2009 German Grand Prix

2009 German Grand Prix
Race 9 of 17 in the 2009 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
Race details
Date	12 July 2009
Official name	Formula 1 Grosser Preis Santander von Deutschland 2009
Location	Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.148 km (3.199 miles)
Distance	60 laps, 308.863 km (191.919 miles)
Weather	Sunny and overcast
Pole position
Driver	Mark Webber	Renault
Time	1:32.230
Fastest lap
Driver	Fernando Alonso	Renault
Time	1:33.365 on lap 49
Podium
First	Mark Webber	Renault
Second	Sebastian Vettel	Renault
Third	Felipe Massa	Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 2009 German Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Grosser Preis Santander von Deutschland 2009)

Australian Mark Webber took both his first pole position and his first Grand Prix win, with Sebastian Vettel coming in second, giving Red Bull their third 1-2 of 2009. Championship leader Jenson Button could only manage fifth. This was the last race for Toro Rosso driver Sébastien Bourdais who was dropped in favour of test driver Jaime Alguersuari for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Report

Background

In the lead-up to the race, despite 6th place at the

Nelson Piquet Jr. in the other Renault made the final session for the first time in 2009, but only managed 10th as the rain eased off again in the last ten minutes. The Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen were disappointing, only managing 8th and 9th respectively. Räikkönen's race engineer Chris Dyer said that they didn't have any soft tyres left for the last qualifying lap, which cost them very dear. Adrian Sutil did excellently in the Force India to qualify not only in the top 10 for the first time, but ahead of the Ferraris in 7th. The McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen came 5th and 6th respectively, and both thanked the upgrades to the car for their improved performances.

Then came the fight for pole, which was solely between the four championship contenders - the Brawns of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello and the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Webber was the first to cross the line in 1:32.230. Then Vettel did well to do 1:32.480, but it was a surprise for him to be beaten by his teammate. This looked to be the order, but Barrichello and Button both crossed the line in the dying seconds to split the Red Bulls, so Webber claimed the first pole position of his career. He described it as a "special day".^[3][4]

Race

Webber retook the lead on lap 15 as Barrichello pitted and soon after pitted but returned in the lead, which was a good job as he pitted again for the drive through penalty soon after that, which dropped him to eighth. This left Felipe Massa in the lead in the Ferrari followed by Barrichello and Kimi Räikkönen.

Bourdais retired due to hydraulic problems on his lap 19, in what would ultimately be his final race at Scuderia Toro Rosso. Adrian Sutil in the Force India climbed into second before his first pitstop, but as he emerged from the pits he collided with Räikkönen's Ferrari. The German had to pit again for a new nosecone, and lost several places.

Barrichello retook the lead after Massa's pitstop, but lost it again to an impressively recovering Webber in the second stops. Teammate Sebastian Vettel also briefly led before everything settled down with Webber in the lead.

Räikkönen retired with a radiator problem on lap 35, briefly promoting

Alonso made a late charge as Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello struggled for grip, but he could not find a way past. Despite the drive through penalty for impeding Barrichello on the first lap, Webber came home to claim his maiden victory and become this first Australian winner in almost thirty years. He was followed home by Vettel, who was over nine seconds behind. Massa came home a distant but impressive third, his first and only podium of the year as he was injured during qualifying for the next race and didn't race again for the rest of the season. Jenson Button had managed to jump teammate Barrichello during the second stops and came home fifth with the Brazilian very close behind, and also closely followed by Alonso. The Spaniard had made a charge in the closing stages but was unable to find a way past the Brawns, despite setting the race's faster lap, who were struggling for grip. Heikki Kovalainen occupied the final points paying position in an ultimately disappointing race for McLaren.

Webber said it was an "incredible day" for him, and his sentiments were echoed by Red Bull sporting director Christian Horner, who described his team's 1-2 finish as a "brilliant team performance".^[5][6][7] Webber's win was the first for an Australian driver since 1980 World Champion Alan Jones won the 1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix.

Classification

Cars that used

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Part 1	Part 2	Part 3	Grid
1	14	Mark Webber	Renault	1:31.257	1:38.038	1:32.230	1
2	23	Rubens Barrichello	Mercedes	1:31.482	1:34.455	1:32.357	2
3	22	Jenson Button	Mercedes	1:31.568	1:39.032	1:32.473	3
4	15	Sebastian Vettel	Renault	1:31.430	1:39.504	1:32.480	4
5	1‡	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:31.473	1:39.149	1:32.616	5
6	2‡	Heikki Kovalainen	Mercedes	1:31.881	1:40.826	1:33.859	6
7	20	Adrian Sutil	Mercedes	1:32.015	1:36.740	1:34.316	7
8	3‡	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:31.600	1:41.708	1:34.574	8
9	4‡	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:31.869	1:41.730	1:34.710	9
10	8	Nelson Piquet Jr.	Renault	1:32.128	1:35.737	1:34.803	10
11	6	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	1:31.771	1:42.310		11
12	7	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:31.302	1:42.318		12
13	17	Kazuki Nakajima	Toyota	1:31.884	1:42.500		13
14	9	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:31.760	1:42.771		14
15	16	Nico Rosberg	Toyota	1:31.598	1:42.859		15
16	5	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	1:32.190			16
17	12	Sébastien Buemi	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:32.251			17
18	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Mercedes	1:32.402			18
19	10	Timo Glock	Toyota	1:32.423			20[1]
20	11	Sébastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:33.559			19
Source:[8]

• ^1 Timo Glock received a 3 place grid-penalty for obstructing Fernando Alonso. As he was already 19th on the grid, he was sent to the rear.^[9]

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	14	Mark Webber	Renault	60	1:36:43.310	1	10
2	15	Sebastian Vettel	Renault	60	+9.252	4	8
3	3‡	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	60	+15.906	8	6
4	16	Nico Rosberg	Toyota	60	+21.099	15	5
5	22	Jenson Button	Mercedes	60	+23.609	3	4
6	23	Rubens Barrichello	Mercedes	60	+24.468	2	3
7	7	Fernando Alonso	Renault	60	+24.888	12	2
8	2	Heikki Kovalainen	Mercedes	60	+58.692	6	1
9	10	Timo Glock	Toyota	60	+1:01.457	20
10	6	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	60	+1:01.925	11
11	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Mercedes	60	+1:02.327	18
12	17	Kazuki Nakajima	Toyota	60	+1:02.876	13
13	8	Nelson Piquet Jr.	Renault	60	+1:08.328	10
14	5	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	60	+1:09.555	16
15	20	Adrian Sutil	Mercedes	60	+1:11.941	7
16	12	Sébastien Buemi	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	60	+1:30.225	17
17	9	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	60	+1:30.970	14
18	1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	59	+1 lap	5
Ret	4‡	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	34	Radiator	9
Ret	11	Sébastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	18	Hydraulics	19
Source:[10]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos. Driver Points 1 Jenson Button 68 1 2 Sebastian Vettel 47 1 3 Mark Webber 45.5 2 4 Rubens Barrichello 44 1 5 Felipe Massa 22 Source: [11]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos. Constructor Points 1 Brawn-Mercedes 112 2 Red Bull-Renault 92.5 3 Toyota 34.5 4 Ferrari 32 5 Toyota 20.5 Source: [11]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

See also

• 2009 Nürburgring GP2 Series round

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2009 German Grand Prix.

Wikinews has related news:

• Mark Webber wins 2009 German Formula One Grand Prix

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