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  2009 German Grand Prix

Race details
Race 9 of 17 in the 2009 Formula One season
Date	12 July 2009
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, 308.863 km (191.919 mi)
Weather	Sunny and overcast
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	Red Bull-Renault
Second	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault
Third	Felipe Massa	Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 2009 German Grand Prix was the ninth race of the 2009 Formula One season. It was held on July 12, 2009 at the Nürburgring in Nürburg, Germany; the earliest German Grand Prix on the calendar, since 1926.

In the lead up to the race despite 6th place at the British Grand Prix, Jenson Button maintained a 23 point lead over Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello in the Drivers' Championship. Barrichello was 2 points further in front of Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel, winner of the British Grand Prix.^[1]

Brawn GP had a sizeable lead of 30.5 points in the Constructors' Championship with Red Bull Racing in second place. Toyota were 30 points behind the Austrian Red Bull team, with only Force India yet to score a point.

The three former World Champions in the F1 field, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Räikkönen and Lewis Hamilton were 9th, 10th and 11th in the Championship, with 11, 10 and 9 points respectively.

2008 Champion Lewis Hamilton won the 2008 German Grand Prix for McLaren–Mercedes, at Hockenheim. Former German Grand Prix winners in the field for 2009 include Fernando Alonso of Renault and Rubens Barrichello of Brawn GP. Barrichello and Alonso have also been successful at the Nürburgring when the circuit hosted the European Grand Prix.

The Nürburgring has the unique honour of hosting 3 different Formula One Grands Prix (see List of races at the Nürburgring): the German Grand Prix on the old track in the 1950s, 60s and 70s as well as on the GP track in 1985 and on the revised circuit in 2009; the European Grand Prix in 1984 and from 1995 to 2007, with the exception of 1997 and 1998, when it was the Luxembourg Grand Prix. Rubens Barrichello, Giancarlo Fisichella and Jarno Trulli have raced all three at the circuit.

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.

Qualifying

Qualifying saw drivers switch strategies to using wet weather tyres due to the rain and wet track. Lewis Hamilton's improved car saw him take 5th place, while Adrian Sutil came in 7th, the highest ever qualifying finish for the Force India team so far as they made Q3 for the first time. Mark Webber took Pole Position, with Sebastian Vettel second, making it a Red Bull one-two until late flying laps by both the Brawns of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello saw Vettel drop to fourth, with Button third and Barrichello second.^[2]

Pos	No	Name	Constructor	Part 1	Part 2	Part 3	Grid
1	14	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1:31.257	1:38.038	1:32.230	1
2	23	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn-Mercedes	1:31.482	1:34.455	1:32.357	2
3	22	Jenson Button	Brawn-Mercedes	1:31.568	1:39.032	1:32.473	3
4	15	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	1:31.430	1:39.504	1:32.480	4
5	1‡	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:31.473	1:39.149	1:32.616	5
6	2‡	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:31.881	1:40.826	1:33.859	6
7	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India-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	Williams-Toyota	1:31.884	1:42.500		13
14	9	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:31.760	1:42.771		14
15	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams-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	Force India-Mercedes	1:32.402			18
19	10	Timo Glock	Toyota	1:32.423			201
20	11	Sébastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:33.559			19

• Note 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.^[3]

Race

At the start, Webber and Barrichello were side by side coming to the first corner, when Webber clashed wheels with the Brazilian, for which Webber later received a drive-through penalty. Hamilton made a fast start and challenged for the lead, but he made slight contact with Webber at the first corner and received a puncture, ending his chance for points. He lost a lap in the pits, ultimately finishing 18th, still one lap down. Trulli and Nakajima also collided at the first corner, and the Italian had to pit for a new nosecone, leaving him at the back of the field with Hamilton. Bourdais retired due to hydraulic problems on lap 18, in what would ultimately be his final race at Toro Rosso. Sutil made it up to second before his first pitstop, but on emerging from the pits he collided with Raikkonen who later retired with a smoking engine. The German had to pit again for a new nosecone, and lost several places. Alonso made a late charge as Button and Barrichello struggled for grip, but he could not find a way past, finishing seventh with the fastest lap of the race. Mark Webber became the first Australian winner in nearly 30 years despite his drive-through penalty.^[4][5]

Mark Webber took his first career win, winning from pole position despite a drive-through penalty.

Sebastian Vettel finished second in the race, moving into second place in the championship standings.

Felipe Massa finished third in the race, his first and only podium of 2009.

Lewis Hamilton qualified and started strongly, but suffered a puncture on the opening lap as a result of contact with Webber.

Jenson Button qualified 3rd and finished 5th, but managed to retain his lead of the Driver's Championship.

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	+9.252	4	8
3	3‡	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	60	+15.906	8	6
4	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	60	+21.099	15	5
5	22	Jenson Button	Brawn-Mercedes	60	+23.609	3	4
6	23	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn-Mercedes	60	+24.468	2	3
7	7	Fernando Alonso	Renault	60	+24.888	12	2
8	2	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-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	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	1	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	59	+1 lap	5
Ret	4‡	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	34	Radiator	9
Ret	11	Sébastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	18	Hydraulics	19

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jenson Button 66 2 Sebastian Vettel 47 3 Mark Webber 45.5 4 Rubens Barrichello 44 5 Felipe Massa 22

Constructors' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 Brawn-Mercedes 112 2 Red Bull-Renault 92.5 3 Toyota 34.5 4 Ferrari 32 5 Williams-Toyota 20.5

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.^[6]

References

External links