laptime in the race, only behind the two Red Bulls. With his strategy, it was always going to be difficult for Kazuki to score points, but he is definitely
improving, and he really helped the team with set-up direction this weekend.
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