2009 Italian Grand Prix

2009 Italian Grand Prix
Previous←	2009 Belgian Grand Prix
Round	13 of 2009
Next→	2009 Singapore Grand Prix
Race Details
Date	13 September, 2009
Race Number	816
Official Name	Formula 1 Gran Premio Santander d'Italia 2009
Location	Autodromo Nazionale Monza Monza, Italy
Course	Permanent racing facility 5.793 km (3.600 mi)
Distance	53 laps, 307.029 km (190.779 mi)
Pole Position
Driver	Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
Time	1:24.066
Fastest Lap
Driver	Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes
Time	1:24.739 on lap 36
Podium
First	Rubens Barrichello
Second	Jenson Button
Third	Kimi Räikkönen
Lap Leaders

The 2009 Italian Grand Prix, officially known as the Formula 1 Gran Premio Santander d'Italia 2009, was race thirteen of the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Monza, Italy, on 13 September 2009. The race would see Rubens Barrichello secure his eleventh and final race victory, leading teammate Jenson Button to a Brawn-Mercedes one-two.

There was a change to the entry list ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, as Ferrari poached Giancarlo Fisichella from Force India-Mercedes to replace Luca Badoer, who had failed to threaten the points in two races for the Scuderia. That left a vacant spot at Force India, which was duly taken by their reserve driver Vitantonio Liuzzi, marking his first Grand Prix start since the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Into the race weekend itself and Lewis Hamilton would emerge from qualifying with pole position, as Adrian Sutil narrowly missed out on making it two poles on the trot for Force India. The German racer hence had to settle for second behind the Brit, while Kimi Räikkönen put his Ferrari onto the second row alongside Heikki Kovalainen.

The start of the race was an all KERS affair, as Hamilton had to fend off a charge from Räikkönen into the Rettifilo chicane. Hamilton duly won the duel on the brakes and emerged with the lead, as behind Sutil managed to keep Kovalainen at bay to claim third, aided by the fact that the Finn would be passed by both of the Brawns.

The early stages saw the order quickly settle down, as Mark Webber became an early retirement after being spun at the Della Roggia. Otherwise, the opening stages would be fairly tame, with Hamilton easing clear of Räikkönen, while Sutil kept the two heavily fuelled Brawns at bay, Barrichello ahead of Button.

Indeed, the fight for victory would be one dictated by strategy, for the Brawns, and Kovalainen, had opted for a one-stop, while Hamilton, Räikkönen and Sutil were fighting on two stops. The defending World Champion Hamilton duly became the first of the leaders to stop on lap fifteen, Sutil remained out until lap seventeen while Räikkönen remained out until lap eighteen.

The two Brawns were hence left at the head of the field, and would continue to do so until the halfway point, when Button and then Barrichello stopped and rejoined in the same order. They had, however, managed to rejoin in clear air, and would soon lap at a fastest rate than those ahead.

That fact proved vital when Hamilton made his second and final stop, for both Brawns would flash past the pitexit as the McLaren rejoined. Räikkönen and Sutil likewise slipped behind the two Brawns when they made their stops, although Hamilton would go on the offensive in the closing stages.

Indeed, Hamilton threw everything he had at Button's Brawn in the final laps, with Barrichello remaining a tantalising couple of seconds ahead at the head of the field. However, on the penultimate lap Hamilton crashed on the exit of Lesmo having run wide, and duly caused a Safety Car to be thrown on the final lap.

That effectively brought the race to a premature end, although the gaps between the field were distorted as the Mercedes-Benz Safety Car never managed to pick up Barrichello. Regardless, the Brazilian led teammate Button across the line to claim a one-two for Brawn ahead of Räikkönen, while Sutil was an impressive fourth for Force India. Fernando Alonso was next having had KERS for the first time in fourth months in fifth, with Kovalainen, Nick Heidfeld and Vettel claiming the remaining points.

Background

Jenson Button had failed to score for the first time in 2009, although the Brit had still held a significant advantage at the head of the Championship. Indeed, his teammate Rubens Barrichello had only closed the gap between them to sixteen points, while Sebastian Vettel had moved to within nineteen points of the leader. Mark Webber, meanwhile, had slipped to fourth, Kimi Räikkönen was up to fifth, while Giancarlo Fisichella had claimed his first points since the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix.

