Race Report
Italian GP
Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button put Brawn GP firmly back on the map in the Italian GP, with Barrichello leading his team mate home for an emphatic 1-2 finish. The result has put the team into an almost unassailable position in the drivers and constructors championships and sees Barrichello close to within 14 points of Button. Barrichello and Button benefitted from a single stop strategy that saw them see off a challenge from the strong early leader Lewis Hamilton whose two stop strategy was to lead to his downfall. Hamilton was closing strongly on Button when he lost the rear end of his McLaren dramatically on the last lap and suffered a heavy subsequent impact with the barriers. Kimi Raikkonen had a race long duel with the now front running Force India of Adrian Sutil but despite his best efforts Sutil was unable to get fully on terms with and pass the KERS powered Ferrari as the pair finished the race 3rd and 4th. Fernando Alonso and Heikki Kovalainen rounded out the top six. Nick Heidfeld finished 7th for BMW but team mate Robert Kubica tangled with Mark Webber resulting in retirement for the Red Bull driver and a damaged front wing for the BMW and eventual retirement. Sebastian Vettel salvaged a single point for the Red Bull team with 8th place. Giancarlo Fisichella managed to bring his Ferrari home 9th on his debut for the Maranello squad and seemed happy with his decision to follow his dream despite the success of his ex team mate Adrian Sutil who as well as finishing 4th, started from the front row and also set the fastest lap of the race. Kazuki Nakajima closed out the top ten for Williams. Lewis Hamilton was classified 12th and had clearly been driving his McLaren at the limit in his attempt to catch Button when he crashed out. As the season reaches its closing stages it looks like a battle between the two Brawn drivers to decide the title with Barrichello appearing to have the upper hand at the moment.
