Brawn GP - Valencia - Great Win for Rubens

From start to finish this has been a great performance for Rubens all weekend. I made the prediction earlier in the week and took a bet at 25/1 so i'm happy having £26 back now :)
Again before the start of the race i mentioned it on twitter that I still believed Rubens would have the measure of the McLarens. Congratulations to Rubens first and foremost but also a big well done to the team and Jenson for a 7th place finish.

Classified:

Pos Driver Time
1. Barrichello 1h35:51.289
2. Hamilton + 2.358
3. Raikkonen + 15.994
4. Kovalainen + 20.032
5. Rosberg + 20.870
6. Alonso + 27.744
7. Button + 34.913
8. Kubica + 36.667
9. Webber + 44.910
10. Sutil + 47.935
11. Heidfeld + 48.822
12. Fisichella + 1:03.614
13. Trulli + 1:04.527
14. Glock + 1:26.519
15. Grosjean + 1:31.774
16. Alguersuari + 1 lap
17. Badoer + 1 lap
18. Nakajima + 3 laps

Fastest lap: Glock, 1:38.683

All timing unofficial

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Brawn GP - Valencia - Pre Race Reflection

Hi BGP fans, with Rubens taking 3rd on a much heavier fuel load than the 2 McLarens 3rd is a great result. Jenson however only managed to get 1 hot lap in at the end of Q3 which compromised his result and leaves him down in 5th and in the clutches of Kimi and his KERS enabled Ferrari.
Cast your mind back however to before the tyre temperature issues arose and the BGP001 was great at making the tyres last. IF it's right that the setups have equalised and the BGP001's performance is back to how it was it could make for a very interesting race.
Rubens and Jenson just need to drive their own races managing the tyre wear as usual whilst everyone else will have trouble with rear graining (appears to have been an issue for most teams during Friday and Saturday) They can bide their time whilst the others simply grain up and fall off the timings/circuit.

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Brawn GP - Valencia - Fuel Weights

The post qualifying fuel weights are as follows:

Pos  Driver       Weight (kg)
 1.  Hamilton     653.0
 2.  Kovalainen   655.0
 3.  Barrichello  662.5
 4.  Vettel       654.0
 5.  Button       661.5
 6.  Raikkonen    661.5
 7.  Rosberg      665.0
 8.  Alonso       656.5
 9.  Webber       664.5
10.  Kubica       657.5
11.  Heidfeld     677.0
12.  Sutil        672.5
13.  Glock        694.7
14.  Grosjean     677.7
15.  Buemi        688.5
16.  Fisichella   692.5
17.  Nakajima     702.0
18.  Trulli       707.3
19.  Alguersuari  678.5
20.  Badoer       690.5
 

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Brawn GP - Valencia - Qualifying

Pos  Driver       Q1        Q2        Q3     
 1.  Hamilton     1:38.649  1:38.182  1:39.498
 2.  Kovalainen   1:38.816  1:38.230  1:39.532
 3.  Barrichello  1:39.019  1:38.076  1:39.563
 4.  Vettel       1:39.295  1:38.273  1:39.789
 5.  Button       1:38.531  1:38.601  1:39.821
 6.  Raikkonen    1:38.843  1:38.782  1:40.144
 7.  Rosberg      1:39.039  1:38.346  1:40.185
 8.  Alonso       1:39.155  1:38.717  1:40.236
 9.  Webber       1:38.983  1:38.625  1:40.239
10.  Kubica       1:38.806  1:38.747  1:40.512
11.  Heidfeld     1:39.032  1:38.826
12.  Sutil        1:39.145  1:38.846
13.  Glock        1:39.459  1:38.991
14.  Grosjean     1:39.322  1:39.040
15.  Buemi        1:38.912  1:39.514
16.  Fisichella   1:39.531
17.  Nakajima     1:39.795
18.  Trulli       1:39.807
19.  Alguersuari  1:39.925
20.  Badoer       1:41.413
 
All Timing Unofficial

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Brawn GP - Valencia - Free Practice 3

With most of the session under red flag due to Vettel' engine mishap the times are a little deformed....

