Results from the 2009 Monaco Grand Prix.
Formula One’s glamour race handed Jenson Button, who resides in the principality, his fifth victory in six races this year, leading home a Brawn one-two again. He finished well ahead of his team-mate and this time the Ferraris were finally competitive, with Kimi Raikkonen gaining his first podium of the season ahead of Felipe Massa.
Lining up right behind them was Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing), followed by Nico Rosberg (Williams) who fended off a late charge from Fernando Alonso (Renault), with Sebastien Bourdais (Torro Rosso), collecting the last of the points. Reigning Champion Lewis Hamilton was never in contention after making a pit lane start and finishing in 12th.
All other drivers were lapped but significantly, title contender Sebastian Vettel crashed out on lap 15, As did the other McLaren driven by Heikki Kovalainen on lap 51. BMW’s woes continued, achieving 11th from Nick Heidfeld, while Robert Kubica retired mid-race.
There were no dramas at the first corner, and it was a tire gamble that gave Button a lead on which he never looked back. Brawn, having grabbed a last gasp pole through Button opted to start on soft compound tyres. Barrichello was able to snatch second from Raikkonen while Button drove flawlessly as his rubber disintegrated to get well ahead.
With two pit stops each, the driving order from the grid changed little, except for Vettel who destroyed his titles early on and paid dearly with a crash, while Webber did well to climb from eight to challenge Massa for fourth. The Brazilian came under all sorts of pressure from a poor start but eventually grabbed his best finish of the season.
The result leaves Button with a healthy 14 point lead over his team-mate, and more than double the 23 points Sebastian Vettel has for Red Bull. Pre race favourites Raikkonen, Hamilton and Massa are on 9, 9 and 8 respectively and largely out of contention. Not surprisingly, Brawn’s 86 points in the Constructors’ Title are more than double Red Bull’s who in turn are 16 points ahead of Toyota’s 26.5. Ferrari and McLaren lie fourth and fifth, well out of contention.
- Jenson Button, Brawn-Mercedes, 1:40:44.282
- Rubens Barrichello, Brawn-Mercedes, 1:40:51.948
- Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:40:57.724
- Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:40:59.392
- Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault, 1:41:00.012
- Nico Rosberg, Williams-Toyota, 1:41:17.868
- Fernando Alonso, Renault, 1:41:22.121
- Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso-Ferrari, 1:41:47.424
- Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India-Mercedes, 1:41:49.322
- Timo Glock, Toyota, lapped
- Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, lapped
- Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes, lapped
- Jarno Trulli, Toyota, lapped
- Adrian Sutil, Force India-Mercedes, lapped
RET Kazuki Nakajima, Williams-Toyota, crash, 76 laps
RET Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren-Mercedes, crash, 51 laps
RET Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, retired, 28 laps
RET Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault, crash, 15 laps
RET Nelson Piquet Jr, Renault, retired, 10 laps
RET Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso-Ferrari, crash, 10 laps