Results
01 M. Webber Red Bull 1:32:23.081
02 R. Kubica BMW + 7.626
03 L. Hamilton McLaren + 18.944
04 S. Vettel Red Bull + 19.652
05 J. Button Brawn GP + 29.005
06 K. Räikkönen Ferrari + 33.340
07 S. Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso + 35.991
08 R. Barrichello Brawn GP + 45.454
09 H. Kovalainen McLaren + 48.499
10 K. Kobayashi Toyota + 1:03.321
11 G. Fisichella Ferrari + 1:10.600
12 V. Liuzzi Force India F1 + 1:11.300
13 R. Grosjean Renault + 1 lap(s)
14 J. Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso + 1 lap(s)
Did not finish
15 K. Nakajima Williams + 41 lap(s)
16 N. Rosberg Williams + 44 lap(s)
17 N. Heidfeld BMW + 50 lap(s)
18 A. Sutil Force India F1 + 71 lap(s)
19 J. Trulli Toyota + 71 lap(s)
20 F. Alonso Renault + 71 lap(s)

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Report to follow…

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time

1.  Barrichello   Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1h16:21.706

2.  Button        Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  +     2.866

3.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  +    30.664

4.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +    31.131

5.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  +    59.182

6.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +  1:00.693

7.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +  1:22.412

8.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +  1:25.427

9.  Fisichella    Ferrari               (B)  +  1:26.856

10.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)  +  2:00.000

11.  Glock         Toyota                (B)  +  2:43.925

12.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +     1 lap

13.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +     1 lap

14.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  +     1 lap

15.  Grosjean      Renault               (B)  +     1 lap

16.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota       (B)  +    2 laps

Fastest lap: Sutil, 1:24.739

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap

Liuzzi        Force India-Mercedes  (B)    23

Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)    20

Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)    16

Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)    1

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Rubens takes his first victory for 5 years as McLaren falter as Raikkonen shines with another podium position.

Report to follow…

Race Results
01 R. Barrichello Brawn GP 1:35:51.289
02 L. Hamilton McLaren + 2.358
03 K. Räikkönen Ferrari + 15.994
04 H. Kovalainen McLaren + 20.032
05 N. Rosberg Williams + 20.870
06 F. Alonso Renault + 27.744
07 J. Button Brawn GP + 34.913
08 R. Kubica BMW + 36.667
09 M. Webber Red Bull + 44.910
10 A. Sutil Force India F1 + 47.935
11 N. Heidfeld BMW + 48.822
12 G. Fisichella Force India F1 + 1:03.614
13 J. Trulli Toyota + 1:04.527
14 T. Glock Toyota + 1:26.519
15 R. Grosjean Renault + 1:31.774
16 J. Alguersuari Scuderia Toro Rosso + 1 lap(s)
17 L. Badoer Ferrari + 1 lap(s)
Did not finish
18 K. Nakajima Williams + 3 lap(s)
19 S. Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso + 16 lap(s)
20 S. Vettel Red Bull + 34 lap(s)

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Free Practice 1

Pos  Driver       Team                       Time              Laps

 1.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:19.400            20

 2.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:19.682  + 0.282   19

 3.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:20.227  + 0.827   20

 4.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:20.242  + 0.842   29

 5.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:20.458  + 1.058   26

 6.  Massa        Ferrari               (B)  1:20.471  + 1.071   23

 7.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:20.585  + 1.185   32

 8.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:20.650  + 1.250   26

 9.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:20.815  + 1.415   32

10.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:20.838  + 1.438   25

11.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:20.913  + 1.513   22

12.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:21.029  + 1.629   22

13.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:21.103  + 1.703   24

14.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:21.179  + 1.779   27

15.  Bourdais     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:21.384  + 1.984   23

16.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:21.386  + 1.986   32

17.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:21.489  + 2.089   26

18.  Piquet       Renault               (B)  1:21.525  + 2.125   30

19.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:21.590  + 2.190   37

20.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:21.801  + 2.401   16

Free Practice 2

Pos  Driver       Team                       Time              Laps

 1.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:19.456            39

 2.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1:19.597  + 0.141   35

 3.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:20.141  + 0.685   41

 4.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:20.209  + 0.753   36

 5.  Alonso       Renault               (B)  1:20.237  + 0.781   36

 6.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:20.244  + 0.788   26

 7.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:20.417  + 0.961   35

 8.  Trulli       Toyota                (B)  1:20.458  + 1.002   40

 9.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       (B)  1:20.468  + 1.012   42

