24 Aug 2009

Triumphant Barrichello ends five-year wait

2:38 pm on 24 August 2009

Brazil's Rubens Barrichello has ended five years of frustration with an emotional victory for championship leaders Brawn GP in the European Grand Prix.

Barrichello, whose last victory was with Ferrari in China in September 2004, beat McLaren's world champion Lewis Hamilton by 2.3 seconds on the Valencia street circuit.

The 37-year-old's win is Brawn's seventh win in 11 starts.

Hamilton had led from pole, with Barrichello qualifying third on a heavier fuel load, but the Briton's hopes of winning for the second race in a row went out of the window when his team bungled the second pitstop.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen finished third.

The championship leader Jenson Button laboured to seventh place after a shocking start.

But Barrichello's team-mate saw his overall lead trimmed by just half a point to 18 with six races left.

The Briton now has 72 to Barrichello's 54 and 51.5 for Red Bull's Australian Mark Webber.

Mercedes-powered Brawn have 126 points in the constructors' standings, with Red Bull on 98.5.