| 2009 German Grand Prix | |||||
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Race 9 of 17 in the2009 Formula One World Championship
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| 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 | Red Bull-Renault | ||||
| Time | 1:32.230 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |  Fernando Alonso | Renault | |||
| Time | 1:33.365 on lap 49 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Red Bull-Renault | ||||
| Second | Red Bull-Renault | ||||
| Third | Ferrari | ||||
Lap leaders | |||||
The2009 German Grand Prix (officially theFormula 1 Grosser Preis Santander von Deutschland 2009)[1] was the ninth race of the2009 Formula One season. It was held on 12 July 2009 at theNürburgring inNürburg, Germany; the earliest German Grand Prix on the calendar (a feat since beat by the2013 race), since1926.
AustralianMark 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 leaderJenson Button could only manage fifth. This was the last race forToro Rosso driverSébastien Bourdais who was dropped in favour of test driverJaime Alguersuari for theHungarian Grand Prix.
In the lead-up to the race, despite 6th place at theBritish Grand Prix,Jenson Button maintained a 23-point lead overBrawn GP teammateRubens Barrichello in the Drivers' Championship. Barrichello was 2 points further in front ofRed Bull Racing'sSebastian Vettel, winner of the British Grand Prix.[2]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 onlyForce India yet to score a point. The three former World Champions in the F1 field,Fernando Alonso,Kimi Räikkönen andLewis Hamilton were 9th, 10th and 11th in the Championship, with 11, 10 and 9 points respectively.
2008 championLewis Hamilton won the2008 German Grand Prix forMcLaren-Mercedes, atHockenheim. FormerGerman Grand Prix winners in the field for 2009 includeFernando Alonso ofRenault andRubens Barrichello ofBrawn GP. Barrichello and Alonso have also been successful at the Nürburgring when the circuit hosted theEuropean Grand Prix.
The Nürburgring has the unique honour of hosting four different Formula One Grands Prix: theGerman Grand Prix on the old track in the 1950s, 60s and 70s as well as on the GP track in1985 and on the revised circuit in 2009; theEuropean Grand Prix in1984 and from 1995 to 2007, with the exception of1997 and1998, when it was theLuxembourg Grand Prix. Most recently, F1 raced at the Nürburgring in 2020 for theEifel Grand Prix, as part of a revised calendar due to Covid-19.
Qualifying saw drivers switch strategies to using wet weather tyres due to the rain and wet track. The track was dry as the drivers headed out for the first session. This yielded no surprises as the twoToro Rossos ofSébastien Buemi andSébastien Bourdais were eliminated along withGiancarlo Fisichella'sForce India, and the consistently underperformingToyota ofTimo Glock andBMW Sauber ofRobert Kubica. Glock was later given a three place grid drop for blockingRenault'sFernando Alonso, but since he qualified 19th anyway this sent him to the back of the grid.
In the second session, the rain began to fall. This gave us some more interesting results, with bothWilliams cars going out. BothNico Rosberg andKazuki Nakajima said that they would have done better had it not been for the rain. They were joined in elimination by Alonso,Jarno Trulli's Toyota andNick Heidfeld, who did well to qualify 11th in the other BMW Sauber. The German claimed he could have done even better, but the rain upset his strategy as well.
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. TheFerraris ofFelipe Massa andKimi Räikkönen were disappointing, only managing 8th and 9th respectively. Räikkönen's race engineerChris 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. TheMcLarens ofLewis Hamilton andHeikki 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 - theBrawns ofJenson Button andRubens Barrichello and theRed Bulls ofSebastian Vettel andMark 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]
Mark Webber andRubens Barrichello were side by side coming to the first corner where Webber clashed wheels with the Brazilian, for which he later received a drive-through penalty. TheBrawn driver still managed to jump theRed Bull driver to take the lead.Lewis Hamilton also made a fast start in theMcLaren 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.Jarno Trulli also collided withKazuki Nakajima'sWilliams at the first corner, and the Italian had to pit for a new nosecone for hisToyota, leaving him at the back of the field with Hamilton.
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 leftFelipe Massa in the lead in the Ferrari followed by Barrichello andKimi Räikkönen.
Bourdais retired due to hydraulic problems on his lap 19, in what would ultimately be his final race atScuderia Toro Rosso.Adrian Sutil in theForce India climbed into second before his first pitstop, but as he emerged from the pits he collided with Räikkönen'sFerrari. 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. TeammateSebastian Vettel also briefly led before everything settled down with Webber in the lead.
Räikkönen retired with a radiator problem on lap 35, briefly promotingGiancarlo Fisichella into the points, but the Italian failed to score his first points for Force India, as his pitstop allowed former teammateFernando Alonso into the points in hisRenault.
Alonso made a late charge asJenson Button andRubens 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 forthe 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 directorChristian 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 since1980 World ChampionAlan Jones won the1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix.
Cars that usedKERS are marked with "‡"
| 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 | PL2 | |
| 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 | |
Source:[10] | |||||||
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| Previous race: 2009 British Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 2009 season | Next race: 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 2008 German Grand Prix Previous race at the Nürburgring:2007 European Grand Prix | German Grand Prix | Next race: 2010 German Grand Prix |