10.  Piquet       Renault               (B)  1:20.608  + 1.152   37

11.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:20.622  + 1.166   23

12.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  1:20.733  + 1.277   37

13.  Glock        Toyota                (B)  1:20.762  + 1.306   37

14.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  1:20.767  + 1.311   28

15.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            (B)  1:20.932  + 1.476   35

16.  Bourdais     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:20.945  + 1.489   36

17.  Massa        Ferrari               (B)  1:21.005  + 1.549   37

18.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               (B)  1:21.132  + 1.676   38

19.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  (B)  1:21.413  + 1.957   40

20.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  1:21.668  + 2.212   37

All Timing Unofficial

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Brawn GP driver Jenson Button used a two stop, hard - hard - soft tyre strategy to win a fast paced Turkish Grand Prix in hot and sunny conditions at the Istanbul Park circuit.

Button finished 6.7 seconds ahead of Red Bull Racing driver Mark Webber, who used the same strategy. The final podium position went to Webber’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who was the only driver to use a three stop strategy, using the soft tyre for only his final stint.

Bridgestone’s hard tyre proved to be the superior race tyre here, with good consistency. Button set the race’s fastest lap, a 1min 27.579secs, using the hard tyre on lap 40. There was some front tyre graining seen on the soft tyre, however this did not cause any particular issues. Most drivers used a two stop strategy, however Lewis Hamilton (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) and Sebastien Bourdais (Scuderia Toro Rosso) completed the race distance on a one stop strategy.

Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development:
“Today was an interesting race in very hot conditions. Congratulations to the Brawn team and Jenson Button who were a very good combination today. I am happy to say we did not have any tyre problems at this very severe circuit, even in the notorious Turn Eight. We continued to see graining on the soft tyre, but this was much less than yesterday so lap times remained reasonably quick. Tyre strategy considerations were quite straight forward as the lap time difference between the two compounds at this circuit was not so big, but the hard was more durable. We did see one stop strategies today, illustrating that even the soft tyre was capable of doing a long stint.”

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So from the excitement and joy of Raikkonen’s first 2009 podium at Monaco, back to a dismal and ‘pointless’ race for the Finn in Turkey. Just when we thought things were looking up for our man, we get another disappointing race where everything seemed to go backwards.

Sadly the Turkish GP was a very boring race (unless you are a diehard Button fan of course), with Vettel - Buttons only rival for the race win having a brilliant start but making an early mistake, giving Jenson the chance to gun for victory unchallenged. Kimi had a bad start which pretty much dictated the rest of the race. He was squeezed by Massa (who is turn was avoiding the slow starting Rubens) and then damaging his front wing attempting to move up through the field again. He only really began to find some pace his final stint but by then it was too late.

Sadly the 2007 Drivers Champion never made it back into the points, finishing a disappointing 9th after starting from 6th on the grid with a well fueled car. Not a great result, nor one Kimi or his fans would expect.

Here’s hoping Kimi and Ferrari can get back on form for what could be Silverstone’s last GP for a long time. A podium would be a fantastic result and wonderful way to sat goodbye to the Northamptonshire circuit thats popular with fans and drivers alike.

Jemela Coventry - GoKimi Admin

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Turkish Grand Prix
Istanbul, Turkey;
58 laps; 309.396km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Button        Brawn GP-Mercedes     (B)  1h26:24.848
 2.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +     6.714
 3.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +     7.461
 4.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  +    27.843
 5.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota       (B)  +    31.539
 6.  Massa         Ferrari               (B)  +    39.996
 7.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +    46.247
 8.  Glock         Toyota                (B)  +    46.959
 9.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  +    50.246
10.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  +  1:02.420
11.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +  1:04.327
12.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)  +  1:06.376
13.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +  1:20.454
14.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +     1 lap
15.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +     1 lap
16.  Piquet        Renault               (B)  +     1 lap
17.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +     1 lap
18.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +     1 lap

Fastest lap: Button, 1:27.579

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Barrichello   Brawn GP-Mercedes     (B)    49
Fisichella    Force India-Mercedes  (B)    5


Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Brawn GP driver Jenson Button used a two stop, super soft – soft – soft tyre strategy to win a fast paced and tactical Monaco Grand Prix in hot and sunny conditions on the streets of Monte Carlo.

