F1 title momentum shifts from Brawn GP to Red Bull

¹²³ · Jul 13, 2009

NUERBURGRING, Germany — The momentum in Formula One's championship fight has appeared to shift significantly after Red Bull collected its third 1-2 finish and Brawn GP had it worst performance of the season at the German Grand Prix.
Mark Webber picked up victory No. 1 in race No. 132 on Sunday, edging teammate Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull to close in on Brawn GP in both championships.

Brawn GP driver Jenson Button's lead over Vettel is down from 32 points to 21 with 80 points still available. Webber is 22.5 back from Button. Brawn GP's constructors' lead is down to 19.5 points.

Button won six of the first seven races but has since been shut out as Brawn GP failed to reach the podium for the first time this season.

"If we can keep that momentum going then we can definitely catch them," Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said. "The championship is very much alive."

Leading after the first corner, Brawn GP's Rubens Barrichello finished sixth and behind Button after a strategy decision from his team that brought a stinging rebuke from the Brazilian.

Barrichello, who trails Button by 24 points, raged as questions returned of favoritism toward Button, who wants his teammate to turn the page and focus on the next race at Hungary.

"We all have problems in racing, it's happened to many people before," the Briton said. "We've both had a very reliable car this year and we haven't had many problems. Different things happen, it's the luck of the draw."

For once, Webber did get the luck -- he overcame a drive-through penalty for bumping Barrichello out of the start -- to cross the line first after finishing on the podium six times previously.

"Of course, there are a few people who doubted me as well, so a holler to them as well," Webber said. "It is just an incredible day for all the people who have helped me get to where I am."

Webber was the first Australian to win an F1 race since Alan Jones' victory in 1981, and it was not something he could have envisioned lying in a hospital room in Tasmania with a broken leg in November.

"I was kidding myself a little bit. I thought I was ready to go for winter testing but I wasn't. It is absolutely clear that the leg was a long way from healed and it was still broken," said Webber, whose leg is still not fully healed.

Red Bull is also beginning to face its own favoritism questions, since it will eventually have to back one driver in the battle with Button.

"It's a good problem for us to have," said Webber, whose best finish in the overall standings is 10th. "It's a team championship, a team sport at the moment. Let's see how we go in the next races and (then) maybe it's a bit more difficult for us."

Horner said the time hadn't yet come to choose between Vettel and Webber.

"(It's) inevitable there will come a stage ... where one driver is more in contention than the other for the championship. But until that stage we will support both drivers equally and fairly," Horner said. "The target is for both drivers to hunt down the Brawns."

Horner expects the close of the European leg of the calendar -- of which four races remain -- to be interesting with many teams making the switch over to the 2010 car development. That is likely to leave Brawn GP and Red Bull a clear road to the championship and, after Button looked set to runaway with the title, it's suddenly a contest again.

"We don't have an advantage at the moment," Button said. "But the car is not too bad and we need to improve it and we will improve it."
Click to expand...

Link

Colonel Ronan · Jul 13, 2009

It's amazing how McLaren and Ferrari are almost non-existent this season. I feel really bad for Lewis Hamilton!

Log in or Sign up

F1 title momentum shifts from Brawn GP to Red Bull

¹²³ ¼½¾

Colonel Ronan Continue...?

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

F1 title momentum shifts from Brawn GP to Red Bull

¹²³ ¼½¾

Colonel Ronan Continue...?

Share This Page

Useful Searches