As the champagne corks flew and Brawn’s overheated engineers attempted to cool off in a spray of victory fizz, whooping and sweating for the cameras in their first team photo since Turkey in June, it was easy to miss the sight of Jenson Button enveloping his emotional team mate Rubens Barrichello in a great big bear hug.
It was a brief moment but one of surprising tenderness. Barrichello has had a difficult season to date, hinting darkly at team favouritism as Button swept all before him in the early stages, but it was impossible not to feel happy for the Brazilian who had just claimed his first win in nearly five years, afterwards dedicating the victory to his stricken countryman Felipe Massa who is still recovering in Brazil following his 162mph crash in Hungary last month.
“It has been an emotional time,” said Barrichello. “I never felt the accident was my fault, although it was a piece of my car that struck him. He is such a good friend and I dedicate this win not only to him but also to the whole of Brazil. It’s been a fantastic weekend, one that I will never forget.” Button’s embrace was also deeply significant. The Englishman may have finished in the minor points for a fourth grand prix in succession — a disastrous start seeing him stuck all day in traffic in a race which did not witness a single overtaking manoeuvre — but he will have been greatly encouraged the Brawn’s renewed turn of pace.
At the age of 37, Barrichello showed him what it was capable of.
Having swept past the McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen when the Finn stopped for the first time on lap 18, Barrichello then set his sights on the world champion, first harassing and then passing Lewis Hamilton in the second round of pit-stops.
Hamilton was hardly helped by the fact that his team made a late decision to bring him in and were not ready with their tyres, but their team principal Martin Whitmarsh admitted afterwards that Barrichello had had their number. “It cost us two or three seconds,” he said. “It would not have affected the outcome of the race. We lost the race because we did not have a quick enough car.” To cap off a good day for Brawn, neither Red Bull managed to finish in the points; Sebastian Vettel suffering an engine failure — his fourth of the season, meaning he has just one new engine to last him six races — and Mark Webber going the way of his country’s cricket team after finding himself stumped by traffic.
No wonder Button could afford to lavish his team mate in hugs. What could have been a disastrous day for him eventually saw his lead reduced by just half a point. The Englishman now leads by 18 from Barrichello.
“Red Bull didn’t finish in front of me which was a positive as that’s what we came here to do,” Button said, “but I didn’t expect to get just two points. My closest challenger now is my teammate. He took a lot of points out of me here and I can’t let that happen again.
“I must say well done to him but hope he doesn’t make a habit of it. I know he’s been itching to get his victory.
“They are all fighting over being 18 points behind me but sooner or later it’s going to be a lot less than that if I don’t sort my **** out.” Hamilton was similarly magnanimous, if a little less blunt, describing Barrichello’s win as “deserved”.
The world champion is clearly enjoying being back in the mix for race wins and he could afford to be generous afterwards since he is not in the title race himself. He did not even get too upset about the pit-stop error which ultimately cost him any chance of victory.
“We win together and we lose together,” Hamilton said. “I’ve had so many races with this team and this has very rarely happened. They deserve a pat on the back and, regardless, we need to catch these guys [Brawn] up because there are genuinely a bit quicker than us.”
Leading positions after race (57 Laps):
1 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 1hr 35mins 51.289secs
2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:35:53.647
3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:36:07.283
4 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 1:36:11.321
5 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:36:12.159
6 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:36:19.033
7 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 1:36:26.202
8 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:36:27.956
9 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:36:36.199
10 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:36:39.224
11 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:36:40.111
12 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 1:36:54.903
13 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:36:55.816
14 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:37:17.808
15 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Renault 1:37:23.033
16 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 Lap
17 Luca Badoer (Ita) Ferrari at 1 Lap
18 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams at 3 Laps
Not Classified:
19 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 41 laps completed
20 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 23 laps completed
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