On the 3.194-mile, 17-turn Silverstone circuit — a circuit built on the site of what was once a WWII Bomber base known as “RAF Silverstone” — Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel thoroughly dominated the 2009 Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix. A lights to flag to triumph, for Vettel, the 60-lap GP was his second victory of the 2009 season. Starting from P1 on the grid, the German ace took off like a scalded cat right from the onset, his lead up to 20 seconds in the first 20 laps of the race. At times, he outpaced his rivals by well over a second a lap.

In his #23 Mercedes-Benz FO 108W Brawn GP BGP 001Rubens Barrichello gave chase in a spirited attempt to keep the German driver honest, but would ultimately lose a position to Vettel’s Red Bull teammate, Mark Webber. As the race neared its conclusion, Vettel cleared out, Barrichello settling for the final spot on the podium with his third pace finish.

Scuderia Ferrari wheelman Felipe Massa guided his Ferrari F60 to a fourth place finish, having to fight his way back from a lowly eleventh place starting spot.

World Championship leader Jenson Button found himself off the podium for the first time in 2009, his Brawn BGP 001 struggling to come to grips (litteraly) with the Silverstone asphalt. Moreover, a poor start only made maters worse, the British driver starting the affair in sixth and dropping down the scoring monitors like brick, ninth place by the completion of the opening lap.

"I got a terrible start," lamented Button. "Jarno Trulli, in front of me, got a really slow getaway, as they [the Toyotas] normally do, and I had nowhere to go. "I tried to go to the inside, but that wasn't there, and I tried to go to the outside and that was full, and then everyone shot by me on the outside.

“Behind Trulli in the first stint, I slowed up behind him to give myself some clear air and see what times I could do, and I was eight tenths to a second quicker," Button furthered. "There's just nowhere to pass on this circuit.

“On the soft rubber near the end I was able to close in on Nico Rosberg and Felipe Massa like they were standing still, but you still can't pass around here," he concluded, explaining the team fitted the car with softer rubber tires to try and make a last gap run at the podium.

Having finished 1-1-5-4-1-1-2 in the first seven Grands Prix in ’09, Jenson Button's sixth place result led to three points being lopped off his championship, his point lead dropping from 26 points to 23 with eight races left to be run in the 2009 Formula 1 World Championship.

Toyota’s Jarno Trulli was seventh, while Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen earned the last GP point by flashing across the finish line in eigth.

By Eric Johnson