Rubens Barrichello took his first win for five years, leading Brawn GP back to the top of the pack at Valencia, Button could only manage seventh place but still managed to increase his championship lead.
Barrichello drove a superb race and took the lead from Lewis Hamilton after McLaren bodged his pit stop when they failed to have new tyres ready as the reigning champion came in for his scheduled stop.
“What a fantastic day. I am so delighted with the win after what was a really tough race out there. It’s just amazing and a weekend that I will never forget. Even after five years, you don’t forget how to win and the feeling is so good! Although we were fuelled heavier than the McLarens, I knew that I would have to push really hard throughout the race.” Said Barrichello.
He went on to praise his race engineer Jock Clear saying “My engineer Jock was great today, he really encouraged me and helped me to maintain the pace, and the team did a fantastic job with two excellent pit stops. I want to thank everyone who has supported me and this victory is dedicated to the whole of Brazil but particularly to my great friend Felipe Massa. I hope he is back racing against me soon.”
Championship leader Jenson Button could only managed seventh place but was happy for Barrichello “Rubens did a great job this weekend and he deserves the victory. It’s been a long time so I’m happy for him although of course I would rather be on top of the podium.”
Button said that his qualifying performance lead to problems during the race after getting stuck behind championship rival Sebastian Vettel. Although button would of liked to of been further up the field when the race ended he was generally happy coming away from Valencia “Still we did what we came for this weekend and beat the Red Bulls, our main title rivals, so I’m not too disappointed with seventh position. We’ll go to the next race in Spa positive and ready to have a good race.”
Team boss Ross Brawn was a happy man – “That was a fantastic performance from Rubens today to take his first and Brawn GP’s seventh win of the season. We knew that having a heavier fuel load would give us an advantage over the cars in front but Rubens had to drive at his absolute best to have a chance of victory. He pushed exactly where he needed to. When we got on the radio and told him that he had to put in some quick laps, he delivered. It was a great performance and an extremely well-deserved victory. We’re all delighted for him.”
Jenson button goes into the Belgian Grand Prix with 72 points, eighteen points ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello. Brawn lead Red Bull with 126 points to 98.5.
