2009 Italian Grand Prix

Italy  2009 Italian Grand Prix
Race details
Race 13 of 17 in the 2009 Formula One season
Date 13 September 2009 (2009-09-13)
Official name LXXX Gran Premio Santander d'Italia
Location Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.793 km (3.6 mi)
Distance 53 laps, 306.720 km (190.58 mi)
Weather Mainly sunny
Pole position
Driver McLaren-Mercedes
Time 1:24.066
Fastest lap
Driver Germany Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes
Time 1:24.739 on lap 36
Podium
First Brawn-Mercedes
Second Brawn-Mercedes
Third Ferrari
Rubens Barrichello in the Brawn BGP 001

The 2009 Italian Grand Prix (formally the LXXX Gran Premio Santander d'Italia) was a Formula One motor race held on 13 September 2009 at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy. It was the 13th race of the 2009 Formula One season. It was contested over 53 laps.

It was the last win for Brawn GP and for team driver Rubens Barrichello. Team-mate and Championship Leader Jenson Button came in second, completing Brawn's fourth (and last) one-two finish of the season, while the Ferrari of Kimi Räikkönen came third after reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton crashed on the final lap.[1] Hamilton's crash meant the race officially finished behind the safety car, despite the safety car not picking up the leader. Adrian Sutil, who finished in fourth place, recorded the first fastest lap of his career, and the first for the Force India team.

Report

Background

Jenson Button led the Drivers Championship by 16 points from Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello, who led Red Bull's third placed man Sebastian Vettel by 3 points. Brawn led the Constructors Championship by 23½ points from Red Bull who were a further 48½ points ahead of winners of the previous race, Ferrari.[2]

Vettel won his maiden Formula One race in the 2008 race for the Toro Rosso team, that made him the youngest driver to win a Formula One race, in the first race won by both the Toro Rosso team since they were formed as Minardi and by a customer Ferrari engine. The only other Italian Grand Prix winners in the field are Fernando Alonso and Barrichello. No Italian has won his home Grand Prix since Ferrari's Ludovico Scarfiotti won his only race at the 1966 race. Jarno Trulli, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Giancarlo Fisichella were the only current Italians in the field this year, with Luca Badoer replaced as Ferrari's stand-in by Fisichella. Fisichella became the first Italian since Ivan Capelli in 1992 to race for Ferrari at Monza, after terminating his Force India contract. Fisichella was replaced by Force India test driver Liuzzi.[3]

Renault decided to use KERS for the first time since Spanish Grand Prix weekend.[4]

Practice

The first session of the Italian GP finished with the McLarens on top with Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen first and second fastest, respectively. Force India's Adrian Sutil finished the session in third. Renault's Fernando Alonso finished fourth while team-mate Romain Grosjean finished fifteenth.[5] Fischella, driving for Ferrari for the first time in his career, finished eighth ahead of team-mate Kimi Räikkönen who ended the session in tenth. Toyota's Trulli and Timo Glock were at the back of the pack. Championship leader Jenson Button ended seventh while his Brawn team-mate Rubens Barrichello finished twelfth.[5]

In the second session Force India's Adrian Sutil was fastest, ahead of the two Renaults of Grosjean and Alonso. Hamilton was eleventh with Kovalainen coming in fourth.[6] Button in a Brawn finished 19th, with only Fisichella separating him from last place. Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel came eighteenth, and Mark Webber in fourteenth.[6]

The final practice session ahead of Qualifying again saw Sutil fastest, ahead of the Brawn of Jenson Button with team-mate Barrichello in fourth. The two McLarens ended fifth and sixth, with Fisichella's replacement at Force India, Vitantonio Liuzzi, in seventh.[7] The two Red Bulls ended the session 17th and 18th. Fisichella ended the session last, with Räikkönen's other Ferrari in twelfth.[7]

Qualifying

Adrian Sutil qualified in a career-best second position, placing a Force India on the front row for the second consecutive race.