Pos  Driver        Time              Laps
 1.  Sutil         1:39.143           12
 2.  Nakajima      1:39.247 + 0.104   12
 3.  Kubica        1:39.513 + 0.370   12
 4.  Kovalainen    1:39.553 + 0.410    8
 5.  Rosberg       1:39.732 + 0.589   11
 6.  Fisichella    1:39.764 + 0.621   12
 7.  Button        1:39.883 + 0.740   10
 8.  Hamilton      1:39.950 + 0.807   12
 9.  Trulli        1:40.017 + 0.874   11
10.  Grosjean      1:40.088 + 0.945   11
11.  Buemi         1:40.118 + 0.975   12
12.  Barrichello   1:40.192 + 1.049   10
13.  Heidfeld      1:40.230 + 1.087   12
14.  Raikkonen     1:40.260 + 1.117   12
15.  Alonso        1:40.402 + 1.259    9
16.  Glock         1:40.443 + 1.300   10
17.  Webber        1:40.879 + 1.736   10
18.  Vettel        1:40.916 + 1.773    6
19.  Alguersuari   1:41.125 + 1.982   12
20.  Badoer        1:42.198 + 3.055   14
 
All timing unofficial

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Brawn GP - Valencia - F1.com's take on the upgrades

http://www.formula1.com/news/technical/2009/816/685.html

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Brawn GP - Valencia - Some nice photo's for your perusal....

http://premium.f1-live.com/f1/photos-hires...a/diapo_181.jpg

http://premium.f1-live.com/f1/photos-hires...a/diapo_157.jpg

http://premium.f1-live.com/f1/photos-hires...a/diapo_116.jpg

http://premium.f1-live.com/f1/photos-hires...a/diapo_131.jpg

http://premium.f1-live.com/f1/photos-hires...a/diapo_151.jpg

http://premium.f1-live.com/f1/photos-hires...a/diapo_193.jpg

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Valencia - Free Practice 1

Good morning BGP fans it seems like an eternity since the last race but now it's here upon us. Free Practice 1 as usual for a street circuit was very dusty so we really only saw the boys performing towards the latter stage of Practice. They were working hard with different setups to see what has been the problem over the last few races. Jenson switching front wings at least 3 times at my count. Pace seemed ok but as usual we don't the fuel loads being tested with and also the relativity to the rivals. The biggest stand out upgrade to me was the addition of air flow conditioners to the side of the sidepods like that we have seen on virtually every other car so far this season. As soon as some pictures are available I'll post them up for comparison.
Towards the end of the session Rubens had some issues with his gearbox and not being able to select neutral. Lets hope its electrical and not going to be a change.

Pos Driver        Time             Laps
 1. Barrichello   1:42.460           19
 2. Kovalainen    1:42.636  +0.176   16
 3. Hamilton      1:42.654  +0.194   18
 4. Button        1:43.074  +0.614   19
 5. Vettel        1:43.088  +0.628   17
 6. Sutil         1:43.209  +0.749   13
 7. Nakajima      1:43.225  +0.765   25
 8. Webber        1:43.243  +0.783   19
 9. Alonso        1:43.345  +0.885   18
10. Raikkonen     1:43.384  +0.924   23
11. Buemi         1:43.389  +0.929   30
12. Kubica        1:43.419  +0.959   20
13. Alguersuari   1:43.637  +1.177   30
14. Rosberg       1:43.746  +1.286   22
15. Heidfeld      1:44.040  +1.580   23
16. Fisichella    1:44.126  +1.666   17
17. Grosjean      1:44.356  +1.896   23
18. Trulli        1:44.638  +2.178   26
19. Glock         1:44.732  +2.272   28
20. Badoer        1:45.840  +3.380   25

All timing unofficial

Just picked up this picture


See http://www.sutton-images.co.uk/ to purchase a copy or http://f1.gpupdate.net/ for the main image above

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