Brawn and Jenson Button Take Turkish Grand Prix
It sounds like a broken record. Jenson Button and Brawn GP have won yet again. This time, it was Jenson Button taking the Turkish Grand Prix over Red Bull.
The Turkish Grand Prix offered a glimpse into the future. With a miserly crowd of some 20,000 people, the camera angles on the telecast were all about not showing the empty stands. The lack of a crowd is exactly what it is going to look like next year at every race if the big manufacturers leave the sport. Still, the people that didn’t attend the race really did not miss much.
The Turkish Grand Prix was decided on the first lap. Sebastian Vettel converted his pole position into first place but then lost the car coming out of turn 9. He saved it, but Jenson Button had already blown by him. With Button carrying more fuel, it was all over but the shouting. Red Bull panicked and tried a three stop strategy, but only managed to shuttle Vettel back into third place behind his teammate. Red Bull told him to maintain that position despite being faster than Webber, which was very odd. Nonetheless, the race was rather pedestrian and not even Max Mosley could suggest otherwise.
Driver of the Race – Jenson Button
While others were getting it all wrong, Jenson continued to show the colors of a World Champion. He knows this is his time and is driving like it. He looks silky smooth on the track and further cemented the fact the Driver and Constructor championships are already decided.
Worst Driver of the Race – Rubens Barrichello
Rubens again proved he simply is not a first rate driver. He gagged the start of the race by failing to get off the line properly. After dropping nine spots, he couldn’t pass Heikki Kovalainen of all people. He then made what can only be called a rash corner dive in an attempt to pass a Force India car and destroyed his front wing. While his teammate was driving to victory, Rubens was driving to infamy. Look for him to lose his seat at the end of the season. The old, reliable veteran is anything but.
Moment of Infamy
When it goes bad, it really goes bad. In this case, the moment of infamy award goes to Lewis Hamilton. He drove around at the back of the pack for much of the race and had the infamy of being passed by a Renault. No, not Fernando Alonso. Instead, it was the enigmatic Nelson Piquet, Jr., who did the trick. It has been a long season for McLaren and is only shaping up to be even worse through the remaining races. Lewis to Ferrari?
Good To See You Again
This award could go to Robert Kubica who finally scored his first points of the year. Given his whining, I’ll pass on him and look to an old stalwart. The Williams Team finally turned its practice pace into a nice points haul. Nico Rosberg finished a decent 5th and even Kaz “Toyota got me the ride” Nakajima looked racy before fading late to 12th. Apparently being the Judas of FOTA paid off!
The Turkish Grand Prix was really nothing to write home about. Silverstone is next. With the British roots of Jenson and Ross, expect to see Brawn GP pull out all the stops to dominate their home race in two weeks.
Lemmy