Highlights - British Grand Prix Sebastian Vettel's victory at the British Grand Prix could well prove to be the turning point of the 2009 Formula 1 season. This is a real step forward for the 21-year-old's Red Bull team. Their Adrian Newey-designed car came to Silverstone with a raft of updates and it was very fast from the moment it hit the track on Friday.  Vettel collected his second win of 2009 and third of his career in Britian |
Without doubt the former airfield circuit has plenty of Red Bull-friendly high -speed challenges and the lower track temperatures played into their hands against a Brawn which is very easy on its tyres and struggled for temperature. However, this turnaround has been brewing for a race or two now. Vettel had a golden chance to eclipse Brawn Grand Prix's championship leader Jenson Button in Turkey until he fell off the road on the first lap. The RB5 has reliability, driveability, and speed, and now we will have to wait and see what it can do on different track layouts such as the Nurburgring, Monza and Singapore. As the Red Bulls chase down Button's 23-point advantage in the championship and Brawn's 30.5-point lead in the constructors' standings, the second half of the season suddenly looks more interesting. Button will be keenly hoping to re-establish himself at the German Grand Prix on 12 July. The 29-year-old looked unsettled on home soil, and that surprised me after his peerless performances year to date. Mind you, his pace towards the end of the Silverstone race was very solid. He seemed to have the confidence to attack the track more at that stage, but it was too late.  | 606: DEBATE |
Even before the event he sounded like he was beginning to feel the pressure. Button said several times in the build-up to the race that whatever happened on Sunday he would still leave Silverstone leading the title race by 16 points. He also talked about rivals Red Bull being very fast and his team-mate Rubens Barrichello's excellent record at Silverstone. His mind management was negative. Button sensed the competition was catching up and he had such huge expectation on his shoulders from his home fans. Starting in sixth on the grid, he was unlucky off the start when his Brawn got tucked up behind Jarno Trulli's slow starting and meandering Toyota. He made a decision to go one side of Trulli and then he had to move back across before getting out of the throttle. When you are off-colour split-second decisions like that can often go against you. Did the bubble burst for Button in Britain? No. He has won six races and I think this is just a glitch providing Brawn have some performance updates in the pipeline. The British Grand Prix developed more like a game of chess than pure motorsport to some extent. There were some interesting strategies at play that saw plenty of reshuffling of position - and unfortunately Kazuki Nakajima, who started a career-best fifth for Williams, was on the receiving end of most of it. | The one-two for Red Bull means they maintained their title challenge but it could signal bad news for Webber |
Because tyre degradation on the cooler track wasn't that high, some drivers who started with heavier fuel loads were able to stay out longer and pump in the laps as the fuel burned off and the cars became lighter and more nimble. While Nakajima fell down the field, his team-mate Nico Rosberg moved up to fifth ahead of Button, who clawed back to sixth after sliding as low as ninth in the first stint. Massa made big gains. The fast-starting Ferrari driver, who qualified outside the top 10, stayed out for 23 laps on his first set of tyres and he crossed the line in fourth having eventually leapfrogged Button, Trulli, Nakajima, Rosberg and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen with strategy calls. Red Bull's Mark Webber laid down a very hot lap just before his first stop and that helped him past Barrichello for the second step on the podium. The one-two for the team means they maintained their title challenge but it could signal bad news for Webber. The Australian must beat Vettel on the German's home turf at the Nurburgring because if Red Bull are going to catch Button they need to decide which of their drivers is best placed to chase him down. At the German Grand Prix we will find out if Red Bull's British win was really a watershed or whether normal service will be resumed for Button and Brawn. Martin Brundle was talking to Sarah Holt
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