Vettel Wins British Grand Prix, Red Bull 1-2 Posted by: MSulka on Jun 21, 2009 - 10:03 AM

Vettel Wins British Grand Prix, Red Bull 1-2By Mike SulkaSebastian Vettel won for the third time in his F1 career with a victory at the 2009 Formula One British Grand Prix.Courtesy of Red Bull In front of nearly 100,000 fans on a dark overcast day, Sebastian Vettel and his Red Bull RB5 stormed to an easy win at the historic Silverstone circuit for Formula One’s 2009 British Grand Prix. The race proved once and for all that mighty Brawn GP can be beaten, and that the F1 championship fight is likely to tighten before a winner is declared. The British victory was Vettel’s second of the season – he also won the rainy Chinese Grand Prix - and third of his F1 career. It was also the German’s first career win under dry conditions. All three of his wins have come from Pole position. Vettel also scored the hat-trick: Pole, fastest lap, and the win. For the Red Bull F1 team, it was their second win of the season, and their second in the team’s five year 80-race history. It was also the team’s second one-two finish of the season as Mark Webber got by Brawn GP’s Rubens Barrichello on the first round of pitstops, and easily pulled away once the Brazilian was behind. Both Red Bull drivers turned down the revs on the engines to save them. Had it been 2005 and one-race engines, the pair likely would have lapped the field. They were that good. “This is a dream come true, this is a dream come true,” Vettel said of his straightforward cruise to victory. “It’s never easy, you have to stay focused and keep your eyes open all of the time. I had to push during the first stint, I was able to push, push, push, more and more. “

He tried to convince that his race had its challenges saying, “The second stint wasn’t easy at all, I had a lot of traffic, and lapped cars and it isn’t easy to come up from behind.  I had a big gap but I couldn’t see, I kept asking what’s the gap, the status “. 

He continued, “With 10 laps to go, I just started counting them down.  It’s fantastic, it shows Red Bull are on the right way, it’s a step in the right direction.  It was emotional watching the fans cheering for me coming to the checkers.”

As for his chances to turn the title right into a real war, Vettel said, “This circuit certainly fits our car, and it behaves very well in all types of corners as we have improved the car.  You could say we were quite dominant today.”

Indeed.

Australian Mark Webber played the role of a solid second as he did everything he needed to leap-frog ahead of Rubens Barrichello to take second place during the second pitstops. 

“We needed to get on the front row to have a chance at victory,” said Webber. “The first stint I was stuck behind Barrichello, the race was lost in the first stint, and I had no chance to bridge that gap.  In general, this team and the guys, the attention to detail is an absolute credit to them.  Results help motivate, and this is a great result.”

Webber made one final cutting statement saying, “We love racing at Silverstone, it’s a brilliant place for a Formula One car, it destroys many of the new tracks that have been added over the last few years.”

For Rubens Barrichello, the team had achieved its goals after realizing that the post-qualifying weights wouldn’t favor them.

“At the end of the day, it was very difficult,” said Rubens. “After qualifying we believed that third was about the best we could have.  The second stint on the harder tyres was very difficult, plus the wind was blowing and moving us into the marbles.  My target was to close the gap on Jenson (Button) and we did that.”
Regarding the championship, Jenson Button started in sixth, and was able to get back to sixth after falling back to P9 at the start.  He left the grid with a solid start, but Toyota’s Jarno Trulli chopped him off heading into Copse, and he was forced to consider the championship rather than seek the position.  His lead is still a mighty 25 points over Vettel, but it is very clear that Red Bull now have the better car.  Vettel (39) is just two points behind Barrichello (41).

Next up with be the German Grand Prix in three weeks time.  Given the lack of testing, it will be a great opportunity to get insight into the future of the sport as FOTA move forward to establish a new pinnacle of motorsport, and the FIA work to fix their horrid negotiations, and complete lack of results to find replacement teams.

Also in Feature Articles:

• 2010 Pocono: NASCAR Truck Race Preview - Rookie Lofton Struggling In Trucks   (07/29/10)
• 2010 Pocono II: NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Notebook - Thursday   (07/29/10)
• Interesting Edmonton Controversy in Edmonton IndyCar Race   (07/28/10)
• Triple Crown for Ganassi the Double for Jamie McMurray   (07/28/10)
• 2010 Brickyard 400 (Indianapolis): NASCAR Sprint Cup Sunday Notebook - Earnhardt Thwarted   (07/25/10)
• Mark Martin's Future At Hendrick In Mark Martin's Hands   (07/25/10)
• 2010 Brickyard 400 (Indianapolis): NASCAR Cup Saturday Notebook: Kahne Staying Out Of 2011 Discussions   (07/24/10)
• 2010 Brickyard 400 (Indianapolis): NASCAR Sprint Cup - Friday Notebook   (07/23/10)
• NASCAR Makes The Right Call On Edwards-Keselowski   (07/22/10)
• Power Still on IndyCar Championship Mission after Honda Indy Toronto Victory   (07/22/10)
• Tough Day for Canadians at Honda Indy Toronto   (07/22/10)
• IndyCar Mayhem in Toronto   (07/18/10)
• How NASCAR Drivers Sign Autographs On The Move   (07/17/10)
• NASCAR Promotion At Grocery Chain A Success   (07/15/10)
• The 2012 IndyCar Chassis: A Step Forward Or A Step Back ?   (07/15/10)
• Reutimann Wins at Chicagoland   (07/13/10)
• Will The IndyCar Series Make The Right Chassis Choice For 2012 ?   (07/12/10)
• Roush Turnaround, Or One-hit Wonder ?   (07/11/10)
• Be Careful NASCAR! Proceed With Caution!   (07/04/10)
• Chaotic? Just Another NASCAR Race at Daytona   (07/04/10)