2009 German Grand Prix

Interesting qualifying session with a sudden downpour in Q2 to mix things up. Webber takes his first pole after 130 tries, destroying the record for grand prix starts without a pole.

Provisional Grid with weights.

1. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 661kg
2. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP, 647
3. Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 644
4. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 661
5. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 654.5
6. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 664.0
7. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 678.5
8. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 673.5
9. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 674
10. Nelson Piquet, Renault, 676
11. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber,
12. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 668.2
13. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 683.6
14. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 683.7
15. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 689.6
16. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 673.5
17. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 674.5
18. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India, 662.5
19. Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso, 689.5
20. Timo Glock, Toyota, 662.3

good on you webber. Lets see if you can stay there :)

It seems as though that Red Bull has caught up to the Brawns a lot and I think the question is can they rack up[ enough points to catch them in the standings before season's end?

Red Bull still need another team taking points off Brawn. Button should be safe for the rest of the year, knowing both Red Bulls wont always be ahead and theres bound to be races that either favour Brawn more or Red Bull have issues with. Its going to be tight though, so Brawn definately wont be sitting still.

If Brawn can't react soon, RBR will take the lead, with summer new updates for the RBR will arrive and if now they are a bit in front of the Brawns, then the gap will be too much for Button and Barrichello to catch up.
They were lighter today, still didn't manage to take the lead.
I thought Hamilton and Sutil were much lighter than than, especially the German.
Props to him.

[quote=fpv_gtho;894525]Red Bull still need another team taking points off Brawn. Button should be safe for the rest of the year, knowing both Red Bulls wont always be ahead and theres bound to be races that either favour Brawn more or Red Bull have issues with. Its going to be tight though, so Brawn definately wont be sitting still.[/quote]

Some bad luck via DNFs be they mechanical or otherwise though and Red Bull will be biting at the heels of Brawn. This bad luck could be compounded with rain or something. Right now, Wiki...

Ok. So 9 races left, Vettel is 25 back so he needs to score about 2.8 more points per race than Button to beat him to the title. Of course, this number would change hugely with a DNF or two from Button. For Red Bull to overtake Brawn in the Constructor's, they need about 3.4 points a race more than Brawn.

good on webber for managing to find the time in his flying lap evidently with the brawns significantly lighter. And he is not a light guy :p

very happy for him. he's one of the great characters to be around the f1 paddock and a real treat for him to be on pole after all these years. Also very excited to see how lewis plays out during the race with a more competetive car. And whether or not webber has the consistency and the strategy to endure 60 laps at the front. Bring on the rain!

[quote=cmcpokey;894490]Interesting qualifying session with a sudden downpour in Q2 to mix things up. Webber takes his first pole after 130 tries, destroying the record for grand prix starts without a pole.

Provisional Grid with weights.

[B]1. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 661kg[/B]
2. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP, 647
3. Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 644
4. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 661
5. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 654.5
6. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 664.0
7. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 678.5
8. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 673.5
9. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 674
10. Nelson Piquet, Renault, 676
11. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber,
12. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 668.2
13. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 683.6
14. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 683.7
15. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 689.6
16. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 673.5
17. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 674.5
18. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India, 662.5
19. Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso, 689.5
20. Timo Glock, Toyota, 662.3[/quote]


[SIZE="7"][COLOR="Red"]
go webber :)[/COLOR][/SIZE]

Im first to admit Im a massive fanboy of webber and hopefully he does well, he is running fairly heavy, hopefully he has some luck and gets his maiden win

I suffer the australian syndrome, Of loving the underdog, and disliking the favourite :p

wow... mark webber got his first career pole.

i hope he wins.

[quote=LeonOfTheDead;894533]If Brawn can't react soon, RBR will take the lead, with summer new updates for the RBR will arrive and if now they are a bit in front of the Brawns, then the gap will be too much for Button and Barrichello to catch up.[/quote]

I don't think Brawn can catch up. Now that they no longer have Honda's backing, they must be hurting. Red Bull has way more resources. It would really surprise me if Brawn would be a force again next year.

An enjoyable quali session. One of the commentators pointed out that quali has been better than racing this year, and sadly he is right.

