UpdateF1 >> Formula 1 News > Vettel dominates British GP

Red Bull score second one-two

Sebastian Vettel has stepped up his challenge to Jenson Button's lead by winning the British grand prix in style.

After a solid start and a blistering first stint, Vettel blasted away from a struggling Barrichello. Mark Webber got held up behind the Brazilian, but managed to get by in the pits to complete Red Bull's success. However, young Vettel already was 20 seconds ahead of his teammate, meaning the race was well and truly over after the first pitstop. Barrichello romped home in third, while Brawn colleague and championship leader Jenson Button struggled to finish in sixth.

Felipe Massa used his excellent Ferrari strategy to finish fourth (from ninth in qualifying), with Nico Rosberg ending up in fifth for Williams, only just fending off a late charge from Button. Jarno Trulli and Kimi Raikkonen rounded out the top eight.

In an otherwise rather uneventful race, most of the action was provided by world champions Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. The pair was stuck behind slower cars for the better part of the race, having to resort to desperate overtake moves on both the BMW's as well as on eachother.

To much dismay of the British fans, Hamilton couldn't finish higher than 16th, two places behind Alonso and both a lap down from Vettel, and tried to cheer up his impressive fanbase with a couple of donuts in front of the stands.

The only racing incident of the day consisted of Sébastien Bourdais running into the back of Heikki Kovalainen, as the Finn swerved across the track in the braking zone up to Vale. The incident caused both to retire.

As it stands, Sebastian Vettel takes a fair chunk out of Jenson Button's lead. Button now leads with 64 points with teammate Barrichello in second at 41. Vettel closes in on the Brazilian with 39 points, with Webber in fourth at 35.5 units.

Brawn lead RBR with 105 to 74.5 points in the constructors championship, as the final race at Silverstone might mark a key turning point in the championship. It now looks like Red Bull is on the pace of the Brawns, meaning this championship is far from over yet.

In three weeks time, the F1 circus heads to the Nürburgring for the German grand prix, where we will undoubtedly see whether Button and Brawn can weather the Red Bull storm.

Filip Cleeren

Written: Sun, 21 Jun 2009 14:16:26