2009 British Grand Prix

Championship standings

Button leads by 26 points from teammate Barrichello after six wins from the first seven races. Barrichello leads Vettel by 8 points. Brawn lead the Constructors’ Championship by 39.5 points from Red Bull.

Previous race

Button won in Turkey from second on the grid after Vettel ran wide at turn ten on the first lap and gave up the lead. Webber and Vettel completed the podium for Red Bull. Barrichello suffered a clutch problem at the start, dropped to 13th, then had two further incidents — spinning after a battle with Kovalainen and losing part of his front wing in a clash with Sutil — before retiring with a gearbox problem. It was Brawn GP’s first retirement of the season.

Button’s six wins in seven races equal a feat achieved only by Ascari, Fangio, Clark, and Schumacher — all of whom went on to win the championship.

Entrants

BMW Sauber announce the abandonment of their KERS programme for the remainder of the season after qualifying.

This race was scheduled to be the last British Grand Prix at Silverstone, with the event set to move to Donington Park from 2010. However, due to Donington’s inability to raise the required funds, there is talk of Silverstone reprising its role next year as well.

During the political dispute between FOTA, the FIA, and FOM over the proposed 2010 budget cap, several leading teams threaten not to compete next season if the regulations are not revised.

Practice

Vettel was fastest in both FP1 and FP2, with Webber second in both sessions. Rosberg topped the Saturday morning session. Sutil crashed heavily at Abbey at the end of Q1 — later found to be brake failure — forcing Hamilton to abort his final lap and leaving him 19th on the grid.