Button said after the race, “The car was the best it’s felt all year. Today we really showed what this car and engine can do and to beat our closest competitors fair and square is a great feeling. I took my opportunity on the first lap when Sebastian went wide and from there we controlled the race.”
Sebastian Vettel started from the pole, cut inside and kept the lead until turn Ten, when a gust of wind pushed his car wide and Button blasted through into the lead.
“It worked out okay at the start. I stayed ahead. Then I nearly lost the car at nine and ten, “Vettel explained. “It was my mistake. I think all race it was difficult there. It was a bit of tail wind and it was extremely difficult, so even on the second lap I nearly lost the car again, so it was quite tricky. But still I think it would not have made a big difference as Jenson was just too quick today.”
Red Bull’s second car, driven by Mark Webber, got ahead of his teammate on pit stop strategy. At the end of the race, as Vettel was catching up, the Red Bull pits told Vettel to save his car, because Webber was faster, even though Vettel was turning in better laps. Both drivers eased off, realizing Button was out of reach, and got the Championship and Constructors’ points for second and third.
“It was a very good afternoon for me,’ Webebr said. “Both Sebastian and I knew that first place was gone and it was about who would finish behind Jenson. The second stint was therefore crucial, I had to push really hard. When you’re on a different strategy, the other guy is almost invisible until after the pit stops, but it turned out well for us and my engineer kept me updated with what was happening. I did enough in the middle stint to be able to jump Sebastian at the pit stops.
The big surprise of the race came ten laps from the end when Rubens Barrichello dropped out with transmission problems, Brawn Racing’s first-ever DNF. Barrichello’s problems began at the drop of the green flag, as his car would not go into gear, dropping him well back in the field. “We had a problem with the clutch at the start which caused the car to go into anti-stall,” he explained, “so I wasn’t able to get off the line.”
On lap seven Barrichello collided with Heikki Kovalainen’s McLaren, while trying to battle his way back through the field. Then Barrichello had another collision, this one with Adrian Sutil in the Force India car, and had to pit for new front wing.
Throughout the race Barrrichello was fighting transmission woes, losing top gear and eventually having to park the car, the first time all season.
“It was a difficult and immensely frustrating day for me today. I was prepared to fight my way up the field but the damage caused to the gearbox by the problems at the start began to get worse so the team had to retire my car. We will bounce back. Silverstone is one of my favourite circuits, so I'll stay positive and look ahead to the British Grand Prix in two weeks time.”
Felipe Massa earned points for Ferrari by finishing sixth, while BMW driver Robert Kubica scored his first points of the season. Timo Glock brought the second Toyota home for the last point, finishing five spots better than he started.
Button has an almost insurmountable lead in the Drivers’ Championship, and Brawn has a comfortable lead in the Constructors’ points. Button may have the best car, but he has also driven flawlessly all season; no collisions, no bad starts, never a wheel wrong. If he can score just a few more top-five finishes in the remaining ten races, the Championship will be his—and it seems unlikely he will change his winning ways. And Brawn racing, even with the DNF, is almost certain to win the Constructors Championship, as it already holds a 39.5 point lead over Red Bull; no other team is even close.
The next Formula One race will be the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on June 21. Please visit http://www.silverstone.co.uk/php/home.html for tickets and more information.
| 2009 Formula 1 Turkish Grand Prix | |||||||
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Pts |
| 1 | 22 | Jenson Button | Brawn-Mercedes | 58 | 1:26:24.848 | 2 | 10 |
| 2 | 14 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 58 | +6.7 secs | 4 | 8 |
| 3 | 15 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 58 | +7.4 secs | 1 | 6 |
| 4 | 9 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 58 | +27.8 secs | 5 | 5 |
| 5 | 16 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 58 | +31.5 secs | 9 | 4 |
| 6 | 3 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 58 | +39.9 secs | 9 | 3 |
| 7 | 5 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 58 | +46.2 secs | 10 | 2 |
| 8 | 10 | Timo Glock | Toyota | 58 | +46.9 secs | 13 | 1 |
| 9 | 4 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 58 | +50.2 secs | 6 | |
| 10 | 7 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 58 | +62.4 secs | 8 | |
| 11 | 6 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 58 | +64.3 secs | 11 | |
| 12 | 17 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams-Toyota | 58 | +66.3 secs | 12 | |
| 13 | 1 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 58 | +80.4 secs | 16 | |
| 14 | 2 | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren-Mercedes | 57 | +1 Lap | 14 | |
| 15 | 12 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 57 | +1 Lap | 18 | |
| 16 | 8 | Nelsinho Piquet | Renault | 57 | +1 Lap | 17 | |
| 17 | 20 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 57 | +1 Lap | 15 | |
| 18 | 11 | Sebastien Bourdais | STR-Ferrari | 57 | +1 Lap | 20 | |
| Ret | 23 | Rubens Barrichello | Brawn-Mercedes | 47 | Gearbox | 3 | |
| Ret | 21 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Force India-Mercedes | 4 | Brakes | 19 | |
| Pos | Driver | Team | Points | Pos | Team | Points |
| 1 | Jenson Button | Brawn-Mercedes | 61 | 1 | Brawn-Mercedes | 96 |
| 2 | Rubens Barrichello | Brawn-Mercedes | 35 | 2 | Red Bull-Renault | 56.5 |
| 3 | Sebastain Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 29 | 3 | Toyota | 32.5 |
| 4 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 27.5 | 4 | Ferrari | 20 |
| 5 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 19.5 | 5 | McLaren-Mercedes | 13 |
| 6 | Timo Glock | Toyota | 13 | 6 | Williams-Toyota | 11.5 |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 11.5 | 7 | Renault | 11 |
| 8 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 11 | 8 | BMW Sauber | 8 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 11 | 9 | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 5 |
| 10 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 9 | 10 | Force India-Mercedes | 0 |
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