Red Bull's Vettel wins Chinese Grand Prix

Reuters
Sunday 19 April 2009 10:07 BST
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(GETTY IMAGES)

Sebastian Vettel won a rain-affected Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai from team-mate Mark Webber as Red Bull Racing claimed a one-two finish to mark their first victory.

Heavy rain throughout the afternoon forced organisers to start the race behind the safety car but when it peeled off after eight laps the Red Bull duo showed superb pace to fend off the challenge of Brawn GP.

The efforts of Red Bull denied championship leader Jenson Button a third successive victory as the Briton finished third with team-mate Rubens Barrichello fourth.

There was joy for McLaren as they put their recent troubles behind them with fifth place for Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton in sixth.

Toyota's Timo Glock took seventh place while Toro Rosso rookie Sebastien Buemi completed a superb performance to claim eighth place.

Fernando Alonso, who had started second on the grid in his Renault, was ninth while Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen completed the top 10.

The sheer dominance of the Red Bulls was all the more impressive after driveshaft problems in both cars had wrecked their final practice session yesterday.

As a result they were cautious in qualifying as Vettel had just one run in each session but did enough to secure pole while Webber claimed third.

Despite running without the controversial 'double-decker' diffuser or KERS, Red Bull dominated as Vettel claimed his second grand prix win.

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