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Brawn GP driver Jenson Button of Britain celebrates on the podium after winning the Spanish F1 Grand Prix - Source: Reuters -
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Formula One leader Jenson Button banked his fourth victory in
five races on Monday after a Spanish Grand Prix strategy
switch that stunned his downcast Brawn GP team mate Rubens
Barrichello.
"I feel like I'm on top of the world at the moment," said Button,
now 14 points clear of the Brazilian in the championship.
For the ninth year in a row, victory at the Circuit de Catalunya
went to the driver on pole position with the Briton taking the
chequered flag 13.0 seconds ahead of Barrichello for Brawn's second
one-two of the season.
The Brazilian had seized the lead at the start and was dreaming of
his first win since 2004 when the Mercedes-powered team switched
Button from a three-stop strategy to what turned out to be a
quicker two stops.
Barrichello, who stayed on three stops, looked like his world had
been shattered.
"I can't believe how I lost that," the 36-year-old said, adding
later that he wanted to know why the team had made the sudden
decision to change the strategy while keeping him on three
stops.
"I'm disappointed I haven't won the race because I thought I had it
in the bag today."
Button commiserated and said he had not requested the
change.
Webber Third
Australian Mark Webber was third for Red Bull, his second podium
finish of the season coming on the 50th anniversary of his great
compatriot Jack Brabham's first victory in Formula One, ahead of
German team mate Sebastian Vettel.
Spain's Fernando Alonso had the home crowd roaring when he snatched
fifth place on the final lap from Ferrari's Felipe Massa.
Brazilian Massa, who led for a lap after the first pitstops, had to
slow in the closing laps to save fuel with the team warning him
that he risked not making it to the finish.
The three points were the first of the season for last year's
overall runner-up, who had to walk back to the pits after his car
crawled across the line and coasted to a halt.
Germans Nick Heidfeld in a BMW-Sauber and Nico Rosberg for Williams
were seventh and eighth respectively in the first race in Europe
this year.
Ferrari's 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen, last year's winner in
Barcelona, retired after less than a third of the race while
McLaren's world champion Lewis Hamilton was ninth and lapped by his
winning compatriot.
The safety car was deployed for four laps after a pile-up involving
Toyota's Jarno Trulli, both Toro Rosso drivers and Force India's
Adrian Sutil as the field powered through the second
corner.
Provisional results:
1. Jenson Button (Britain), Brawn-Mercedes: 1 hr 37 min 19.202 secs
2. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil), Brawn-Mercedes: 00:13.056
3. Mark Webber (Australia), RedBull-Renault: 00:13.924
4. Sebastian Vettel (Germany), RedBull-Renault: 00:18.941
5. Fernando Alonso (Spain), Renault: 00:43.166
6. Felipe Massa (Brazil), Ferrari: 00:50.827
7. Nick Heidfeld (Germany), BMW Sauber: 00:52.312
8. Nico Rosberg (Germany), Williams-Toyota: 01:05.211
