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..

Brawn - Maintain championship leader with development programme

Brawn Mercedes are dominating both the drivers' and constructors' championships courtesy of Jenson Button's three wins from the first four races.

As ever, the development race in Formula One never stops and this weekend in Barcelona there are numerous updates throughout the field as rivals' look to close the gap on Brawn GP.

"It is always very difficult to even maintain your position wherever it is in Formula One as it moves forward so quickly," explained Brawn Mercedes Team Principal Ross Brawn. "The big challenge we all have is that with no testing you are effectively on a Friday trying to work out what you have got and where you are. It is not such a straightforward process as it used to be.

"We have brought a new package here which seems to be working very well with Rubens but we have got a problem with it with Jenson and we have to understand what is going on," Brawn continued after the duo set the fourth and sixth fastest times in the second practice session this afternoon in Barcelona.

The updates to the BGP 001 include a new floor, engine cover and rear bodywork.

"It is quite a difficult year for everybody and it will continue to be difficult with the testing rules that we have. We have a reasonable sized team now and we are not budget limited in what we can do, we are just being careful in how we spend that money.

"Perhaps we bring three or four sets of parts to a race whereas last year we might have brought six or seven. We make those sorts of judgement calls but we are certainly not holding back on doing any performance improvements that we can. There is a package here, there are some modifications for Monaco and there is another update for the Nurburgring, so we are working hard."

With 50 points on the board already this year, almost as much as Red Bull Renault and Toyota combined, Brawn Mercedes look in very good shape for round five of the 2009 season at Circuit de Catalunya.

FIA erase 'winner takes all' scoring system for 2010

Now you see it, now you don't. The unpopular 'winner takes all' scoring system has now been erased from the 2010 sporting regulations.

After the recent World Motor Sport Council meeting, the FIA published the rules for next year, and Article 6.1 of the sporting regulations said the drivers title 'will be awarded to the driver who has been classified first in the greatest number of races'.

The governing body tried to introduce Bernie Ecclestone's favoured system this year, but the late change was vetoed by the Formula One Teams' Association.

It seems that the Article 6.1 inclusion of 30 April was simply a mistake.
The article now explains that the drivers' title 'will be awarded to the driver who has scored the highest number of points'.

Toro Rosso to design own car for 2010

Toro Rosso is ramping up its efforts to become a full constructor in 2010, team boss Franz Tost has confirmed.

From next year, the regulations will no longer condone the current situation, where the Faenza-based outfit sources its basic chassis from the same designer as sister team Red Bull Racing.

"We are developing the infrastructure so that next year's car is designed in Faenza," Tost told reporters in Barcelona, revealing that the workforce will need to increase from 200 to about 235.

The 2010 rules will allow Toro Rosso to continue to use a Red Bull Technology transmission, and some other parts, but Tost revealed that the team is to appoint it's own chief designer.

Toro Rosso will however continue to use the Red Bull wind tunnel in Bicester.

New clause 2009 contract for Vettel

Sebastian Vettel has hastily negotiated a new clause for his 2009 Red Bull contract.

Pre-season, the 21-year-old did not imagine the possibility that he would be a leading candidate to win the drivers' title.

Most top drivers' contracts include the promise of a financial bonus in the event of a World Championship triumph.

Germany's Bild newspaper reported that, with the assistance of his father Norbert, Vettel convinced team boss Christian Horner to offer a ten percent title bonus.

It is therefore estimated that Vettel will be paid an additional $350,000 on top of his $3.5m retainer if he beats his rivals to the crown.

Horner confirmed: "It would have been stupid if he didn't want that (clause), and Sebastian is absolutely not stupid."

Spanish GP Free Practice 2 - Rosberg fastest

Nico Rosberg returned to the top of the timesheets this afternoon at Circuit de Catalunya, recording a best lap of 1:21.588s in his Williams Toyota with team-mate Kazuki Nakajima second fastest, just under two-tenths of a second adrift.

As ever in practice, it is really hard to read too much into the lap times as we do not know what fuel levels the teams opted to run and how many set of tyres they used over the 90 minute session. Rosberg of course has topped many practice sessions so far this year, but has generally flattered only to deceive as the team has just 3.5 points from the first four races of the season. Rosberg pulled his FW31 off track with a mechanical problem just ahead of the chequered flag.

At the other end of the scale we know that Toyota has a tremendous package in the TF109 and this afternoon Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli put in more laps than any other driver and were slowest of the 19 runners to take part in the second practice session, indicating a differing practice strategy.

In between the two Toyota-powered teams, Fernando Alonso was third fastest in his Renault much to the delight of the large Spanish crowds on hand today while team-mate Nelson Piquet survived two spins to record the eighth fastest time in his R29. Piquet in particular has been vocal about the lack of simulated qualifying the team has permitted him to date, but today it seemed he spent a majority of the day looking at his qualifying setup.