Button finished 7.6 seconds ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello, who used the same tyre strategy. The final podium position went to Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver Kimi Raikkonen who used a soft – soft – super soft tyre strategy for third. His team-mate Felipe Massa used the same strategy to finish fourth, showing a return to form for the reigning constructors’ champions. Massa used the soft tyre to set the race’s fastest lap, a 1min 15.154secs, on lap 50. 

Tyre strategy was particularly relevant in Monaco, with the track surface evolving significantly over the course of the race making it even more difficult than usual to predict the best strategy. 

Hiroshi Yasukawa – Director of Bridgestone Motorsport, says 
“Congratulations to Jenson Button and the Brawn GP Team for their fifth win of the season. Winning in Monaco is a special honour as here is the ultimate test of driving skill and one of the biggest tests of our Bridgestone tyres. It is a privilege to be here and see the Bridgestone brand broadcast on televisions around the world from this fabulous location.” 

Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development, says 
“Today was very interesting in terms of tyre strategy. Those who started on the super soft 
Bridgestone experienced a bigger tyre performance drop off than those who used it for their final stint. The reason for this is track improvement, as the circuit surface was far more forgiving to the tyres near the end of the race. The level of track improvement could be seen by the race’s fastest lap being almost as fast as pole position. Jenson drove very well to get strong performance from the super soft in his first stint, and that helped him for his win. Four cars showed that a one stop strategy was a viable option here. There were many interesting strategies throughout the field today.”

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Brawn GP driver Jenson Button used a super soft – super soft – medium tyre strategy to win a thrilling Bahrain Grand Prix in searing hot conditions at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Button finished 7.1 seconds ahead of Sebastian Vettel, who used the same strategy in his Red Bull. Pole-sitter Jarno Trulli used a super soft – medium – super soft strategy in his Panasonic Toyota Racing car to finish third. Bridgestone’s super soft tyre worked particularly well here, even with a track temperature of over 50 degrees Celsius, delivering good grip and consistency.

Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development

How was the race from Bridgestone’s perspective?
“Today was a very exciting race, particularly from a tyre perspective. We saw a good range of strategies, and when to use the medium compound was a difficult decision for teams, as it delivered a consistently slower lap time than the super soft. The super soft performed well and heat degradation was not a big problem even in the extreme heat of Bahrain. There was some very good tyre management from drivers and also some strong running from competitors on the medium tyre too. I think today has shown just how exciting racing can be with two Bridgestone tyres with different characteristics with our 2009 allocations.”

As the second dry race of 2009, does this help with the understanding of the 2009 tyres?
“We have accumulated a lot of good data from the first four race weekends and this has been very useful. The other fully dry race in Australia was unusual as the track surface did not evolve in the same way as we had seen in previous seasons, so the tyre performance did not improve as we predicted there. Here in Bahrain was interesting because of the extreme heat, but our tyres performed well, and continued to give competitors a challenge for how best to use them during the course of the race.”

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Not the most exciting of races, despite a very nerve wracking first lap but Jenson drove another amazing race and his time got to see the chequered flag without a safety car involved. He won it in style with a brilliant strategy, putting in the quick laps when required & overtaking on the track not in the pitlane. The Englishman is in fine form at the moment and it can only make us wonder what he could have achieved in his career so far had he had a decent car. A real contrast in career to Lewis, his fellow Brit.

Toyota who ran light in Q3 to achieve their front row grid slots, sadly didn’t have the pace or strategy to convert their one lap pace into their first race win that they are so desperate for. Another great drive from Jarno though, adding more points to his title bid. Vettel too was very strong again, making his championship much more than a one horse race.

On the plus side for us Kimi fans - he finally scored some points after putting in a solid performance with the machinery available to him. He had a brilliant start, although a ‘hairy’ moment with Massa & Rubens almost put an end to all their races. He set a consistent pace throughout the race but sadly it wasn’t enough to match the front runners.

