Barrichello makes no mistake

Rubens Barrichello took advantage of a pit-stop slip-up by Lewis Hamilton to win the European Grand Prix in Valencia.

McLaren pit-stop error scuppers Hamilton's chances

Rubens Barrichello took advantage of a poor McLaren pit-stop to win the European Grand Prix in Valencia. Lewis Hamilton looked set for a second consecutive victory but he was delayed in the pits and eventually had to settle for second place. World championship leader Jenson Button had a miserable afternoon and could only manage seventh but his two nearest challengers, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, fared even worse. Kimi Raikkonen made steady progress throughout the race, eventually claiming his third podium of the season behind Barrichello and Hamilton. Veteran Barrichello has taken nine previous race victories, but his win at the Spanish track is his first for new team Brawn GP. Heikki Kovalainen took fourth place with Nico Rosberg hot on his tail, with home favourite Fernando Alonso, Button and Robert Kubica collecting the rest of the points on offer.

Start

The two McLarens had made a clean getaway from the front-row but Button had a terrible first lap, slipping from fifth to eighth. As Hamilton and Kovalainen pulled away at the head of the field, the third-placed Brawn of Barrichello came under attack from Raikkonen. Reigning world champion Hamilton immediately began to race away from his team-mate, setting consecutive fastest laps in the early stages. Button was forced to concede another place as he had cut a chicane in order to stay ahead of Webber and so let the Red Bull through in order to avoid a penalty. Barrichello was looking to take advantage of a slightly heavier fuel load than the two cars in front of him, but was unable to keep a flying Hamilton in his sights early on. After letting his championship rival through, Button could not mount a challenge for Webber's eighth place and remained mired in the midfield as the first pit-stops approached. Hamilton was the first of the front-runners to stop on lap 16, followed next time around by team-mate Kovalainen while Barrichello stayed out and upped the pace.

Lead Change

The Brazilian managed to leap-frog into second place with a string of great in-laps, rejoining just a couple of seconds behind the race leader. Button almost managed to climb into the points when Vettel encountered refuelling problems during his first pit-stop and had to come in again, but the heavily-fuelled Giancarlo Fisichella temporarily halted his progress. The German then suffered a mechanical failure, suspected to be an engine problem, on lap 25 and coasted to a halt out on the circuit. Barrichello pegged the McLaren back during the second stint, attempting to keep the gap down to a handful of seconds in order to make his move during the final pit-stop window. But when Hamilton entered the pit-lane for his second stop his tyre men were not in position and the 24-year-old lost crucial seconds as he waited. The delay was all Barrichello needed and he emerged from his second pit-stop comfortably in the lead. Webber's pace dropped off significantly in the later stages and Button was able to capitalise, getting ahead of the Australian to score what could prove to be two vital points in the race for the title. Almost unnoticed, Raikkonen leap-frogged compatriot Kovalainen at the second round of stops thanks to a string of flying laps before he pitted. Once he was behind the 37-year-old, Hamilton could not make any inroads and eventually trailed Barrichello home by quite a distance. European Grand Prix:
1 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 1hr 35mins 51.289secs, 2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:35:53.647, 3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:36:07.283, 4 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 1:36:11.321, 5 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:36:12.159, 6 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:36:19.033, 7 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 1:36:26.202, 8 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:36:27.956, 9 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:36:36.199, 10 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:36:39.224, 11 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:36:40.111, 12 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 1:36:54.903, 13 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:36:55.816, 14 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:37:17.808, 15 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Renault 1:37:23.033, 16 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 Lap, 17 Luca Badoer (Ita) Ferrari at 1 Lap, 18 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams at 3 Laps
Not Classified: 19 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 41 laps completed, 20 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 23 laps completed Championship Standings:
Drivers: 1 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 72pts, 2 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 54, 3 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 51.5, 4 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 47, 5 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 29.5, 6 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 27, 7 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 24, 8 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 22.5, 9 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 22, 10 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 16, 11 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 16, 12 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 14, 13 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 6, 14 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 3, 15 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 3, 16 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 2, 17 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 0, 18 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 0, 19 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 0, 20 Nelson Piquet Jr (Bra) Renault 0, 21 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 0, 22 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Renault 0, 23 Luca Badoer (Ita) Ferrari 0
Manufacturers:
1 Brawn GP 126pts, 2 Red Bull 98.5, 3 Ferrari 46, 4 McLaren 41, 5 Toyota 38.5, 6 Williams 29.5, 7 Renault 16, 8 BMW Sauber 9, 9 Scuderia Toro Rosso 5, 10 Force India 0