Mark Webber wins German F1 Grand Prix
Red Bull Driver Scores Maiden Formula 1 Victory at the Nurburgring
Jul 13, 2009
Some people have dubbed Mark Webber the Chris Amon of the modern Formula 1 era, but the Red Bull driver's luck finally changed at the Nurburgring.
2009 German Grand Prix Qualifying
Webber signalled his intent in qualifying by taking position in his heavily fuelled Red Bull. Rubens Barrichello joined him on the front row in his Brawn, with team-mate Jenson Button third. Sebastien Vettel started his home Formula 1 race from fourth in the other Red Bull.
McLaren had new developments for Lewis Hamilton and the defending F1 World Champion qualified fifth, just ahead of team-mate Heikki Kovalainen who did not have the benefit of the latest upgrades. The most impressive performance came from Force India's Adrian Sutil, who ended up seventh fastest.
Felipe Massa started from eighth, with Kimi Raikkonen ninth in the other Ferrari. Meanwhile, Nelson Piquet celebrated a personal milestone by outqualifying his Renault partner Fernando Alonso for the first time in his Formula 1 career with the tenth best time. Double F1 World Champion Alonso found himself down in 12th. Toro Rosso's Sebastian Bourdais qualified last for what was strongly rumoured to be the Frenchman's final appearance in Formula 1.
2009 German Grand Prix Review
There was drama before the 2009 German Grand Prix even started, as Alonso spun his Renault on the warm up lap. Fortunately the Spaniard recovered the situation and made it to the grid.
Hamilton made a lightning start, only to run into Webber's Red Bull at turn one, resulting in a puncture for the McLaren driver which ruined his afternoon. Once the dust had settled Barrichello led the race, followed by Webber, a fast starting Kovalainen and Massa.
Webber's race was interrupted on lap 12 when the Australian was handed a drive through penalty by the Formula 1 stewards for colliding with Barrichello just after the start. He served the penalty three laps later, and then had to pit again for fuel.
Barrichello pitted early, clearly on a three stop strategy. The Brawn driver emerged behind Massa's heavy and slow Ferrari. Despite Barrichello's best efforts he could not find a way past his countryman. This gave Webber the opportunity to make up time and, when Massa finally stopped, the Red Bull driver was just a few seconds behind Barrichello.
Sutil ran as high as second in his Force India, only to have his race ruined in a first corner collision with Raikkonen's Ferrari just after exiting the pits. Sutil was forced to pit again with a damaged front wing, ending his chance of scoring the team's first points in Formula 1. Raikkonen eventually retired with an engine failure.
Barrichello also suffered a catastrophe at his second stop when the fuel rig malfunctioned. The Brazilian thought he'd been switched to a two stop strategy but had to pit again late in the race for more fuel. His team-mate Button pitted one lap later and made up enough time to pass the sister Brawn. After the Grand Prix Barrichello launched a scathing attack on his team during a TV interview, claiming they had lost him the race.
All of this left Webber in the lead, followed by Vettel in the other Red Bull who'd driven a quietly impressive race after a bad start. They crossed the line in that order, with Massa third for Ferrari. It was the maiden Formula 1 victory of Webber's career and well deserved for one of the most popular drivers in Grand Prix racing.
Nico Rosberg also had an excellent race, finishing fourth in his Williams despite starting from 15th on the grid. Button crossed the line fifth, ahead of a severely disgruntled Barrichello. Alonso showed good race craft to finish seventh, while the final point went to Kovalainen. The result means that Button still leads the F1 World Championship, but by a reduced margin of 21 points from Vettel. Webber is third in the standings, 1.5 points behind Vettel.
2009 Hungarian Grand Prix Preview
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