Lengthy pit stop costs Hamilton dear

An extraordinary pit-lane blunder by McLaren cost Lewis Hamilton a second successive victory as Brawn GP's Rubens Barrichello took the chequered flag at the European Grand Prix in Valencia.

Pole-sitter Hamilton was leading the Brazilian veteran by around four seconds prior to his second stop on lap 37 but his afternoon came unstuck when McLaren's mechanics failed to have a new set of tyres ready.

The incident cost Hamilton around six seconds and allowed the hard-charging Barrichello through for his first victory since the 2004 Chinese Grand Prix with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen finishing third.

A great day for Brawn was made better by Jenson Button's damage-limiting drive to seventh, ahead of his nearest rival in the drivers' standings heading into this weekend, Red Bull's Mark Webber, who finished outside the points in ninth.

Webber's team-mate Sebastian Vettel suffered an engine failure for the second day in succession to bring a premature end to his afternoon, and Brawn come away from Spain looking stronger than ever to claim both world titles.

Button's lead in the drivers' championship is now 18 points over Barrichello, while Webber is now 20.5 points back and Vettel 25. Brawn are 27.5 points clear of Red Bull in the constructors' championship.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen produced a solid drive to third place from sixth on the grid while McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen failed to deliver on his front-row start as he came home fourth.

Williams' Nico Rosberg produced a typically consistent drive to fifth ahead of Renault's Fernando Alonso, while BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica took eighth and the final point.

But the day belonged to Barrichello, who celebrated his 10th career win with characteristic emotion on the podium.