The first session, lasting 20 minutes, decided the final five places on the grid. Five minutes into the session Liuzzi ran off the track but did not damage his car and managed to proceed through to the next part of qualifying.[8] Räikkönen topped the session ahead of Hamilton and Kovalainen.[9] Both Toro Rossos and both Williams cars were knocked out along with the Toyota of Timo Glock.[9] Fisichella made it through to the next session, making it the first time since the Hungarian Grand Prix that both Ferraris had made it through to Q2. Grosjean also progressed to Q2.[8]

The second session, lasting 15 minutes, decided positions 11 to 15. Five minutes into the session Nick Heidfeld's BMW engine gave way to leave him in 15th for the race. Seven minutes later, the other BMW of Robert Kubica appeared to have the same problem and pulled off with engine problems just before the first corner.[8] This left Kubica qualifying in 13th. Fisichella was unable to make it through to the final session of qualifying. Button topped the session, with Hamilton in second and Force India's Adrian Sutil in third. After the chequered flag had fallen Liuzzi was the final driver to post a time moving from 13th into the top 10. The other drivers not to make it were Grosjean and Trulli.[9]

The final session, lasting ten minutes, decided the top ten positions. Early on, Alonso set the fastest time in the first sector, but it was Räikkönen who had the best time overall. Very soon afterwards Hamilton set the fastest lap, while Webber, Alonso, Sutil and Räikkönen traded second place.[8] The chequered flag fell and very few cars were still out, but it was Hamilton who came out on top to snatch pole from Sutil.[9] Although Button qualified sixth and his team-mate Barrichello in fifth, they looked well-placed after the fuel loads were released and both were on a one stop strategy, while Hamilton, Sutil and Räikkönen were all on a two stop strategy.[10]

Race

At the start, Lewis Hamilton held onto his lead with Kimi Räikkönen in second, ahead of Adrian Sutil. Heikki Kovalainen, on a one-stop fuel strategy was overtaken by the similarly fuelled Brawns of Rubens Barrichello, off the start line, and Jenson Button, through the second Lesmo. Championship contender Mark Webber was spun by Robert Kubica at Della Roggia on the opening lap and was forced to retire. By Lap 15, Kubica had also retired with an oil leak.[11] Before this, on lap 9, Kubica was shown the black flag with orange circle because he damaged his front wing during his contact with Webber, meaning he was summoned to the pits to repair it. To date, this is the last time the black flag with orange circle was used.

Jenson Button finished on the podium for the first time since his win in Turkey.

The battle for the lead was tactical, with the Brawn cars stopping only once while Hamilton was on a two-stop strategy. Barrichello and Button were able to lap consistently faster than Hamilton despite their heavier fuel load,[12] meaning when Hamilton emerged from his second pit stop he found himself behind both Brawns in third position. Reigning World Champion Hamilton tried in vain to overtake Championship leader Button over the final few laps before crashing into the barriers at the second Lesmo as he attempted to catch Button.[12] Hamilton's crash left debris across the race track, meaning the safety car was deployed despite it being the final lap of the race. The safety car was therefore unable to pick up the leader, Barrichello, before he took the chequered flag as he would take Brawn's eighth win of the season and his third win at Monza.

The two Toyotas battling for track position.

The safety car ended a race long battle between the similarly fuelled Räikkönen and Sutil. Sutil was able to keep up with the Ferrari driver throughout the race. Both made their second and final pit stop at the same time, Räikkönen coming out of the pits first despite a delay leaving his garage after Sutil drove too fast into his box, knocking over a mechanic, who was unhurt.[13] Despite Sutil's pressure over the closing stages, Räikkönen held to inherit third place. Sutil did have the consolation of claiming the fastest lap of the race, Force India's first in Formula One.

Fernando Alonso finished fifth, ahead of Kovalainen despite the Finn being on the race-winning one-stop strategy. Nick Heidfeld finished seventh after working his way through the field from fifteenth on the grid. Sebastian Vettel took the final point, ahead of Ferrari debutant Giancarlo Fisichella. Fisichella's replacement at Force India, Vitantonio Liuzzi, retired with a mechanical problem while challenging for the points.[12]

Post race

Lewis Hamilton crashed out on the last lap, mathematically eliminating him from championship contention.

