Brazilian veteran Rubens Barrichello claimed his 10th Formula One victory yesterday when he drove his Brawn GP car through a perfectly judged race in searing heat to win the European Grand Prix.
It was his first win this season and his first triumph in five years since the 2004 Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai for Ferrari.
Barrichello’s win lifted him from fourth to second in the drivers’ championship standings. Briton Jenson Button, his Brawn teammate, now leads with 72 points ahead of the Brazilian on 54, with Australian Mark Webber third on 51.5.
PHOTO: AFP
The 37-year-old driver from Sao Paulo delivered one of his finest races of modern times as he came home ahead of defending drivers champion Lewis Hamilton in a McLaren and Finn Kimi Raikkonen for Ferrari. Hamilton had started from pole but his hopes of victory were dashed by a muddled second pitstop when the McLaren team had not prepared his tires.
Another Finn, Hamilton’s McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen, came home fourth ahead of German Nico Rosberg of Williams and the local hero, two-times world champion Fernando Alonso of Renault, who was sixth. Button came home seventh to improve his place in the title race with Pole Robert Kubica finishing eighth for BMW Sauber.
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