Barrichello wins Italian GP to lead Brawn to 1-2 finish that tightens Formula One title fight

Barrichello wins Italian GP in 1-2 Brawn finish

MONZA, Italy — Rubens Barrichello picked up his second win in three races to lead Brawn GP to a 1-2 finish at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday that put the British team in the driver’s seat for the Formula One title.

Barrichello and teammate Jenson Button both used one-stop strategies to get the sweep at the Monza circuit and severely hamper Red Bull’s championship aspirations.

“It was a great decision. The guys with KERS (power boost) had 20 meters on us in the start and we had to have that in mind,” the 37-year-old Barrichello said of the strategy. “Our pace was good enough to be in front of them by the last pit stop.”

The former Ferrari driver, coming off his first victory in five years at Valencia last month, shaved two points off Button’s overall lead by getting within 14 points with four races remaining.

The Brazilian was relishing the prospect of an open battle against his teammate after playing second fiddle to Michael Schumacher for so many years at Ferrari.

“I can show my true me behind the wheel,” Barrichello said after picking up his 11th career win. “I’m going to give my very best. It’s going to be a good and healthy fight.”

Lewis Hamilton of McLaren crashed on his final lap while running third, allowing Kimi Raikkonen to finish on the podium for the fourth straight time at Ferrari’s home race.

Hamilton’s crash also allowed Sebastian Vettel to pick up one point by finishing eighth, but Red Bull’s title hopes were hanging by a thread after Mark Webber crashed on the opening lap.

Webber, who started 10th, went off on the opening lap after tangling with Robert Kubica. His deficit to Button stretched to 28.5 points, while Vettel is now 26 points behind.

“Basically we need to win at least three of the races,” team principal Christian Horner said. “A tough task but it’s not impossible.”

Button has 80 points, Barrichello has 66, Vettel — who won in the rain here last year — 54 and Webber 51.5. Brawn GP leads Red Bull by 40.5 points in the constructors’ series.

“Focusing on one person is a lot better than focusing on three,” said Button, who finished on the podium for the first time in three months. “It’s nice to be back up there in second position.”

Hamilton was heading for a third top-three finish in four races before spinning out at the high-speed Curva di Lesmo corner.

“I don’t even know if it was a mistake. I don’t even know what happened,” the defending F1 champion said. “I just lost the back end.”

Giancarlo Fisichella finished ninth in his Ferrari debut after replacing Luca Badoer, who finished last in two races as a substitute for the injured Felipe Massa.

Raikkonen passed Adrian Sutil, who started second, going into the opening corner, and Barrichello, Button and Tonio Liuzzi all pushed ahead of Heikki Kovalainen. The Finn ended up sixth after starting fourth for McLaren.

Hamilton, on a two-stop strategy like Raikkonen and Sutil, built a nearly 15-second lead over Barrichello before his pit after 15 laps, but dropped to third behind the Brawns after the stop.

Barrichello stayed ahead of Button after both drivers pitted halfway through the 53-lap race and both moved ahead of Hamilton after his last stop. Button led his fellow Briton by nearly four seconds while trailing Barrichello by five seconds.

Barrichello hung on to the finish for a 2.8-second victory and his first podium at F1’s fastest track since winning the race for Ferrari in 2004.

Sutil finished fourth to pick up his first F1 points, Fernando Alonso of Renault was fifth and BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld was seventh.

Liuzzi’s return to F1 after a nearly two-year absence ended after 22 laps when the Force India driver, who had replaced Fisichella, retired with a drive shaft problem in the last race on the European leg of the calendar.

The next stop is the Singapore GP, a night race on Sept. 27.