2009 British Grand Prix summary

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Sebastian Vettel (1st)
As convincing a win as Hamilton’s last year. Pole, fastest lap, victory… what more could a team ask for? Vettel’s car was the best on the grid, but he kept his head and walked away with it. Also produced quote of the day after admitting he sometimes wished he was British, as the fans are so good. He’ll take a while to live that one down. (10/10)

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Mark Webber (2nd)
Was lighter than Vettel in Q3, but failed to piece a lap together. He was perhaps blocked by Räikkönen, although I doubt he would have been faster than his team-mate. From third on the gird and after a first stint stuck behind the Brawn of Barrichello his chances were gone. Outperformed by Vettel, and he’ll know it. (8/10)

Rubens Barrichello (3rd)
Bad start, good start, bad start, good start… Thankfully for Rubens the British GP featured the latter. Raced well in a car that just wasn’t as quick as the Red Bulls and for the first time this season put Button in his place. Don’t expect it to last though. (8.5/10)

Felipe Massa (4th)
Some great calls from the pitwall promoted Felipe from 11th on the gird. Well done Rob Smedley and team (9.5/10). The Brazilian even admitted after the race that it felt like a win. Pity that all the cars ahead of him will be in the breakaway championship if it goes ahead… (9/10)

Nico Rosberg (5th)
Another strong race for Nico in a car that’s almost there but can’t quite challenge for a podium. He should stick to Formula 1 though after being beaten by our own Louisa Skipper in a Scalextric competition last week (no offence Louisa)… (8/10)

Jenson Button (6th)
Well, his winning streak had to end somewhere… But Jenson, why on earth do you have to finish it at the British Grand Prix? Did well to come back from ninth after being blocked by Trulli at the start. (7/10)

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Jarno Trulli (7th)
Bad start didn’t really ruin his race, although didn’t feature much in it either – apart from when he was blocking Räikkönen. Has outperformed Glock though, who showed real signs of potential last year. (7/10)

Kimi Räikkönen (8th)
Out-qualified Massa for a change but would have done well to copy the Brazilian’s pitstop strategy. You do get the feeling that he’ll come alive if Ferrari gets its car sorted. Well, optimism never hurt anyone… (6/10)

Timo Glock (9th)
As I mentioned before Glock has been outclassed by Trulli this year, which is perhaps not surprising in qualifying given how strong the Italian has always been in this area. However, Glock should be making as much, if not more, impact in the races. (6/10)

Giancarlo Fisichella (10th)
A good weekend for Fisi, but it’s a shame that whatever Force India seems to do it just can’t get in the points. I really hope that changes soon as Vijay Mallya is, after all, a businessman and isn’t in F1 – like a certain Lord Hesketh – just because he can be. (7.5/10)

Kazuki Nakajima (11th)
What a weekend poor Kazuki had. He qualified brilliantly, but just dropped back in the race. He wasn’t driving badly at all but lost out in the pitstops and must have been left wondering how on earth he fell so comprehensively out of the points. (7/10)

Nelsinho Piquet (12th)
At last! He beats Alonso… exactly what Nelson needed to pick up his confidence. If he can go to the Nürburgring in a slightly more positive state of mind we may start seeing glimpses of why he was such a success in GP2. Renault needs to sort the car though. (6.5/10)

Robert Kubica (13th)
Both BMWs spent much of the afternoon getting in the way of people. Was Kubica not a title contender last year up until the final races? He must be so pleased that BMW decided to stop development on the ’08 car to concentrate on the ’09 version, considering it’s been such a raving success… (6/10)

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Fernando Alonso (14th)
It’s a sorry state of affairs when you see two World Champions fighting over 16th as if their lives depended on it. The Renault is not what Alonso needs right now, and is only going to make his move to another team for next year more likely. (6/10)

Nick Heidfeld (15th)
Damaged his wing early in the race, and then refused to come in to change it. Not really what you want as a team, but I doubt Heidfeld would have vastly improved on his position even if he had pitted earlier to get it changed. (4/10)

Lewis Hamilton (16th)
He raced well, but also made a couple of mistakes. Spent much of the weekend praising the fans rather than making sure he out-qualified his team-mate. He is in a better mood now, though, and his donuts at the end of the race go to show that he’s actually rather enjoying himself at the moment. (4.5/10)

Adrian Sutil (17th)
A monumental smash during qualifying ruined Adrian’s weekend. He looked quick in practice and may well have scored Force India’s first points of ’09. However, starting from the pitlane at Silverstone means anything higher than 17th or 18th place is unlikely. (4/10)

Sebastien Buemi (18th)
A quiet weekend for Sebastien in an underperforming Toro Rosso. The team needs to get hold of the Red Bull updates a lot faster to have a chance of scoring some more points this season. (5/10)

Sebastien Bourdais (19th – RET)
Running fine – if not a little low down the grid – until Kovalainen changed direction so many times on the straight he got bored and slammed into the back of him. At least he took the Finn out as well. That’ll learn him. (5/10)

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Heikki Kovalainen (20th – RET)
Not a very good weekend for Heikki, who ultimately was the master of his own demise. The McLaren is bad, but there’s no way he’s going to persuade anyone that it’s that hard to keep in a straight line when someone is trying to overtake. (3/10)

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