f1buzz.net

Fifty years after Jack Brabham won his first Grand Prix race in Monaco and twenty-eight years after Alan Jones’s victory in the US Grand Prix West, Mark Webber has finally broken his Formula One duck.

Despite making contact with both Rubens Barrichello and Lewis Hamilton before the first corner and then suffering a subsequent drive-through penalty, the Australian went on to win the German Grand Prix ahead of team mate Sebastian Vettel.

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa finished third and claimed his first podium of the season.

The third 1-2 finish for Red Bull places the team less than twenty points behind Contructors’ Championship leaders Brawn GP.  It also boosts both Red Bull drivers ahead of Rubens Barrichello in the Drivers’ Championship.  Vettel is 21 points behind Jenson Button and Mark Webber is just 1.5 points behind Vettel.

After eight years in Formula One Mark Webber was clearly delighted to finally win a race:

It’s an incredible day. I wanted to win so badly after Silverstone, as I thought I had a good chance there, then after yesterday’s pole I knew I was in a good position to try and win the race today. The only thing that I thought was going to test me was the rain, but even that held off.

Lewis Hamilton made an incredible KERS assisted start to almost lead going into the first corner but a puncture from clipping Mark Webber’s front wing put an end to any podium hopes he may have had.

Starting from a career-best seventh on the grid Adrian Sutil looked to be having a good day but in shades of last year’s Monaco Grand Prix Kimi Raikkonen turned in on Sutil after the German exited the pits forcing Sutil to stop again for a new nose.  Force India have been looking stronger and stronger this season but it seems their first points will have to wait for another race.

But the most pissed-off driver award goes to Rubens Barrichello.  After taking the lead at the start he finished in sixth behind team mate Jenson Button and his comments after the race clearly show who he thinks is at fault:

I did all I had to do. I went first on the first corner and then they made me lose the race. If it is really what’s going on, we’re going to end up losing both championships. I feel sorry for myself, the team. To be very honest, I wish I could get on the plane and go home. I don’t want to talk to anyone in the team. It will be all ‘blah blah blah’ and I don’t want to hear that.

2009 German Grand Prix Race Results

Image: Red Bull/Getty

The FIA now publishes the weights of each car after qualifying on Saturday.  Those cars that make it through to the final qualifying session must use the fuel they qualified with while the rest of the field may refuel before the race.

Below is a graph showing the actual top ten qualifying times as well as those times adjusted for the weight of fuel each car is carrying.  The graph assumes a standard lap time cost of 0.3 seconds per 10kg of fuel.

From these weights we can see how Brawn GP have been struggling with the temperatures this weekend.  Both cars were fuelled light and although they will be starting behind them on the grid Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton (!) actually posted faster fuel-adjusted lap times.  With more fuel in in his car than the Brawns and KERS onboard, a podium for Lewis Hamilton doesn’t look out of the question.

But Mark Webber’s maiden victory is looking ever more likely.  Starting from pole position and with the same amount of fuel as his team mate he is in a good position.  Webber is only 3.5 points behind Vettel in the Championship and a win on Sunday could see him overtake his team mate in the standings.

2009 German Grand Prix car weights

Image: Red Bull/Getty

Mark Webber has score his first pole position in qualifying for Sunday’s German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring.

Webber had looked strong in the free practice sessions and in an exciting qualifying session affected by intermittent rain he set a time of 1:32.230, beating Rubens Barrichello to the front of the grid by a bit over a tenth of a second.

Jenson Button will start third alongside local boy Sebastian Vettel on the second row.

After 132 Grands Prix this will be Mark Webber’s first time starting from the front of the grid and he  is clearly fired up to continue the charge and win his first race:

This is a very special day for me. I’ve been close to getting pole a few times in the past, and now we’re here.  The team has done a very good job; I’ve been quick all weekend, but we got really tested today. All the teams and drivers did in that second session – it was very chaotic.

But I’m now in a fantastic position to get my first win. Obviously the Brawns have had a strong season and will push us but we’re up for the fight – I certainly am – and I’m up for trying to win my first race.

McLaren didn’t quite produce the top three finish predicted by Eddie Jordan but a strong fifth and sixth place is a good result for the Woking based team.  The German Grand Prix will be the last big push at developing the MP4-24 with the factory concentrating on next year’s car for the rest of the season.

While his team mate Heikki Kovalainen only had a new front wing, Lewis’s car also had a new diffuser which helped him to the top of the timesheets in free practice.  From fifth on the grid Hamilton is eying a podium:

If it stays dry tomorrow then we’ll definitely be in a good position and we can shoot for the podium for sure.  We could fight the Red Bulls even. I think it will probably be wet though.

Adrian Sutil will be one to watch if it rains.  He produced Force India’s best ever qualifying result of seventh.

2009 Formula One German Grand Prix Qualifying Results

Update: Timo Glock drops to 20th after a 3 place penalty for blocking Alonso.

Image: Red Bull/Getty

Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber secured Red Bull’s second 1-2 finish of the season at the British Grand Prix on Sunday.

As indicated by Vettel’s incredible pace in qualifying, the young German was in another class for the whole race, crossing the line 15 seconds ahead of team mate Mark Webber, who was followed by Rubens Barrichello.

From the moments the lights went out in front of a capacity crowd at Silverstone, Vettel’s win was never really in doubt.  Rubens Barrichello managed to hold second position off the line but lost out to Mark Webber in the first set of pit stops.

Championship leader Jenson Button got squeezed at the start, dropping back to P9 behind Jarno Trulli and then struggled to keep the heat in his hard tyres, eventually finishing the race in 6th:

On the hard tyres the car just didn’t work and I couldn’t get any tyre temperature. That’s the way our car is in cooler temperatures.

Lewis Hamilton started 18th and  finished a slightly less miserable 16th.

While the local fans may have been hoping for a Brit to win what may be the last F1 race at Silverstone, the Red Bull resurgence has injected a bit more excitement into what was fast becoming a foregone conclusion.  All those extra bits Adrian Newey bolted onto the RB5 allowed Sebastian Vettel to close his gap to Button from 32 points to 25 points and the 1-2 finish sees Red Bull narrow Brawn’s lead in the Constructors’ Championship from 39.5 points to 30.5 points.

The Championship is far from over.

2009 British Grand Prix Race Results

Image: Red Bull / Getty

The FIA now publishes the weights of each car after qualifying on Saturday.  Those cars that make it through to the final qualifying session must use the fuel they qualified with while the rest of the field may refuel before the race.

Below is a graph showing the actual top ten qualifying times as well as those times adjusted for the weight of fuel each car is carrying.  The graph assumes a standard lap time cost of 0.3 seconds per 10kg of fuel.

Nobody looks particularly out of place, although Kazuki Nakajima’s time was only possible because he was fuelled lighter than anyone else on the grid.

What it does show is how fast Sebastian Vettel really was.  His team mate Mark Webber was fuelled lighter than him but could only manage 3rd.  Vettel looks a lot faster than anyone else on the grid.

2009 British Grand Prix car weights

Image: Red Bull / Getty