Race 2009 Bahrain Grand Prix

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.