A thrilling Italian Grand Prix saw Rubens Barrichello take his second victory of the season from Brawn Mercedes team-mate Jenson Button after making best of a one stop strategy to edge ahead of pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton with his two stop strategy. The cat and mouse game continued throughout much of the race with the Brazilian veteran eventually taking the position, leaving Hamilton to chase down Button before the defending champion crashed out on the very final lap.
The start saw Hamilton quickly establish a lead at the front of the field but the McLaren star was only able to pull out 17 seconds on the one stopping ? fourth placed - Barrichello by his first stop. Barrichello made best of his lightening fuel load following Hamilton?s stop to extend his advantage and that was enough to ensure he took the lead once he made his one and only pitstop and Hamilton took his second.
"If it is between us two, there?s that old saying that you can only win in Formula One if you?re tough," said Barrichello. "I went through the first of February, not knowing if I was going to be racing. I remember like it was yesterday. Jenson did the first four laps in the car and I went to ask him and he said ?it?s a great car.? And I will never forget that. And I said ?get the hell out of there, I want to drive!? It was a great feeling and it?s a winning year already. It feels good to be challenging and fighting your team-mate."
It was a flawless drive from Barrichello as he took the chequered flag ahead of championship leader and Brawn team-mate Button by three seconds, but it was the battle for second that dominated the closing stages of the race.
Button had the pace to stay with race leader Barrichello but had Hamilton closing fast behind. The final laps saw Hamilton pushing hard to get close to the rear of the Brawn but the final lap saw him run a little wide through the first Lesmo. The McLaren snapped right and crashed heavily into the retaining tyre wall on the inside. Hamilton, set for third, was finally classified in 12th.
Barrichello?s win closes the gap in the championship to Button down to 14 points with four races remaining while Red Bull Renault drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber are now effectively out of the championship running .
"Second is good," said Button. "I lost two points to Rubens, but gained seven points on Vettel. This guy here is my closest rival and it is good. I think we have got a good relationship. But we are very competitive people, so I am sure we are going to take down to the wire."
Kimi Raikkonen took third in his Ferrari as he picked up the final podium position courtesy of Hamilton?s demise. The Ferrari driver made a good start from third on the grid to pass Adrian Sutil?s Force India Mercedes. He was unable to run at Hamilton?s pace at the front however and while he was able to fend off Sutil, he lost position to both Brawn racer?s with his two stop strategy.
"It is good for the fans to be on the podium," said Raikkonen. "It is much better than finishing fourth. We are going to keep pushing as hard as we can. We know that there are cars quicker than us, but maybe some races we can still challenge them for the win and that is what we try to do.
We will try again in the next races and try to keep third place in the constructors? championship." Sutil challenged Raikkonen throughout the race but was never able to get close enough to challenge for the position. The German racer finished in fourth position, just four-tenths of a second behind Raikkonen and in doing so records his - fully deserved - first points of the season.
Fernando Alonso made best of Renault KERS at the start and the errors of Heikki Kovalainen to finish fifth ahead of the second McLaren driver. Kovalainen started in fourth position but the first lap saw him passed first by Barrichello and Button mid-lap and then Alonso. Significantly, he was unable to replicate the form of Barrichello on a similar strategy and sixth position was a disappointing result.
While McLaren will be frustrated with Kovalainen?s opening stint, they will also be unhappy to see Hamilton crash out whilst running third. The consolation for the Woking-based team is that at least the British racer was giving it his all ? something the conservative Kovalainen seems unable to replicate in race conditions.
Nick Heidfeld took advantage of an error from Sebastian Vettel to claim seventh position in his BMW Sauber while team-mate Robert Kubica was an early retirement with an oil leak on his F1.09. For Red Bull Renault, the race started badly with Mark Webber and Kubica getting together at the second chicane forcing Webber into retirement. Vettel looked set to hold off Heidfeld in the closing stages before running wide at the second Lesmo and dropping behind. Vettel is now 26 points behind Button and all but out of the championship running.
Giancarlo Fisichella had a low key debut with Ferrari to finish in ninth ahead of Kazuki Nakajima in the leading Williams Toyota. Timo Glock, Jarno Trulli and Nakajima all battled hard in the closing stages before the Toyota duo got a little too close with Trulli taking an off-track excursion and dropping behind Sebastien Buemi at the chequered flag. Romain Grosjean and Nico Rosberg brought up the rear for Renault and Williams.
There were four retirements other than Hamilton?s last lap incident with Webber and Kubica early victims. Alguersuari ran at the back in the second Toro Rosso after starting from the pit lane before retiring, but Tonio Liuzzi made a strong impression on his return to the sport as he ran as high as fourth before a gearbox problem saw the Force India stop on circuit.
The action resumes under the artificial lights in Singapore with Hamilton and Raikkonen eliminated from the championship battle. With Red Bull struggling again at Monza, it now seems we now have a straight Brawn-battle for championship honours.
