Title chances is over for Massa and Hamilton

Last year's championship protagonists on Sunday wrote off their chances of contending for the 2009 crown.

In 2008, Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa finished the drivers' title in first and second places respectively. But this year, with Brawn Mercedes and Red Bull Renault leading the pace, the drivers' respective cars are no longer up to the task of joining the battle for the sport's new pecking order.

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton finished the Spanish Grand Prix out of the points and ninth. "It's just a shame they haven't given me a car to defend the championship with," the Swiss resident told the BBC after the race. "The car is that bad. I'm driving the socks off it. There's just no hope."

2008 runner-up Massa fared better in a significantly improved F60 this weekend, but he categorically ruled out having another shot at the championship.

"No, no way," he told reporters in Barcelona, insisting that championship leaders Brawn are poised for the honours. "Even if we improve massively and we are three or four tenths if front of them, they will still score points. So forget it," added Massa.

Vettel slow start ruined his race

Lining up second and fifth for the Spanish Grand Prix with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, the former had been the pre-race favourite for many given that his front-row start had been achieved with more fuel on board than pole-sitter Jenson Button.

However, it all went wrong for the Chinese Grand Prix winner at the start as he lost position to the fast starting Rubens Barrichello as well as Felipe Massa in the Ferrari.

Vettel would follow the Ferrari for most of the race, only gaining the position to move fourth in the closing stages as a pit error from the Maranello-based left the Brazilian lacking the fuel needed to go the distance.

“My start wasn’t the best – by the first corner Rubens was first and I was fourth, so obviously we lost some positions – most importantly to Massa," Vettel explained. "I was then stuck behind him for almost all of the race. He was impossible to pass, he did a very good job with no mistakes. It’s obviously disappointing as my car was quick today, but I couldn’t finish on the podium."

Vettel remains third in the championship just four points shy of Barrichello while team-mate Mark Webber made gains today as he made best of a long middle stint to vault team-mate Vettel and Massa in the second and final round of pitstops.

"Sebastian had more trouble with traffic today, but the team got us both home with a lot of points, which is fantastic," Webber stated.

"I had a very long second stint and was much happier with the car than in the first, although the tyres had nothing left for the last ten laps. We planned to be long in the second, as we knew Felipe would be one lap longer and his drive would be the key to my race."

Team Principal Christian Horner admitted to some frustration that Vettel’s race was essentially compromised by the fast starting Massa.

"It was frustrating for Sebastian as unfortunately it was the second race in a row where a KERS car has cost him dearly," said Horner. "Massa stopped on the same lap as Sebastian for his first stop and then, despite us bringing his middle stint very short, they picked the same lap for Massa as well, so he spent 63 laps looking at the back of a Ferrari! As soon as he was released from him, his pace was obvious."

With a third and fourth finish in Barcelona, Red Bull Renault extend their lead over Toyota in the battle for second behind the all-conquering Brawn Mercedes team.

Barrichello wasn't happy to finished second

Rubens Barrichello on Sunday made clear he is no longer willing to play second fiddle to any teammate.

The Brazilian veteran finished second to Brawn Mercedes teammate Jenson Button in Spain, after the team decided to switch the championship leader to a two stop strategy.

Barrichello, who passed Button at the first corner and led early, remained on his three-stopper. "I had the race in my hands and I was quite surprised when they told me they were switching Jenson to two," the 36-year-old said.

"I would like to understand why they changed that," he added, explaining that his third set of tyres also slowed him down.

For six years at Ferrari, Barrichello was Michael Schumacher's 'number two', ceding to team orders on many occasions, including the infamous radio call of the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix.

"If that happens I won't follow any team orders anymore," Barrichello told reporters in Barcelona. "I'm making it clear now so everyone knows."

The intimation is that Brawn deliberately changed Button's strategy to favour the championship leader over Barrichello, but Button denies it is the case.

"We are all here to win, and today it just went my way and it didn't for him," the Briton said. "It could swing around for the next race, that's the way things go in F1."

Spanish GP Race - Button's another victory

Jenson Button extended his lead at the head of the drivers’ standings after a dominant display once Brawn Mercedes team-mate Rubens Barrichello’s hopes of victory had been dashed courtesy of a strategic error. The championship leader took the chequered flag 13 seconds clear of the Brazilian with Mark Webber making good use of strategy to finish third in the leading Red Bull Renault.

The start of the 66-lap Spanish Grand Prix saw Barrichello get the jump on both Button and Sebastian Vettel who started second. Felipe Massa was also on the move getting ahead of Vettel, a move that would severely compromise the German’s race. As the Brawn Mercedes duo stormed away at the front of the field, Jarno Trulli triggered an accident that would eliminate four runners on the very first lap.

Battling with Nico Rosberg, Trulli found himself running off track exiting the second turn and as he re-joined the circuit, his Toyota made solid contact with Adrian Sutil’s Force India. Behind, Sebastien Buemi and Sebastien Bourdais were forced to take avoiding action and the two Toro Rosso drivers made heavy contact.

The race resumed on lap six once the damaged cars had been removed and Barrichello was able to hold off Button at the front of the field . This would soon become academic however as the team switched Button from a three stop strategy to a two stop, leaving Barrichello on three stops.

This made it an impossible task for the Brazilian veteran who was able to pull out a 15 second advantage over Button at one point, but with the extra pit stop, dropped well behind. It was a strange tactical move from Brawn Mercedes and Barrichello must be wondering why his race was so severely compromised, effectively handing his team-mate the victory.

Mark Webber made good use of a long middle stint to vault ahead of both Felipe Massa and Sebastien Vettel and put in a good charge to the chequered flag. The Australian finished less than a second behind Barrichello. Vettel, who lost out to Massa at the start of the race, shadowed the Ferrari until the very closing stages of the race before gaining the position when Massa was forced to slow. Vettel will be frustrated that his poor start cost him any hope of a podium position.

Fernando Alonso had a relatively lonely race and looked on target for a sixth position finish.

However, an error in the Ferrari pit meant that Massa did not have enough fuel to run at full speed to the chequered flag. Massa backed off, dropping ten seconds a lap allowing the Renault star through to take the fifth position.

Massa finished a disappointed sixth while team-mate Kimi Raikkonen made gains early on in the sister F60 before his car developed a mechanical issue taking him out of the race. Nick Heidfeld made up ground at the start and was able to finish seventh for the BMW Sauber team with team-mate Robert Kubica having a tough race to 11th, one position lower than his starting position.

Nico Rosberg took the final championship point in his Williams Toyota while team-mate Kazuki Nakajima had a poor race. The team called in the Japanese racer whilst the safety car controlled the field, exiting the pits behind Giancarlo Fisichella. Nakajima would spend most of the race tailing the Force India driver, eventually getting the position in his third pit stop. He finished 13th ahead of just Fisichella.

The Spanish Grand Prix was always going to be a tough event for the McLaren Mercedes team but Lewis Hamilton at least was able to go the distance and finished ninth, albeit lapped, after a long battle with Timo Glock. Heikki Kovalainen’s miserable season continued as his MP4-24 suffered a gearbox failure on lap seven.

With Trulli eliminated at the start, Glock carried the Toyota flag but despite his best efforts could finish no higher than tenth. The result sees the German-based team drop 12 points behind Red Bull Renault in the battle for second in the constructors’ championship. With Kubica 11th in the second BMW Sauber, Nelson Piquet finished 12th ahead of Nakajima and Fisichella.

With four wins from five races, Jenson Button now enjoys a commanding 14 point advantage over Barrichello in the drivers’ championship while the Brawn Mercedes team has almost a 30 point lead in the constructors’ championship heading to Monte Carlo..