Congrats Mark! You do realize that if you win tomorrow you will no longer be an underdog and I will no longer feel obliged to root for you, right?

Well, that's an irritating turn of events for Webber..

..On the other hand, it may not matter.. yay!

Happy dance! Do the happy dance! Huzzah huzzah!

Great win from Webber. Brawn really need to get their act together or else Newey will once again deliver a championship.

Y[SIZE="5"]you little beauty mark, :)[/SIZE]

Mark's reaction over the radio was brilliant.. unintelligible hollering and whooping. Pretty much what I was doing too..

Great race for Webber, just proving Sebastien isn't the wonder kid everyone said he was. Totally deserved! Was hopping for a win for some time and it finally came :) :D

[SIZE="5"][B][color="lime"]you little[/color] [color="yellow"]rippa webber ![/color][/B][/SIZE]

He tried to lose the race at the first corner, paid hes time in the pits, and nothing could stop him. Good on him done himself so proud, and us:D.

Something special hearing Advance Australia Fair play and that flag in the middle:). Been way to long.

[quote=Wouter Melissen;894600]I don't think Brawn can catch up. Now that they no longer have Honda's backing, they must be hurting. Red Bull has way more resources. It would really surprise me if Brawn would be a force again next year.[/quote]

More likely, they want be a force even by the end of the year if other teams and not only RBR keep updating the package.

Brawn declared they are holding some money, and will decide if spending them on this year's car or on the next year one only after Budapest (a weird place to reach with a lot of spare money...), where they will bring new wings and a different bonnet as well.

it has played out as i kinda expected it would with Brawn. a good start, but they haven't kept up with development. i hope they pick it up, and bring some competition to RBR, but it is nice to see vettel and webber doing so well.

And cheers to Webber on a fantastic drive from qualy through the race. well done and congrats.

great show of endurance and commitment from webber. a great guy that deserved a win more than anyone else on the grid today and has done for quite some time. really enjoyed the race weekend to be honest. full of action and changes. several leaders throughout the race with the potential to take the full 10 points. so frustrating for rubens. totally understand his outbreak in the interview after the race where he questioned his team and said they showed us how to lose a race. he drove very well. and had the stewards decision on his side. yet a few minor set backs turned into an overall loss for him. this guy deserves a breakthrough it has to be said. And what can I say about lewis.. blistering start with the KERS winding his way through to the front row. The one mistake I think he made was that he probably made progress quicker than even he expected and saw the gap to try to swing around webber to try to steal first place. Not predicting the fact that rubens had the exact same idea on the right hand side, webber bouncing over to the left after touching rubens and clipping lewis' rear tyre. Overall over enthusiasm in his attack really. But thats what we like to see. He has nothing to lose afterall. Great season so far!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpkO4iJmlKY&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube - Mark Webber Wins His 1st Grand Prix[/ame]

If Braun has left over money, they should spend it this year. Because next year is too late. The red bulls are coming.

Next year they might not have much money though, thats why they want to use some of the left over Honda money from this year.

****ing beauty!

next year they aren't likely to have the head start they did this year. they should just try to win the title and get more money that way......

[quote=RacingManiac;894879]next year they aren't likely to have the head start they did this year. they should just try to win the title and get more money that way......[/quote]

Yes but what sponsor can match the resources of the major manufacturers. Williams has also suffered the same fate. Bang for buck they have probably built the best cars in the most recent seasons but with little to show for it. Will there still be a budget cap next year?

well the theory is that FOTA should still have self imposed cap for $100 Mil Euro....

In Williams' situation it didn't help that they have no results to speak of after being dropped by BMW(and tbh they have more problem than budget IMO, strategically they've been under-utilizing their car), if Brawn can manage to win this year's title it should make getting sponsor easier....corporate needs something to sell, being the "best of the rest" does not inspire that....

A very enjoyable race.
Red Bull are on the chase, McLaren and Renault have shown signs of improvment, Ferrari (at least Massa's) is always there mixing things up, Brawn have a lot to worry about and better be praying the heat and tight corners of Hungaroring and Valencia suit them perfectly. These next two races will tell us how much Brawn still have left in the bag.

Barrichello, it's nice to have a guy speaking his mind, but you can't trash your team to the world press. Haven't you learned from you 270+ GPs?