Britains Button reigns in Spain

BARCELONA – World championship-leading Briton Jenson Button consolidated his position when he drove his Brawn GP car to a resounding victory in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix.

•TIM COLLINGS The 29-year-old Englishman came home 13 seconds ahead of his Brawn GP team-mate veteran Brazilian Rubens Barrichello as the English team dominated the 66-laps race.
On an afternoon complicated by an early multiple collision, the two Brawn drivers proved their team remains the outstanding force this season in the first European race of the year.Australian Mark Webber finished third for Red Bull ahead of German Sebastian Vettel, his team-mate, with local hero and Spanish double world champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso fifth for Renault.
Brazilian Felipe Massa came home sixth for Ferrari after running out of fuel and losing both his pace and fourth position in the closing laps.German Nick Heidfeld was seventh for BMW Sauber and compatriot Nico Rosberg was eighth for Williams.Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton of Britain was ninth and out of the points for the McLaren Mercedes team.
Button’s win was his fourth in five races this year and the fifth of his career, allowing him to extend his lead in the title race to 16 points.’I can’t believe how I lost that race,’ said Barrichello afterwards, his three-stop race strategy having cost him after he had led for long periods and looked destined for victory.
Button, giving his team-mate a hug, said: ‘It’s difficult because I am so excited to have won again, but I do feel for you.’On a warmer day than the previous two, with the air temperature at 24 degrees and the track touching 42 degrees, there was a bigger crowd and more atmosphere, but not quite the fervour of previous Alonso-mania years.’
At the start, Barrichello made a storming getaway and took the lead ahead of Button with Massa passing Vettel behind them, thanks to use of the KERS system on his Ferrari. – Nampa-AFP