Report 2009 Bahrain Grand Prix

1 report

1.1 background
1.2 practice , qualifying
1.3 race

report
background

going round, brawn gp driver jenson button led drivers championship 6 points team-mate rubens barrichello. barrichello led sebastian vettel of red bull racing , timo glock of toyota f1 5 points in second. brawn gp led chinese grand prix winners red bull racing 16½ points in constructors championship. toyota further point , other team hit double figures.

ferrari yet score point, , failure in bahrain have resulted in ferrari s worst ever start season in formula one. previous worst start came when constructors champions; in 1980 season team scored no points until fourth race, 1980 united states grand prix west, jody scheckter finished fifth.

force india introduced revised floor , diffuser in bahrain force india vjm02, upgraded front wing , reprofiled sidepods. force india driver giancarlo fisichella welcomed upgrades, hoping car s lack of downforce addressed new modifications.

practice , qualifying

three practice sessions held before race; of 2 held on friday april 24, 2009, first in morning , second in afternoon. both sessions lasted 90 minutes weather conditions hot , dry throughout. third session held on saturday morning , lasted 60 minutes.

at end of first practice session, lewis hamilton set fastest time of 1:33.647 in mclaren car, ahead of 2 bmw sauber cars of nick heidfeld , robert kubica. williams nico rosberg continued quick practice form fourth fastest time, followed brawn of jenson button, mclaren of heikki kovalainen, brawn’s rubens barrichello, , ferrari s felipe massa. red bull’s mark webber , other ferrari of kimi räikkönen shared ninth fastest time, completing top ten. nico rosberg fastest in friday s second practice session, topping timesheets time of 1:33.339, followed fernando alonso in renault , jarno trulli in toyota. red bulls of sebastian vettel , mark webber fourth , fifth, button close behind. adrian sutil of force india put in impressive laptime finish seventh in standings, toyota s timo glock, brawn s rubens barrichello, , williams kazuki nakajima rounding out top 10. bmws of heidfeld , kubica not repeat times first session, , classified in seventeenth , twentieth, respectively.

nelson piquet jr. qualified renault in fifteenth place; team-mate fernando alonso seventh on grid.

in third practice, glock managed fastest time 1:32.605 before car rolled halt due brake problems, , there improved times ferrari , mclaren. felipe massa managed second fastest time, räikkönen in fifth. rosberg third fastest, , hamilton posted fourth fastest time. nelson piquet, kubica, nakajima, trulli , heidfeld made top ten.

the qualifying session on saturday afternoon split 3 parts. jarno trulli achieved fourth career pole position, , first since 2005, whilst team-mate timo glock qualified second. marked first time toyota had put both cars on front row of grid. sebastian vettel qualified third, jenson button behind him. in fifth mclaren of lewis hamilton, rubens barrichello in sixth. renault s fernando alonso managed seventh place, , behind him felipe massa, nico rosberg , kimi räikkönen completed top ten. kovalainen, nakajima, kubica, heidfeld , piquet made 11th 15th on grid. knocked out in first session , classified 16th 20th sutil, buemi, fisichella, webber , bourdais. webber controversially blocked sutil near end of qualifying lap (sutil claimed didn t realise webber on flying lap), preventing him posting fast time. result, stewards gave sutil three-place grid penalty, demoting him 19th position.

race

jenson button took third win of season, extending championship lead in process.

timo glock got off perfect start second on grid , took lead. jarno trulli running second, had fight off lewis hamilton in first corner, had passed jenson button , sebastian vettel fifth on grid after flying start of kers. button had overtaken vettel, running heavier fuel load. kimi räikkönen, meanwhile, had pushed ferrari sixth place, making 4 positions start. further in field, there damage sustained cars of felipe massa, nick heidfeld, robert kubica , kazuki nakajima, of whom had pit replace front wings, whilst heikki kovalainen lost track position after running wide. massa complained of problems kers system due temperature problem, , advised turn off.

at start of lap 2, button overtook hamilton claim third position. kers-aided mclaren of hamilton kept vettel s red bull @ bay, , when hamilton entered pits on lap 15 did vettel pass him.

since both toyotas running light on fuel, made pit stops early, glock in on lap 12 , trulli on lap 14. toyota team opted put both drivers onto slower, harder compound tyres middle stint of race, opposite strategy being run other teams. time button had made stop on lap 15 on softer tyres, had made enough ground on trulli in 1 lap come out in front. glock, had once led race, had lost time on tyres stayed behind hamilton in seventh place after mclaren driver had completed pit stop.

vettel s pit stop on lap 18 placed him ahead of hamilton, thirty metres behind slower-lapping car of trulli, preventing him challenging button lead. button took opportunity pull out 7.5 second gap between himself , trulli lap 22.

by lap 34, button had increased lead 15.6 seconds, putting him in clear control of race. time second round of pit stops completed front runners, button ahead of else, time on harder tyres. toyota s tyre strategy had not paid off, , vettel, on softer tyres, put in fast lap times once trulli had second stop , no longer in vettel s path. after own stop, vettel (now on harder compound tyre) ended in front of toyota driver, opposite of situation after first pit stops.

on lap 44 there drama räikkönen , glock fighting sixth position, finn edging out glock @ turn four. rubens barrichello had lost lot of time earlier in race after failing pass kers-equipped renault of nelson piquet. however, showed pace of brawn car ending in front of räikkönen, after having 1 pit stop more, pulled away him in final laps.

on lap 48, spiking oil pressure on williams of nakajima caused retirement of race crawled pits.

button drove home third victory of season, 7 seconds clear of vettel, pushing particularly hard in last laps. trulli crossed line 2 seconds behind vettel, hamilton finishing fourth. barrichello took fifth, räikkönen sixth, glock less second behind in seventh, , fernando alonso finished eighth, 52 seconds behind button. nick heidfeld equalled michael schumacher s record of 24 consecutive finishes, bringing home bmw sauber in 19th , last place.