The poor performance from the Red Bull cars, combined with Brawn's 1-2 finish, meant the Drivers Championship became effectively a two-horse race between Button, who led Barrichello by 14 points with four races to go. Vettel was 26 points behind Button with Webber a further 2.5 points adrift. Brawn team boss Ross Brawn said after the race he would allow his drivers to compete amongst themselves for the Drivers Championship, as his team was virtually assured of the Constructors Championship.[14] Barrichello admitted he was relishing the prospect of a straight title fight after playing second fiddle to Michael Schumacher whilst the German won five world championships at Ferrari. A visibly more relaxed Button was magnanimous in defeat and happy to face a battle from within.[15]

Webber admitted frustration at his first non-finish of the year following such a "small" accident, while Vettel insisted his Championship chances were not over.[16] McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh did not criticise Hamilton for his last lap crash, stating the accident was a result of the Briton's "never-give-up attitude, his unquenchable desire to fight until the very last metre of the very last lap."[16] The focus of the F1 paddock after the race, however, was on the looming Crashgate hearing at the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Paris the following week. This was to determine whether Renault had asked former driver Nelson Piquet, Jr. to crash at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, to aid team-mate Fernando Alonso ultimately win the race.[17]

Lewis Hamilton mathematically conceded the defence of his 2008 World Championship following the result of this race as only Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were mathematically able to win the Championship. 2007 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen also mathematically conceded the World Championship as a result of this race, while 2005 and 2006 World Champion Fernando Alonso was already out of contention before this race. As a result, it meant following this race a brand new World Champion was guaranteed to be crowned for 2009.

Classification

Qualifying

Cars that use the KERS system are marked with "‡"

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

Race

Cars that use the KERS system are marked with "‡"

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

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 United Kingdom Jenson Button 80
2 Brazil Rubens Barrichello 66
3 Germany Sebastian Vettel 54
4 Australia Mark Webber 51.5
5 Finland Kimi Räikkönen 40

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 United Kingdom Brawn-Mercedes 146
2 Austria Red Bull-Renault 105.5
3 Italy Ferrari 62
4 United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 47
5 Japan Toyota 38.5

References

  1. "Button back as Barrichello wins". BBC Sport. BBC. 13 September 2009. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
  2. "Formula One Championship Standings". BBC Sport. BBC. 30 August 2009. Archived from the original on 16 May 2009. Retrieved 9 September 2009.
  3. "Force India give Liuzzi race seat". BBC Sport. BBC. 7 September 2009. Retrieved 7 September 2009.
  4. "Renault confirms KERS return for Monza". ITV Sport. ITV. 7 September 2009. Archived from the original on 16 September 2009. Retrieved 11 September 2009.
  5. 1 2 "Italian GP Practice 1 Results". formula1.com. Formula One Association. 11 September 2009. Archived from the original on 16 September 2009. Retrieved 11 September 2009.
  6. 1 2 "Italian GP Practice 2 Results". formula1.com. Formula One Association. 11 September 2009. Archived from the original on 14 September 2009. Retrieved 11 September 2009.
  7. 1 2 "Italian GP Practice 3 Results". formula1.com. Formula One Association. 12 September 2009. Archived from the original on 16 September 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "Italian GP Qualifying as it happened". BBC Sport. BBC. 12 September 2009. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 "Italian GP Qualifying Results". formula1.com. Formula One Association. 12 September 2009. Archived from the original on 16 September 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
  10. "Italian GP Fuel adjusted grid". BBC Sport. BBC. 12 September 2009. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
  11. "Italian GP as it happened". BBC Sport (BBC). 13 September 2009. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
  12. 1 2 3 "Button back as Barrichello wins". BBC Sport (BBC). 13 September 2009. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
  13. "Ted Kravitz - The Italian Grand Prix from the pit lane". BBC Sport (BBC). 16 September 2009. Archived from the original on 24 November 2009. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
  14. "Brawn to allow 'open' title fight". BBC Sport (BBC). 13 September 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
  15. "Rubens Barrichello relishing fight for world championship". London: The Telegraph (Telegraph Media Group Limited). 14 September 2009. Archived from the original on 23 September 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  16. 1 2 "Italian Grand Prix - selected driver quotes". Formula One Administration Ltd. Archived from the original on 26 September 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
  17. "Renault face Formula 1 fix fate". BBC Sport (BBC). 20 September 2009. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
  18. "Italian GP Race Results". formula1.com. Formula One Association. 13 September 2009. Archived from the original on 16 September 2009. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
  19. "Formula One Championship Standings". news.bbc.co.uk. BBC. 13 September 2009. Archived from the original on 16 May 2009. Retrieved 23 September 2009.
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