SILVERSTONE, ENGLAND – Fernando Alonso scored his first win of the season in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. He drove a faultless race and took full advantage of the technical problems of both the Red Bull and McLaren teams. Mark Webber started in pole position, just ahead of Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel but the order of the top two was switched by the first turn. The race was complicated by the weather, with some parts of the track wet and others dry, making for interesting racing. Alonso passed Vettel when the Red Bull pit stop was messed up.
Jenson Button was later eliminated by a rather worse stop where he drove off before his rear wheel was properly fastened.
In the end Alonso won from Vettel, Webber and Lewis Hamilton. Felipé Massa was fifth. Vettel leads the championship race by 80 points.
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Sao Paulo, Brazil (GenevaLunch) - Red Bull scored another double to take the constructors’ championship for the first time and ensure that the drivers’ title would not be decided before the final race of the season. Sebastian Vettel started in second spot but took the lead by the first corner of the Brazilian Grand Prix and was never really challenged in the penultimate race of the season, 7 November. His teammate Mark Webber took second with championship leader Fernado Alonso in third place for Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton was fourth and will need a few miracles to win the title, but Vettel and Webber are in with a chance of passing Alonso. 2009 champion Jenson Button came fifth but is now out of the running. Michael Schumacher was 7th while Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi was 13th.
Fernando Alonso will win the title if he finishes first or second in the final race in Abu Dhabi 14 November, or he can finish 4th if Webber rather than Vettel takes the race.
International sports, Formula 1
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium (GenevaLunch) - Lewis Hamilton won the Belgian Grand Prix and moved to the top of the drivers’ championship for the season. He started on the front line, with Mark Webber in pole position but was soon first as the Australian Red Bull driver had problems at the start. The English McLaren driver then held the lead for the rest of the race despite some scary moments. Webber came in second, and is also second for the season so far. Hamilton’s team-mate Jenson Button was forced out of the race when in second place by Sebastian Vettel, the other Red Bull driver, driving into him from behind.
International Sports, Formula 1
Istanbul, Turkey (GenevaLunch) - Red Bull spoiled their day when their two drivers collided while leading the race at the Turkish Grand Prix 30 May. The Mclaren team swept past them to win their own double, with Lewis Hamilton taking first place ahead of Jenson Button. The Red Bull smash-up came on the 40th lap when German Sebastian Vettel tried to pass his Australian teammate Mark Webber, veered to the right before he had completed the maneuver and crashed into the side of Webber’s car. Vettel was forced to stop while Webber had to pit and emerged in third place, just ahead of Michael Schumacher. The two McLaren drivers almost collided as Button swept past Hamilton, only to have Hamilton immediately do the same back.
Urgent messages from the mechanics prevented any more fun and the race ended peacefully. Mark Webber still heads the standings this season, ahead of Button and Hamilton. Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi had another bad day with a collision on the first lap: he finished 16th. Ferrari ended 7th and 8th.
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Monte Carlo Grand Prix (GenvaLunch) - Mark Webber led from start to finish to set up a one-two finish for Red Bull at the Monte Carlo Grand Prix 16 May. The Australian drove a controlled race and was never threatened. He now heads the standings with 78 points, equal to team-mate Sebastian Vettel who was second in the race. Lewis Hamilton came in fifth while Jenson Button was eliminated as his engine overheated. Michael Schumacher provided the one piece of controversy by passing Fernando Alonso on the final lap just after the fourth safety car had left the track on the final lap. The German veteran was given a 20 second penalty which moved him back from 6th to 12th place and allowed Swiss driver Sebastian Buemi to score his first point of the season for coming 10th.
International sports, Formula 1
Circuit de Catalunya, Spain (GenevaLunch) – Before the race began Mark Webber, the Australian Red Bull driver, was asked what he was hoping for: he replied that he wanted a boring race and that is what he delivered at the Spanish Grand Prix 9 May. In the first dry race of the season he lead from pole position to the end and was never challenged for the lead. Behind him it was more a question of the reliability of the cars than the skill of the drivers. Sebastian Vettel started second but fell back behind Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso as he had braking problems.
Hamilton crashed out with a puncture on the final lap when he was in second place. Alonso then took second for Ferrari, Vettel finished third. Michael Schumacher was fourth, his best finish since coming out of retirement. Jenson Button, the current champion, came fifth and retains a lead of three points from Alonso in the drivers’ championship.
Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (GenevaLunch) - Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber grabbed the top two places in the final Grand Prix of the 2009 season in Abu Dhabi. It was the first race to take place on the track, and the first day-night Grand Prix race. Jenson Button, who had captured the championship in the previous Grand Prix, took third place after an unsuccessful fight to pass Webber in the final laps.
Budapest, Hungary (GenevaLunch) - It was just like old times as Lewis Hamilton, current Champion drove an almost faultless race, with the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkönen second, and Mark Webber third for Red Bull. It was Hamilton’s tenth Grand Prix win, but his first this season.
Fernando Alonso started in pole position in his Renault but was forced to stop at the pits with tire trouble, and then to retire as a front wheel was not properly fitted and later flew off.
Budapest, Hungary (GenevaLunch) - Fernando Alonso will start on pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix after an incident-packed qualifying session which saw Felipe Massa taken to hospital by helicopter after crashing at 200 kph. The Brazilian Ferrari driver has undergone emergency surgery after suffering skull damage and concussion, reports the BBC. Ferrari says he will remain under observation in intensive care.
Nuerburgring, Germany (GenevaLunch) – Australian Mark Webber drove his Red Bull team to his first Grand Prix victory after 130 starts, all the more amazing considering that he spent the winter in rehab after a severe cycling accident gave him a badly broken leg and shoulder injuries. His German teammate Sebastian Vettel was second while Brazilian Felipe Massa was third for Ferrari. Nico Rosberg came in fourth for Williams while current leader Jenson Button was fifth ahead of fellow Brawn driver Rubens Barrichello.
