The Nürburgring is a strange place. Metaphorically and geographically in the shadow of its notorious predecessor, the grand prix circuit isn’t one of the greats, but somehow it manages to deliver great races and create heroes, whose legends live long in the memory.
The German Grand Prix of 2009 was no exception; there were battling and brilliant performances up and down the timesheets and, while not necessarily the best, certainly the one that will be remembered longest was the performance of Mark Alan Webber.
When teams and the more enthusiastic fans arrived at 8am this part of the Eifel was covered in low, dark cloud with persistent drizzle occasionally giving way to cloudbursts. The support events were a skidpan lottery: Minis careened through standing water; Formula BMW, Porsche Supercup and GP2 had to content with a damp track and showers. It was entertaining to watch, though most people did so in a distracted manner as their thoughts already turned to the main event.
'A nice boring grand prix for me would be fantastic!' - Mark Webber
Who would benefit from a wet race? The usual suspects all came to the fore: Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, wet weather masters in fourth and fifth. Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, second and third and both with low-grip credentials. And, of course, Mark Webber, invariably up the order in the rain, including an improbable podium here in 2007.
Not that Webber wanted rain. With pole position, an obviously quick car, and the buffer of the two Brawns between himself and team-mate Vettel, Webber was in no doubt what he really wanted was as normal a grand prix as possible. “I think a nice boring grand prix for me would be fantastic,” he said after qualifying.
It didn’t rain, but nor was it boring. While the clouds never went away, the rain held off and the track dried in time for the race. With the Brawns lighter and historically better starters, it always looked likely Webber would have to defend hard going into the first corner.
He did, a little too hard. Barrichello got a flier and came up the inside. Webber appeared to veer into the path of the Brazilian and the two cars touched; Barrichello’s front wheel bouncing off the RB5’s sidepod. With no significant damage both cars continued hurtling towards the first corner, but with their momentum slightly checked they saw the sight of Lewis Hamilton blasting by on a KERS-assisted McLaren rocket-sled.
Hamilton, however, outbraked himself, went wide and rejoined in the pack. In the melée he got tagged, picked up a puncture and had to crawl back around to the pits. continue...
Meanwhile, Barrichello had made his move stick and was leading the race. Webber was close behind, but Heikki Kovalainen and Felipe Massa, both KERS-boosted also, had got ahead of Button and Vettel. Button soon got by Massa, but Kovalainen, proved a harder proposition and a queue soon started to form behind the Finn’s McLaren.
It allowed Barrichello and Webber to pull away from the field. Webber didn’t have to do anything adventurous: with more fuel onboard he could be content to follow, knowing the leader would eventually peel off into the pits and leave him a clear road.
Then everything changed. The timing screens reported an investigation into Webber’s start-line lunge; a drive-through penalty soon followed and Webber would effectively lose 15 seconds.
The pair continued to pull away as Webber decided to postpone his penalty until the last possible moment. Button was the first to take a scheduled pitstop on Lap 14, Barrichello followed him one lap later, with Webber in tow. The Brawn took on fuel and fresh tyres, Webber simply cruised through the pitlane. The pair had built up a sufficient lead that Webber rejoined in the lead.
Barrichello emerged behind Massa. Kovalainen pitted on the next lap, releasing those behind him. The order on lap 16 was Webber leading Massa, Barrichello, Vettel, Kimi Räikkönen, Adrian Sutil, Nico Rosberg and Robert Kubica.
Webber had the hammer down now. When he pitted on Lap 20, his lead over Massa was 12 seconds; he rejoined in eighth position. Massa came in on lap 25, handing the lead back to Barrichello. Bizarrely, Adrian Sutil, yet to stop, had climbed into second position. The Force India car has been steadily improving since the Turkish Grand Prix, and had been hovering around the top of the timesheets all weekend in Germany.
Sutil was driving a great race, and back in the pack Giancarlo Fisichella was catching the eye too. He scrapped his way past Nick Heidfeld and then put a stunning, undoubtedly cathartic, move on Fernando Alonso. Sadly for Sutil, he emerged from his pitstop directly in the path of Räikkönen, they went into Turn One of the same line and the clash tore off Sutil’s nosecone. It was rather more of a 50:50 than the last time Kimi destroyed Sutil’s dreams. Shortly after his nemesis also retired.
With many different strategies in play, the pitstops didn’t shake out in the manner they usually do. Button and Vettel had got clear of the KERS cars, however, and the order on lap 30 was Barrichello leading Webber by 2.8 seconds, with Button a further 7.6 back, followed by Vettel, Massa, Rosberg, Räikkönen and Kovalainen.
Lap 32 saw Button come in for another, highly significant, stop. Brawn were now obviously on a three-stop strategy, putting them out of sync with the rest of the field. This was confirmed a lap later when Barrichello also stopped.
It left the Red Bulls in prime position for another one-two finish, and Massa safely in third. Webber was sitting pretty: even with his drive-through, his time in open air, in contrast with Vettel’s early stint stuck in traffic, left the Australian with 20 seconds to the good over his team-mate, a direct reversal of the situation at Silverstone.
The second half of the race should have been a cruise for Red Bull. It probably was, though there’s no such thing as an easy first victory. For Webber fans – and there are many, even in the cynical press room – it was excruciating. Webber is a magnet for bad luck.
Elsewhere the Brawns were having their own private feud. Barrichello pitted on lap 50, at which point Button put in a searing, squealing flier before coming in for his final stop. Wheels smoking, he’d done just enough to sneak out in front of the Brazilian, with both narrowly ahead of a charging Alonso.
With Rosberg only two seconds in front, the last few laps were a nose-to-gearbox bunfight, so rarely seen in modern F1. Ultimately, though, the positions remained unchanged. Webber came home with a 15-second cushion over Vettel. Massa was third, followed by Rosberg, Button, Barrichello, Alonso and Kovalainen. Webber was incoherent on the radio, sounding like a man discovering a diamond-encrusted scorpion in his trousers.
So, where does that leave things? Brawn still lead the Constructor’s Championship, although Red Bull’s maximums in the last two races have eaten in to it, and the current standing is 112 points versus 92.5.
In the Drivers’ race Button still has a healthy lead, though behind him both Vettel and Webber have leapfrogged Barrichello. With an advantage of 21 points over Vettel and 22.5 over Webber, and friendlier circuits to come, Button won’t be too upset. But the second half of the year is going to be mighty interesting.
| Standing | Driver | Team | Nationality | Points |
| 1 | Jenson Button | Brawn-Mercedes | 68 | |
| 2 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 47 | |
| 3 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 45.5 | |
| 4 | Rubens Barrichello | Brawn-Mercedes | 44 | |
| 5 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 22 | |
| 6 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 21.5 | |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 20.5 | |
| 8 | Timo Glock | Toyota | 13 | |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 13 | |
| 10 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 10 | |
| 11 | Lewis Hamiton | McLaren-Mercedes | 9 | |
| 12 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW-Sauber | 6 | |
| 13 | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren-Mercedes | 5 | |
| 14 | Sébastien Buemi | Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 3 | |
| 15 | Robert Kubica | BMW-Sauber | 2 | |
| 16 | Sébastien Bourdais | Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 2 | |
| 17 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Force India-Mercedes | 0 | |
| 18 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 0 | |
| 19 | Nelsinho Piquet | Renault | 0 | |
| 20 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams-Toyota | 0 |
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