2009 German Grand Prix

2009 German Grand Prix
Previous←	2009 British Grand Prix
Round	9 of 2009
Next→	2009 Hungarian Grand Prix
The Nürburgring GP Strecke returned in 2009.
Race Details
Date	12 July, 2009
Race Number	812
Official Name	LXX Großer Preis Santander von Deutschland
Location	Nürburgring Nürburg, Germany
Course	Permanent racing facility 5.148 km (3.199 mi)
Distance	60 laps, 308.88 km (191.929 mi)
Pole Position
Driver	Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault
Time	1:32.230
Fastest Lap
Driver	Fernando Alonso Renault
Time	1:33.365 on lap 49
Podium
First	Mark Webber
Second	Sebastian Vettel
Third	Felipe Massa
Lap Leaders

The 2009 German Grand Prix, formally known as the LXX Großer Preis Santander von Deutschland, was the ninth round of the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Nürburgring in Nürburg, Germany, on 12 July 2009. The race would see Mark Webber claim a crushing maiden victory, in the first German Grand Prix to officially be staged at the Nürburgring since 1985.

The choice of the Nürburgring as the host of the German Grand Prix was the result of an agreement between the Eifel based circuit and the Hockenheimring, as both were struggling to fund the ever increasing cost of hosting Grand Prix. The deal, meant that the two circuits alternated the hosting of the German Grand Prix, with 2009's meeting marking the first time that the "GP Strecke" had hosted the race as part of the deal.

Into the race weekend itself and qualifying proved to be a battle between Red Bull-Renault and Brawn-Mercedes, with all four drivers fighting for pole position in Q3. Ultimately it was Webber who emerged on pole ahead of Rubens Barrichello, while Championship leader Jenson Button slipped ahead of Sebastian Vettel for third.

That fight carried over to the start of the race itself, with Barrichello managing to draw alongside Webber's Red Bull, as the Australian racer moved across to block the #23 Brawn. A clash of wheels, which earned Webber a drive-through penalty, and Barrichello seized the lead, as behind Lewis Hamilton tried to get involved after a barnstorming start in his KERS equipped McLaren-Mercedes, but contact with Webber left him with a puncture.

As Hamilton limped back to the pits for repairs another accident saw Jarno Trulli lose his front wing courtesy of a lunge from Kazuki Nakajima, as Barrichello established himself in the lead. There would be no further incidents on the opening lap, meaning the order read as Barrichello leading from Webber, Heikki Kovalainen in third ahead of Felipe Massa after strong starts from both, while Button had remained ahead of Vettel.

The early laps would see Barrichello and Webber ease clear of Kovalainen at the head of the field, while behind Button dealt with Massa to secure fourth. Indeed, Webber looked to be the fastest driver in the field, but could not find a way past Barrichello until the Brazilian racer pitted on lap fifteen.

With that Webber attempted to make a break, staying out an additional four laps before making his first stop, and with others making their stops would drop to second. However, on the next lap the Australian racer would serve his drive-through penalty and drop to eighth, handing the lead to Massa before he too ventured in for a stop.

Barrichello was hence left at the head of the field, while Webber climbed up the field with the rest of the lead group pitting, resulting in him shuffling back up to second. This time, however, the Australian would have momentum on his side when he caught Barrichello, and duly scythed past the Brazilian veteran to reclaim the lead on lap 31.

Once Webber passed him Barrichello would make his second stop, slipping down to fifth to leave Vettel in second, the German racer having jumped Kovalainen and Massa in the first pit phase. Massa was next up in third ahead of Rosberg, while Button had dropped to sixth having already made his second stop. Webber, meanwhile, would stay out ten laps longer than Barrichello before making his stop, rejoining in second behind Vettel before the German stopped a lap later.

Once the final round of stops were completed the order read as Webber leading from Barrichello and Button, with Vettel, Massa and Rosberg completing the top six. However, as the race entered its final phase the two Brawns began to struggle, and duly slipped to the back of the lead group to fifth and sixth, Button having slipped ahead of the Brazilian.

Their demise left Webber on his own at the head of the field, with the Australian racer sweeping to his maiden F1 victory in his 130th race, a new record. Vettel and Massa came through to completed the podium ahead of Rosberg, with Button and Barrichello being harried to the chequered flag by Fernando Alonso and Kovalainen.

Background

For the first time since the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix Jenson Button's Championship lead had been reduced, although the Brit still had a healthy 23 point advantage leaving his home race. Rubens Barrichello had been one of the drivers to do the damage, remaining in second, while British Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel had closed to within two of the Brazilian. Mark Webber, meanwhile, had retained fourth and also inched towards the leader, while Jarno Trulli had held onto fifth.

In the Constructors Championship Brawn-Mercedes would leave their home race having smashed through the 100 point barrier, having claimed 105 points after eight races. Red Bull-Renault had managed to reduce their lead with their British one-two, although the Austro-Anglo-French combination was still 30.5 points behind. Toyota and Ferrari had held station in third and fourth, while Williams-Toyota had moved ahead of McLaren-Mercedes.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2009 German Grand Prix is outlined below:

No.	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model	Tyre
1	Lewis Hamilton	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4-24	Mercedes	FO 108W 2.4 V8	B
2	Heikki Kovalainen	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4-24	Mercedes	FO 108W 2.4 V8	B
3	Felipe Massa	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari	F60	Ferrari	056 2009 2.4 V8	B
4	Kimi Räikkönen	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari	F60	Ferrari	056 2009 2.4 V8	B
5	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber	F1.09	BMW	P86/9 2.4 V8	B
6	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber	F1.09	BMW	P86/9 2.4 V8	B
7	Fernando Alonso	ING Renault F1 Team	Renault	R29	Renault	RS27 2.4 V8	B
8	Nelson Piquet, Jr.	ING Renault F1 Team	Renault	R29	Renault	RS27 2.4 V8	B
9	Jarno Trulli	Panasonic Toyota Racing	Toyota	TF109	Toyota	RVX-09 2.4 V8	B
10	Timo Glock	Panasonic Toyota Racing	Toyota	TF109	Toyota	RVX-09 2.4 V8	B
11	Sébastien Bourdais	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso	STR4	Ferrari	056 2008 2.4 V8	B
12	Sébastien Buemi	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso	STR4	Ferrari	056 2008 2.4 V8	B
14	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB5	Renault	RS27 2.4 V8	B
15	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	RB5	Renault	RS27 2.4 V8	B
16	Nico Rosberg	AT&T Williams	Williams	FW31	Toyota	RVX-09 2.4 V8	B
17	Kazuki Nakajima	AT&T Williams	Williams	FW31	Toyota	RVX-09 2.4 V8	B
20	Adrian Sutil	Force India F1 Team	Force India	VJM02	Mercedes	FO 108W 2.4 V8	B
21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India F1 Team	Force India	VJM02	Mercedes	FO 108W 2.4 V8	B
22	Jenson Button	Brawn GP F1 Team	Brawn	BGP 001	Mercedes	FO 108W 2.4 V8	B
23	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn GP F1 Team	Brawn	BGP 001	Mercedes	FO 108W 2.4 V8	B
Source:

Qualifying

Qualifying Results

The full qualifying results for the 2009 German Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team		Q1			Q2			Q3		Grid
					Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time
1	14	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault		1	1:31.257		4	1:38.038		1	1:32.230	1
2	23	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn-Mercedes		5	1:31.482		1	1:34.455		2	1:32.357	2
3	22	Jenson Button	Brawn-Mercedes		6	1:31.568		5	1:39.032		3	1:32.473	3
4	15	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault		3	1:31.430		7	1:39.504		4	1:32.480	4
5	1K	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes		4	1:31.473		6	1:39.149		5	1:32.616	5
6	2K	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes		12	1:31.881		8	1:40.826		6	1:33.859	6
7	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes		14	1:32.015		3	1:36.740		7	1:34.316	7
8	3K	Felipe Massa	Ferrari		8	1:31.600		9	1:41.708		8	1:34.574	8
9	4K	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari		11	1:31.869		10	1:41.730		9	1:34.710	9
10	8	Nelson Piquet, Jr.	Renault		15	1:32.128		2	1:35.737		10	1:34.803	10
11	6	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber		10	1:31.771		11	1:42.310				11
12	7	Fernando Alonso	Renault		2	1:31.302		12	1:42.318				12
13	17	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota		13	1:31.884		13	1:42.500				13
14	9	Jarno Trulli	Toyota		9	1:31.760		14	1:42.771				14
15	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota		7	1:31.598		15	1:42.859				15
16	5	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber		16	1:32.190							16
17	12	Sébastien Buemi	Toro Rosso-Ferrari		17	1:32.251							17
18	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Mercedes		18	1:32.402							18
19*	10	Timo Glock	Toyota		19	1:32.423							19
20	11	Sébastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso-Ferrari		20	1:33.559							20
Source:

• ^K Indicates a driver was equipped with KERS during the session.
• Bold indicates the fastest driver's time in each session.
• * Glock was awarded a three place grid penalty for blocking Alonso during Q1.

Grid

	Pos.	Pos.
	Driver	Driver
	______________
Row 1	1	______________
	Mark Webber	2
	______________	Rubens Barrichello
Row 2	3	______________
	Jenson Button	4
	______________	Sebastian Vettel
Row 3	5	______________
	Lewis Hamilton	6
	______________	Heikki Kovalainen
Row 4	7	______________
	Adrian Sutil	8
	______________	Felipe Massa
Row 5	9	______________
	Kimi Räikkönen	10
	______________	Nelson Piquet, Jr.
Row 6	11	______________
	Nick Heidfeld	12
	______________	Fernando Alonso
Row 7	13	______________
	Kazuki Nakajima	14
	______________	Jarno Trulli
Row 8	15	______________
	Nico Rosberg	16
	______________	Robert Kubica
Row 9	17	______________
	Sébastien Buemi	18
	______________	Giancarlo Fisichella
Row 10	19	______________
	Sébastien Bourdais	20
	______________	Timo Glock*

• * Glock would start the race from the pitlane.

Race

Results

The full results for the 2009 German Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	14	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	60	1:36:43.310	1	10
2	15	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	60	+9.252s	4	8
3	3K	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	60	+15.906s	8	6
4	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	60	+21.099s	15	5
5	22	Jenson Button	Brawn-Mercedes	60	+23.609s	3	4
6	23	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn-Mercedes	60	+24.468s	2	3
7	7	Fernando Alonso	Renault	60	+24.888s	12	2
8	2K	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	60	+58.692s	6	1
9	10	Timo Glock	Toyota	60	+1:01.457	PL
10	6	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	60	+1:01.925	11
11	21	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Mercedes	60	+1:02.327	18
12	17	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-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	Force India-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	1K	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	59	+1 Lap	5
Ret	4K	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	34	Radiator	9
Ret	11	Sébastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	18	Hydraulics	19
Source:

• ^K Indicates a driver was equipped with KERS during the session.

Milestones

• Maiden pole position for Mark Webber.
• Webber scored his maiden Grand Prix victory.
  • The Australian also set a new record for most Grand Prix starts before his first win at 130.
  • Also the tenth win for a driver using #14 as their race number.
• Third win for Red Bull as a constructor.
  • Renault claimed their 118th win as an engine supplier.

Standings

Jenson Button had seen his Championship lead once again reduced as a result of the German Grand Prix, although the Brit still held a 21 point advantage at the head of the pack. Sebastian Vettel had done the damage, moving up into second on 47 points, while race winner Mark Webber had climbed to third with 45.5 points. Rubens Barrichello had been the big loser as he slipped to fourth, while Felipe Massa had climbed into the top five with 22 points.

In the Constructors Championship Brawn-Mercedes moved onto 112 points as they continued to lead the Championship hunt, although their advantage had taken a blow. Indeed, a second one-two for Red Bull-Renault in as many races had left the Austro-Anglo-French alliance 19.5 points behind the Anglo-German squad, with those two set to duel for the title during the second half of the season. Toyota, meanwhile, had retained third, albeit just 2.5 points ahead of Ferrari, while Williams-Toyota had enhanced their hold on fifth.

World Championship for Drivers Pos. Driver Pts. +/- 1 Jenson Button 68 — 2 Sebastian Vettel 47 ▲1 3 Mark Webber 45.5 ▲1 4 Rubens Barrichello 44 ▼2 5 Felipe Massa 22 ▲1 6 Jarno Trulli 21.5 ▼1 7 Nico Rosberg 20.5 — 8 Timo Glock 13 — 9 Fernando Alonso 13 — 10 Kimi Räikkönen 10 — 11 Lewis Hamilton 9 — 12 Nick Heidfeld 6 — 13 Heikki Kovalainen 5 — 14 Sébastien Buemi 3 — 15 Robert Kubica 2 — 16 Sébastien Bourdais 2 —

World Championship for Constructors Pos. Team Pts. +/- 1 Brawn-Mercedes 112 — 2 Red Bull-Renault 92.5 — 3 Toyota 34.5 — 4 Ferrari 32 — 5 Williams-Toyota 20.5 — 6 McLaren-Mercedes 14 — 7 Renault 13 — 8 BMW Sauber 8 — 9 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 5 — 10 Force India-Mercedes 0 —

Only point scoring drivers are shown.

References

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References:

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