Monaco Grand Prix 2009
Button notches up another win in Monaco as Ferrari finally picks up the pace
Jenson Button raced from pole to podium at Monaco to take his fifth chequered flag of the season. The rejuvenated Brit is increasingly looking like the man to beat in the 2009 Drivers’ Championship, with another flawless race.
It’s his first win at the Formula 1 calendar’s most glamourous race, and he was clearly rather taken with the result – instead of pulling up by the podium, he parked in the pits and had to run in order to reach the end of race ceremony in time.
His teammate and nearest championship competitor Rubens Barrichello finished second, 7.6sec behind Button, while Sebastian Vettel retired after an accident. Ferrari had its best race of the campaign so far, with Räikkönen and Massa coming in third and fourth respectively to give hope to the Prancing Horse six races into what had been a fairly miserable season.
Lewis Hamilton finished 12th after starting from the back of the grid. His season is beginning to look lost, and he admitted he fancies Button’s chances at snatching the Drivers’ title from him – ‘Jenson's doing a fantastic job and clearly he's in the best position to win the championship. I'd definitely put my money on him’.
In other Formula 1 news, Williams has confirmed its 2010 Formula 1 championship entry. It’s the first team to do so, after protests over proposed team budget caps. After all F1 teams were threatening to pull out of the sport, it now looks like a compromise has been reached with the FIA.
Monaco Grand Prix results1 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 1:40:44.282 2 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes +7.6 secs3 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari +13.4 secs4 Felipe Massa Ferrari +15.1 secs5 Mark Webber RBR-Renault +15.7 secs6 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota +33.5 secs7 Fernando Alonso Renault +37.8 secs8 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari +63.1 secsDrivers’ Championship standings1 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 51 points2 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 353 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 234 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 19.55 Jarno Trulli Toyota 14.56 Timo Glock Toyota 127 Fernando Alonso Renault 118 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 99 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 910 Felipe Massa Ferrari 8
