Results of the 2009 Turkish F1 Grand Prix.

At Istanbul Park, Jenson Button made it six wins out of seven races to cement his grip on the 2009 Drivers’ Title, as his closest challenger and team-mate Rubens Barrichello retired and the two Red Bulls of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel finished second and third.

Button, who started second, snatched the lead at turn seven on lap one as pole-sitter Vettel ran wide, and never gave up the lead for a clear seven second lead. Running light on fuel, the young German driver then slipped to third on a three stop pitting strategy.

Toyota’s Jarno Trulli drove solidly throughout for fourth, ahead of Nico Rosberg in a Williams and Felipe Massa whose sixth place was Ferrari’s only points despite starting sixth and seventh on the grid. Robert Kubica gave BMW some rare points and Timo Glock gabbed another point for resurgent Toyota.

Lewis Hamilton’s season continues in depressing fashion with a 13th place, salvaged from a 16th place start with a single pit stop strategy. Barrichello’s race was a disaster from the start when he dropped eight places at the start, appearing to lack acceleration. He eventually retired on lap 47 with gearbox trouble.

Button’s chances of winning Brawn the Title and Constructors’ look increasingly likely as there was simply no answer from Red Bull Racing or other teams for his pace, and clinical driving. Vettel’s disappointment at the end, despite challenging his team-mate for second was obvious. A strategic blunder denied him the realistic chance of chasing Button.

With Button on 61 points, nearly twice Barrichello’s 35, his title chances look increasingly confident approaching the mid-point of 2009. Only Sebastian Vettel (29) has any realistic chance of catching him, and he in turn is under pressure from Webber (27.5) for third. The two Toyota drivers are the only others properly into double digits. Brawn are now on 91 for the Constructors’ Title, Red Bull have 56.5 and Toyota trial on 32.5. Ferrari and McLaren have 20 and 13 respectively.

Results

  1. Jenson Button, Brawn-Mercedes, 1:26:24.848
  2. Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault,1:26:31.562
  3. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault, 1:26:32.309
  4. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 1:26:52.691
  5. Nico Rosberg, Williams-Toyota, 1:26:56.387
  6. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:27:04.844
  7. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 1:27:11.095
  8. Timo Glock, Toyota, 1:27:11.807
  9. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:27:15.048
  10. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 1:27:27.248
  11. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 1:27:29.175
  12. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams-Toyota,1:27:31.224
  13. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes, 1:27:45.302
  14. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren-Mercedes, lapped
  15. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso-Ferrari, lapped
  16. Nelson Piquet Jr, Renault, lapped
  17. Adrian Sutil, Force India-Mercedes, lapped
  18. Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso-Ferrari, lapped

RET Rubens Barrichello, Brawn-Mercedes, retired, 47 laps
RET Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India-Mercedes, retired, 4 laps