Rubens Barrichello led the Brawn Mercedes challenge with the fourth fastest time, just over two-tenths off the ultimate pace with team-mate and championship leader Jenson Button sixth fastest.
Traditionally the Brackley-based team focus much of their Friday running on the race programme.

Red Bull Renault picked up the pace this afternoon with Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel fifth and seventh best ahead of Piquet while Sebastien Buemi's Toro Rosso Ferrari suffered a left rear brake fire on his first timed lap of the day and the Swiss racer was forced to miss the first hour of running. Buemi got back on track late in the session and was immediately on the pace as he ended the afternoon ninth fastest with team-mate Sebastien Bourdais 11th.

Ferrari has a much revised F60 package on hand this weekend in Barcelona with Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa recording the tenth and 15th best times respectively for the defending champions with the Mercedes-powered Giancarlo Fisichella 12th in his Force India ahead of the McLaren Mercedes-duo of Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen.

BMW Sauber were back down the timesheets this afternoon with Nick Heidfeld slowest again for much of the session. Robert Kubica posted the 16th best time with Heidfeld up to 17th just ahead of the chequered flag.

With the Toyota duo of Glock and Trulli slowest, Adrian Sutil was forced to sit out the entire session in his Force India Mercedes due 'a fuel cell problem'.

Theissen - Car first, driver talks after

Mario Theissen has counted BMW Sauber out of any early driver speculation.

The 'silly season' seems to kick off earlier and earlier each year, but Theissen said contemplating the occupants of the Hinwil-built cars is currently a minor priority.

"Once we have a car that is capable of winning races, then we can talk start talking about the drivers again," the German said at the Circuit de Catalunya.

BMW figures at the Spanish venue also affirmed paddock speculation that the target is to have a 'double diffuser' up and running by the Turkish Grand Prix after Monaco.

Theissen admitted that an initial version of the concept did not prove its worth during recent wind tunnel testing.

Spanish GP Free Practice 1 - Button on top

The dust has settled following the lie gate saga and Formula One is now making the headlines off track as the sport's governing body looks to impose optional budget caps for the 2010 season with a raft of regulation changes to encourage teams to sign up to the agreement. While the Formula One Teams Association seeks urgent meeting with the FIA to discuss the matter, practice for the Spanish Grand Prix got underway this morning at Circuit de Catalunya.

It was a case of routine running for many of the 20 drivers as most evaluated both the softer option tyre and the harder prime rubber from Bridgestone. Championship leader Jenson Button vaulted to the top of the timesheets as the chequered flag flew at the end of the 90-minute session as the British racer opted to run the option tyre for his final run.

Button ended the session with a best time of 1:21.799s, three-tenths clear of Jarno Trulli. The Toyota driver topped the timesheets for much of the session opting unusually to focus much of his session on the softer option tyre and then using a set of the harder prime to record the second fastest time late in the session.

After the criticism the Toyota team received following their tyre strategy error last time out in Bahrain, it seems the team are going aggressive this weekend at Circuit de Catalunya.

BMW Sauber has a raft of changes to the F1.09 package this weekend. Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld struggled early in the session but made gains late with the option tyre to move third and fourth fastest. Heidfeld in particular had a troubled start to the morning as it seemed his F1.09 suffered some kind or rear brake issue which left him in the pits for a good hour of the session.

Kazuki Nakajima traditionally runs well at this Spanish venue having out-qualified Williams Toyota team-mate Nico Rosberg at the same venue last year.
Today Nakajima and Rosberg recorded the fifth and sixth fastest times, just under nine-tenths off the ultimate pace.

Nelson Piquet made late gains in his Renault as the Brazilian ended the morning seventh fastest. Local fan favourite Fernando Alonso was just 17th in the sister R29.

Timo Glock was eighth best in the second Toyota and unlike team-mate Trulli opted to remain on the option tyre throughout the session. Felipe Massa was next up in the modified Ferrari which seemed to still be running the single diffuser and not the new doubled decker design. Rubens Barrichello rounded out the top ten in the second Brawn Mercedes ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari.

Both Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel pushed hard for Red Bull Renault with both having a few off track excursions in the process. The duo were 12th and 13th fastest and 1.1 seconds off the pace of Button.

McLaren are pushing hard in the development race as witnessed this morning as a large brown box of components arrived as Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen were circulating on track. Hamilton was 14th fastest in his MP4-24 while Kovalainen's machine suffered a hydraulic problem leaving him down in 19th position.

Sebastien Bourdais led the Toro Rosso challenge in 15th ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella in his Force India Mercedes, Alonso, Sebastien Buemi, Kovalainen and Adrian Sutil in the second VJM002.