A mistake (on the front right) in his final pitstop led to a delay which cost him a chance for 5th (although the pace of Rubens & Brawn was too much to beat) and meant he had to re-take Glock and fight until the end to keep sixth place.

Its just a shame that certain ‘journalists’ still haven’t got off his back after this strong performance. They seem to have failed to have noticed that the Ferrari is a dog to drive so what Kimi achieved from 10th was pretty impressive.

As great as it was to see him score those 3 points and spare Ferrari’s blushes - its sad its come to this. We should be feeling such joy for a Kimi win, not a sixth place. Lets hope these upgrades in Spain begin the Ferrari and Raikkonen revival.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Bahrain Grand Prix

Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain;

57 laps; 308.238km;

Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time

 1.  Button        Brawn GP-Mercedes     (B)  1h31:48.182

 2.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +     7.187

 3.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  +     9.170

 4.  Hamilton      Ferrari               (B)  +    22.096

 5.  Barrichello   Brawn GP-Mercedes     (B)  +    37.779

 6.  Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +    42.057

 7.  Glock         Toyota                (B)  +    42.880

 8.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  +    52.775

 9.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota       (B)  +    58.198

10.  Piquet        Renault               (B)  +  1:05.149

11.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +  1:07.641

12.  Kovalainen    Ferrari               (B)  +  1:17.824

13.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +  1:18.805

14.  Massa         McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +     1 lap

15.  Fisichella    Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +     1 lap

16.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +     1 lap

17.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)  +     1 lap

18.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +     1 lap

19.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +     1 lap

Fastest lap: Trulli, 1:34.556

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap

Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)    49

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Usual service seems to have resumed from the last race with the recently cleared ‘double decker’ diffuser teams still ending fastest of the day along with the Red Bulls.

Hamilton however also looks in with a shot in qualifying tomorrow as he’s cars new diffuser seems to have given him some much needed additional speed. The Brit finished the first free practice on top.

Rosberg took that role in FP2, continuing with his impressive Friday form. Kimi Raikkonen however looks to have another tough weekend ahead of him, with his KERS less car proving as slow and challenging we all feared it would be. He finished the day fourteenth overall.

It looks like tomorrow will be a close at the front in Q3 - lets just hope the Kimster makes it through to the top ten shot out to be in with a chance of a much needed points finish on Sunday.

Free Practice 1
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:37.334 + 22
2. Button Brawn GP-Mercedes (B) 1:37.450 + 0.116 18
3. Barrichello Brawn GP-Mercedes (B) 1:37.566 + 0.232 19
4. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:37.672 + 0.338 23
5. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:37.752 + 0.418 20
6. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:37.764 + 0.430 19
7. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:37.860 + 0.526 24
8. Glock Toyota (B) 1:37.894 + 0.560 21
9. Alonso Renault (B) 1:38.089 + 0.755 19
10. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:38.195 + 0.861 24
11. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:38.223 + 0.889 23
12. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:38.274 + 0.940 20
13. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:38.307 + 0.973 26
14. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:38.319 + 0.985 18
15. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:38.418 + 1.084 20
16. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:38.456 + 1.122 21
17. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:38.460 + 1.126 19
18. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:38.463 + 1.129 18
19. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:38.730 + 1.396 25
20. Piquet Renault (B) 1:38.825 + 1.491 20

Free Practice 2
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:35.679 35
2. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:35.704 + 0.025 36
3. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:35.881 + 0.202 35
4. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:36.105 + 0.426 32
5. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:36.167 + 0.488 22
6. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:36.217 + 0.538 42
7. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:36.377 + 0.698 32
8. Glock Toyota (B) 1:36.548 + 0.869 40
9. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:36.674 + 0.995 34
10. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:36.800 + 1.121 34
11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:36.829 + 1.150 30
12. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:36.847 + 1.168 34
13. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:36.941 + 1.262 28
14. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:37.054 + 1.375 33
15. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:37.219 + 1.540 34
16. Piquet Renault (B) 1:37.273 + 1.594 36
17. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:37.491 + 1.812 34
18. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:37.544 + 1.865 28
19. Alonso Renault (B) 1:37.638 + 1.959 28
20. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:37.750 + 2.071 31

All Timing Unofficial

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