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128,000 rapturous and raucous ‘Barmy Army’ turned up in perfect unison to anoint Jenson Button as the heir to their sporting throne. They were looking forward to Button joining 11 other stellar Brits who had won the home grand prix. And this year, it was all the more important cause this was the last outing at Silverstone. 

But alas…a German, an arch rival stole the thunder. And to add insult to injury Seb Vettel said post-race, “I know I have disappointed you…..and I am German, but I wish I was English…”

Button had admitted in the post-qualifier press con that it was going to be tough starting from 6th on the grid. For the first time this year, he had confessed that his Brawn had ‘no chance’ of claiming his seventh win of the season. 

A former WWII bomber training base, Silverstone is famous for sweeping high speed chunks and the dicey slow corners. This similarity to Turkey was expected to favor the imperious Brawns. But unfortunately for Button, with the track temperature barely reaching 30 degrees, the subsequent tyre temperatures just did not suit the heat-loving Brawns.

Button’s race was over even before he crossed the start-finish line. On lap 1, Trulli played the villain blocking him and in a split second, he was down to ninth. It was just too tight to have a go up the inside line, and too busy to try the outside. Button decided very sensibly to go for the points - though that was after he thought about muscling past Massa into Becketts. Any other day, he would have attempted to claw his way back, but here, he resigned to the fact that the race was never his and focused only on acquiring as many points as possible. 

While Button faced a combination of misfortunes, Barrichello was the surprise package this time around. For the first time this year, he managed to score more points than Button. He managed a great start and almost had a look at Vettel going into Copse. Had the start-finish straight been a bit longer stretch – something similar to Spain or Malaysia, I am sure he would have led on Lap 1. Although Webber pipped him during the pits, he had a relatively peaceful run and an ego boosting third place ahead of Button’s sixth.

After watching the race on Sunday, I am increasingly getting convinced that it isn’t necessarily only the circuit that’s to be blamed for the bland show; it’s the regulations that also matter. While the FIA tries it level best to juice up the sport, Silverstone once again proved how miserably they have been faring so far. It was predominantly an uneventful race where the inadequacy & the fallacy of the 2009 aerodynamic regulations have been fully exposed and the spectators and the television audiences worldwide were robbed of real racing right from 3rd place down to 17th. It was as if the race was a formation parade.

Brawn will be hoping for a warmer Nurburgring, where higher track temperatures will give them the grip they were lacking at Silverstone and once again dominate proceedings.