Barrichello wins for Brawn in Monza

Brawn are back, with Rubens Barrichello taking the honours in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza and team mate Jenson Button coming home in second place.

Brawn made the most of their one-stop strategy in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza this afternoon, taking the top two positions and cementing their lead in the constructors championship. It now seems a certain Constructors championship for Brawn, with their two drivers fighting it out over the next four races for the drivers championship.

The Brawns trailed Hamilton, Raikkonen and Sutil in the first stage of the race with their one-stop strategy, but the dividends of that strategy paid off with the Brawn duo taking the lead after the second pit stops by McLaren, Ferrari and Force India.

Hamilton, in the McLaren, had a good race, and was challenging Button for second place in the closing stages. But, having got to within a second of Button on the last lap, he crashed out – probably by trying a bit too hard. That leaft Raikkonen in the Ferrari to pick up third place and a place on the in Ferrari’s home race.

It was a miserable day for the Red Bulls, with Webber crashing out in the opening lap and Vettel managing to score just one point, courtesy of Hamilton’s exit on the last lap.

This looks like the end of the Red Bull challenge for the Championship, with just four races to go.

It’s also starting to look like Brawn will end the season the way they started. In front.

F1 Italian Grand Prix Monza Results

1. Barrichello (Brawn-Mercedes) 1h16:21.706
2. Button (Brawn-Mercedes) +2.866
3. Raikkonen (Ferrari) +30.664
4. Sutil (Force India-Mercedes) +31.131
5. Alonso (Renault) +59.182
6. Kovalainen (McLaren-Mercedes) +1:00.693
7. Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) +1:22.412
8. Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) +1:25.427
9. Fisichella(Ferrari) +1:26.856
10. Nakajima (Williams-Toyota) +2:00.000