Brawn-Mercedes had continued their steadying march to the 2009 Constructors Championship, moving onto 128 points courtesy of Barrichello's seventh place finish. That meant that Red Bull-Renault had only reduced their advantage to 23.5 points, and hence left the Anglo-German squad with more than a race's worth of points in hand. Behind, Ferrari had enhanced their hold on third ahead of McLaren-Mercedes, while Force India-Mercedes were off the foot of the table for the first time in their history, having moved into ninth after their maiden points finish.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2009 Italian 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	Giancarlo Fisichella	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	Romain Grosjean	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	Jaime Alguersuari	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	Vitantonio Liuzzi	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 Italian Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team		Q1			Q2			Q3		Grid
					Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time
1	1K	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes		2	1:23.375		2	1:22.973		1	1:24.066	1
2	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes		7	1:23.576		4	1:23.070		2	1:24.261	2
3	4K	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari		1	1:23.349		7	1:23.426		3	1:24.523	3
4	2K	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes		5	1:23.515		9	1:23.528		4	1:24.845	4
5	23	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn-Mercedes		4	1:23.483		3	1:22.976		5	1:25.015	5
6	22	Jenson Button	Brawn-Mercedes		3	1:23.403		1	1:22.955		6	1:25.030	6
7	21	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India-Mercedes		8	1:23.578		5	1:23.207		7	1:25.043	7
8	7K	Fernando Alonso	Renault		10	1:23.708		8	1:23.497		8	1:25.072	8
9	15	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault		6	1:23.558		10	1:23.545		9	1:25.180	9
10	14	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault		11	1:23.755		6	1:23.273		10	1:25.314	10
11	9	Jarno Trulli	Toyota		15	1:24.014		11	1:23.611				11
12	8K	Romain Grosjean	Renault		13	1:23.975		12	1:23.728				12
13	5	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber		14	1:24.001		13	1:23.866				13
14	3K	Giancarlo Fisichella	Ferrari		12	1:23.828		14	1:23.901				14
15	6	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber		9	1:23.584		15	1:24.275				15
16	10	Timo Glock	Toyota		16	1:24.036							16
17	17	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota		17	1:24.074							17
18	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota		18	1:24.121							18
19	12	Sébastien Buemi	Toro Rosso-Ferrari		19	1:24.220							19
20*	11	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso-Ferrari		20	1:24.951							20
Source:

• ^K Indicates a driver was equipped with KERS during the session.
• Bold indicates the fastest driver's time in each session.
• * Alguersuari was awarded a five place grid penalty for changing his gearbox.

Grid

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

• * Alguersuari started the race from the pitlane.

Race

Report

Riccardo Musconi Brawn team joined on the podium to receive the winning manufacturer’s award.

Results

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

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	23	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn-Mercedes	53	1:16:21.706	5	10
2	22	Jenson Button	Brawn-Mercedes	53	+2.866s	6	8
3	4K	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	53	+30.664s	3	6
4	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	53	+31.131s	2	5
5	7K	Fernando Alonso	Renault	53	+59.182s	8	4
6	2K	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	53	+1:00.693	4	3
7	6	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	53	+1:22.412	15	2
8	15	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	53	+1:25.407	9	1
9	3K	Giancarlo Fisichella	Ferrari	53	+1:26.856	14
10	17	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	53	+2:42.163	17
11	10	Timo Glock	Toyota	53	+2:43.925	16
12*	1K	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	52	Accident	1
13†	12	Sébastien Buemi	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	52	Pitlane	19
14	9	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	52	+1 Lap	11
15	8K	Romain Grosjean	Renault	52	+1 Lap	12
16	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	51	+2 Laps	18
Ret	21	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India-Mercedes	22	Driveshaft	7
Ret	11	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	19	Gearbox	PL
Ret	5	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	15	Oil leak	13
Ret	14	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	0	Collision	10
Source:

• ^K Indicates a driver was equipped with KERS during the session.
• * Hamilton was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 90% of the race distance.
• ^† Buemi followed the safety car into the pitlane at the end of the race and so did not officially complete the final lap, although he was still classified as he had completed 90% of the race distance.

Milestones

• Rubens Barrichello secured his eleventh and final Grand Prix victory.
  • This was also the 68th and final podium finish for Barrichello.
• Eighth and final win for Brawn as a constructor.
  • 76th win for Mercedes as an engine supplier.
• Maiden points finish for Adrian Sutil.
• Sutil recorded his first and only fastest lap.
  • This was also the first fastest lap recorded by a Force India chassis.

Standings

Victory for Rubens Barrichello left the Brazilian racer fourteen points off the lead in the Drivers Championship, and signalled his intent to challenge for the title. Indeed, second for Jenson Button in Italy had reduced the damage to his lead, moving him onto 80 points for the season. Behind Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were still in the hunt in third and fourth, while Kimi Räikkönen in fifth was mathematically out of contention, for he could not beat Button even if he won all four remaining races.

At the conclusion of the European phase of the season it was Brawn-Mercedes who were in command of the Constructors Championship, as their Italian one-two moved them onto 146 points. Red Bull-Renault were still in second, but had slipped 40.5 points behind with 76 points left to fight for in the final four rounds. Behind, Ferrari were officially out of the fight in third, but had a fair advantage of fifteen points over McLaren-Mercedes in fourth.

World Championship for Drivers Pos. Driver Pts. +/- 1 Jenson Button 80 — 2 Rubens Barrichello 66 — 3 Sebastian Vettel 54 — 4 Mark Webber 51.5 — 5 Kimi Räikkönen 40 — 6 Nico Rosberg 30.5 — 7 Lewis Hamilton 27 — 8 Jarno Trulli 22.5 — 9 Felipe Massa 22 — 10 Heikki Kovalainen 20 ▲2 11 Fernando Alonso 20 ▲1 12 Timo Glock 16 ▼1 13 Nick Heidfeld 12 — 14 Giancarlo Fisichella 8 — 15 Robert Kubica 8 — 16 Adrian Sutil 5 ▲2 17 Sébastien Buemi 3 ▼1 18 Sébastien Bourdais 2 ▼1

World Championship for Constructors Pos. Team Pts. +/- 1 Brawn-Mercedes 146 — 2 Red Bull-Renault 105.5 — 3 Ferrari 62 — 4 McLaren-Mercedes 47 — 5 Toyota 38.5 — 6 Williams-Toyota 30.5 — 7 BMW Sauber 20 — 8 Renault 20 — 9 Force India-Mercedes 13 — 10 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 5 —

Only point scoring drivers are shown.

References

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References:

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