Formula 1 Gran Premio Santander D’Italia 2009 (Monza)
Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button took Brawn GP a significant step closer to both world championship titles at Monza on Sunday afternoon. The pair secured another 1-2 for the Brawn team, but this time led by the Brazilian. Barichello had qualified ahead of his teammate, despite carrying a bit more of fuel and that was where he perhaps won the race. Lewis Hamilton was on pole and held on to the lead at the start. And showing the world that the Belgian performance was no one-off were the Force India cars of Adrian Sutil(who had qualified P2) and new face Vitantonio Liuzzi(filling-up Fisichella’s place who had moved to Ferrari for the rest of the season). Kimi Raikkonen KERS-powered himself into a good start and moved ahead of Sutil, and Liuzzi was running 6th and looked good(as he was on a one-stop strategy) but had to retire at lap 22 with mechanical problems.
Lewis Hamilton lost the race and the Brawn cars won it owing to the fuel-strategy they chose for themselves. Hamilton
was on a two-stopper and both the Brawns stopped just once. But perhaps, it was down to the improved pace of the Brawns as they didn’t allow Hamilton to open a big enough advantage with a lighter car. Hamilton made his second stop on lap 34 and as he came out behind the Brawns, the writing was on the wall. However, the champion refused to give in. And this made for a dramatic end to the race, with a last lap shunt for Hamilton. He was hanging it out at every corner trying to get within striking distance of Button but went just over the limit at the first Lesmo bend and paid the price. However, this was great news for the home fans, who saw one of their beloved Ferraris promoted onto the podium in the form of Kimi Raikkonen. Sutil came home 4th for more points for Force India and the seasons first for himself. Hamilton was classified 12th, but showed he is one hardcore racer.
Meanwhile, the RedBull Racing team’s performace has dealt a severe blow to their title hopes, especially since their title rivals have collected maximum points from the race. Sebastian Vettel picked up a single point, thanks to Hamilton’s final lap crash which allowed him to move into 8th. Mark Webber’s race was over on lap 1, as he crashed wth Robert Kubica.While Red Bull will bounce back, the title chase is now beginning to look more and more like an in-house Brawn duel, with Button 27 points ahead of Vettel, and Barrichello 13. Singapore will provide a few answers. That too, at night!
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lewis hamilton is my favorite racer…. though the crash disappointed me, this was another awesome race from the champion..
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