Formula 1 News

Sebastian Vettel scores historic win for Red Bull 

Maiden one-two victory for Red Bull Racing in China

Sebastian Vettel took an historic win ahead of team mate Mark Webber at the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix, scoring the first ever win and one-two finish at the same time for the Red Bull Racing F1 team.

Vettel and Webber were followed by Brawn GP duo with Jenson Button yet again on a podium finish ahead of team mate Rubens Barrichello, Heikki Kovalainen, Lewis Hamilton, Timo Glock and Sebastien Buemi.

No points for the third consecutive race for Scuderia Ferrari as Kimi Raikkonen managed to come up only 10th while team mate Felipe Massa didn’t finish following an electrical failure on his Ferrari F60.

2009 Chinese Grand Prix, lap by lap highlights:

Pre Race: Rain has started to fall at the Chinese circuit: drivers will have a wet start. There’s no communication yet from the FIA stewards for a race start under the Safety Car.

There won’t be the usual Formation lap as the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix will start behind the Safety Car. All drivers will have to start the race with Bridgestone’s full wets. Kubica and Glock to start from the pitlane.

Race start: Race starts behind the Safety Car. Positions are frozen: Vettel p1, Alonso p2, Webber p3. Team Radio for Alonso: “grip is okay on the standard wet tyres”. Team radio for Button: the Briton laments ‘very bad’ visibility on the track.

Lap 54/56: Safety Car still on track. Team radio for Vettel: the German says that he ‘has experienced worse conditions in the past’.

Lap 53/56: Team radio for Rosberg: he laments aquaplanning on the main straight.

Lap 52/56: Pit stop for Sutil, 10.2 secs.

Lap 51/56: Pit stop for Rosberg, 7.9 secs. Safety Car still on track.

Lap 49/56: Pit stop for Alonso, new set of tyres and fuel, 8.4 secs. Safety Car to come in in this lap. Vettel p1, Webber P2, Barrichello p3, Button p4, Alonso p5.

Lap 48/56: The Red Bulls lead the race, followed by the two Brawns. Trulli P5. Hamilton passes Raikkonen to P6.

Lap 47/56: Vettel P1 with 2.4 secs to Webber P2. Team radio for Raikkonen: the Finn says that his engine is not running very well. Buemi pushing on Raikkonen.

Lap 46/57: Hamilton passes Trulli to P5.

Lap 45/56: Vettel P1 then Webber, Button, Barrichello, Hamilton, Trulli, Raikkonen, Buemi. Buemi and Massa overtake Raikkonen.

Lap 44/56: Replays show Hamilton spin. The Briton falls back to P10. Buemi pass Trulli to P5. Massa pushing on Trulli.

Lap 43/56: Glock and Heidfeld make contact. The BMW Sauber driver spins while Glock continues. Massa passes Trulli for P6.

Lap 42/56: Pit stop for Webber: 9.9 secs, back in P6. Raikkonen passes Trulli for P7. Trulli looses another position.

Lap 41/56: Pit stop for Vettel: 8.7 secs, back in P3. The Brawns are leading the race. Hamilton passes Raikkonen for P7.

Lap 40/56: Kovalainen, Bourdais, Glock pass Trulli. Trulli now in P12.

Lap 39/56: Button P1, Barrichello P2, Vettel P3. Replays show Kubica hitting badly Trulli. Trulli looses completely the rear wing on his Toyota TF109.

Lap 38/56: Safety Car deployed following incident between Kubica and Trulli. Pit stop for Heidfeld.

Lap 37/56: Button, Barrichello pit. Buemi pits. Trulli out. Replays show Buemi hitting Vettel’s RB5.

Lap 36/56: Vettel, Button, Massa, Webber, Raikkonen. Massa out. The Brazilian has stopped at the side of the track. Seems a gearbox or electrical problem.

Lap 34/56: Safety Car comes in. Hamilton passes Raikkonen for P4. Vettel P1, followed by Button, Webber, Hamilton. Alonso passes Nakajima for P10.

Lap 33/56: Vettel P1 with 5.3 secs to Button.

Lap 32/56: Pit stop for Glock. The German has a damaged front wing. Sutil passes Kubica for P14.

Lap 31/56: Alonso tailing Buemi for P8.

Lap 30/56: Vettel P1 with 8.2 secs to Button (p2).Pit stop for Raikkonen: 11.4 secs back in P17.

Lap 29/56: Piquet spins at Turn 5 and hits a polystyrene bollard damaging slightly the front wing.

Lap 27/56: Webber passes Button for P2. The Red Bulls are heading for a one-two finish.

Lap 26/56: Vettel P1, Webber P2 then Button, Hamilton, Kovalainen, Barrichello, Buemi and Alonso. Button regains P2 to Webber. Webber now in P3.

Lap 25/56: Webber fights back and repasses Button.

Lap 23/56: Pit stop for Hamilton: 8.6 secs, back in P8.

Lap 21/56: Pit stop for Alonso: 8.4 secs, back in P9. Kubica pits for a front wing change.

Lap 19/56: Pit stop for Vettel: 9.2 secs, back in P3. Webber now in P1.

Lap 17/56: Pit stop for Webber: 7.5 secs, back in P3. Button p1, Vettel P2, Webber P3, Barrichello P4.

Lap 16/56: Vettel tailing Button for P1. Vettel overtakes Button. The young German takes the lead.

Lap 15/56: Pit stop for Rosberg: he switches to intermediates. Alonso passes Raikkonen for P11.

Lap 14/56: Pit stop for Button: 7.8 secs, back in P4.

Lap 13/56: Pit stop for Barrichello: 6.7 secs, back in p5.

Lap 12/56: Nakajima pits but parks his Williams FW31 into the garage.

Lap 7/56: Hamilton spins, Sutil passes him for P6.

Lap 5/56: Sutil crashes at Turn 5. He’s out.

Lap 56/56: Sebastian Vettel strikes an historic win for Red Bull Racing. Mark Webber finishes second handing a memorable one-two finish to Red Bull Racing. Third place for Brawn GP’s Jenson Button followed by team mate Rubens Barrichello, McLaren-Mercedes duo with Heikki Kovalainen ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Toyota’s Timo Glock and Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi round up the top eight.

2009 Chinese Grand Prix, race results: