Vettel dominates the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix
Another podium finish for Trulli and Hamilton
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel took his third win in the season at the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix after a dominant performance from start to finish, ahead of Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.
Fourth place for Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen followed by Williams’ Nico Rosberg, BMW’s Nick Heidfeld, Brawn GP’s Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button, BMW’s Robert Kubica and Renault’s Fernando Alonso.
2009 Japanese Grand Prix, lap by lap highlights:
Formation lap: Sebastian Vettel starts from pole for Red Bull Racing ahead of Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. Behind the three, there’s BMW’s Nick Heidfeld and Kimi Raikkonen. The two, took advantage of a series of grid penalties handed to Button, Barrichello, Alonso and Sutil after failing to slow down during yellow flags in qualifying. Toyota’s Timo Glock will miss the Grand Prix after his crash in qualifying.
Race start: Great start from Vettel and Hamilton. Hamilton passes Trulli for P2. Alonso P16. Vettel P1, Hamilton P2, Trulli P3, Heidfeld P4, Raikkonen P5.
Lap 52/53: Pit stop for Webber. He switches on the harder tyre. Button in P11.
Lap 51/53: Vettel still leading with almost two seconds to Hamilton. Another pit stop for Webber. There looks to be a problem with his cockpit surround coming loose.
Lap 50/53: Fastest lap for Vettel. Button passes Kubica for P10.
Lap 48/53: Third pit stop for Webber after suffering a puncture.
Lap 47/53: Sutil pressuring Kovalainen for P8.
Lap 45/53: Vettel P1, Hamilton P2, Trulli P3, Heidfeld P4, Raikkonen P5, Barrichello P6, Rosberg P7 and Kovalainen P8. Vettel being told he shouldn’t push any harder to maintain his fuel strategy.
Lap 42/53: Pit stop for Buemi. He’s out.
Lap 41/53: Sutil attemmpts to pass Kovalainen at the chicane. He makes contact with Kovalainen and spins. Button, Kubica and Fisichella pass Sutil. Button passes Kovalainen for P8.
Lap 38/53: Hamilton pits. 8.9 seconds, he rejoins in P7. Sutil pits: 10.1 secs, back in P17.
Lap 37/53: Trulli pits from P2. 8.7s, back in P7, behind Hamilton.
Lap 36/53: Button pits. 8.4s back in P14. Fisichella pits.
Lap 35/53: Vettel pits from P1: 12.4 secs, back in P1. Heidfeld, Raikkonen and Barrichello pit.
Lap 34/53: Vettel P1, Rosberg P2, Hamilton P3.
Lap 32/53: Rosberg pits. 8.7s, he rejoins in P9. Alguersuari pits.
Lap 29/53: Kovalainen pits from P6.
Lap 28/53: Pit stop for Liuzzi.
Lap 27/53: Kubica pits, 6.7s, back in P11. Vettel leading the Japanese Grand Prix with 5.3s on Hamilton.
Lap 26/53: Nakajima pits for his first stop.
Lap 25/53: Grosjean runs wide at the Spoon corner and lets Sutil take a place. No pit stop yet for the two Renaults.
Lap 24/53: Grosjean pits: 9.6s.
Lap 23/53: Pit stop for Alonso: 9.7s.
Lap 22/53: Liuzzi overtakes Nakajima for P15 into Turn One.
Lap 20/53: Raikkonen catching up Heidfeld for P4. Fastest lap for the Finn.
Lap 19/53: Button tailing Rosberg for P7. Pit stop for Webber.
Lap 18/53: Raikkonen pits: 7.2s, he rejoins in P8.
Lap 17/53: Heidfeld pits. 9.6s. He rejoins behind Raikkonen.
Lap 16/53: Hamilton pits: 6.6s, back in P3.
Lap 14/53: Trulli pits: 6.7s, he rejoins ahead of Hamilton. Kovalainen, Fisichella, Sutil pit. Fisichella gets ahead of Kovalainen but the Finn fights back, as they come out of the pits, and takes the place.
Lap 13/53: Pit stop for race leader Vettel: 7.6s. Button pits.
Lap 12/53: Kubica pits from P7, 7.7s.
Lap 11/53: Barrichello pits: 6.1s. He rejoins in P7, ahead of team-mate Jenson Button. Vettel P1. Trulli P2, Hamilton P3.
Lap 10/53: Another fastest lap for race leader Vettel. Second pit stop for Alguersuari: 5.8s. Liuzzi pits.
Lap 8/53: Safety car deployed. Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari lost control at Turn 16 and hit the barriers. A big shunt for the Spaniard who looks to be ok. Rosberg pits.
Lap 7/53: Team radio for Hamilton: his KERS system has a problem. Vettel P1, Trulli P2, Hamilton P3, Raikkonen P4, Rosberg P5, Heidfeld P6, Barrichello P7, Button P8.
Lap 6/53: Fifth pit stop for Webber. Still under Safety Car.
Lap 5/53: Safety car in this lap.
Lap 4/53: Vettel P1, Trulli P2, Hamilton P3. Raikkonen pressuring Hamilton for P3.
Lap 3/53: Kubica tailing Button for P8.
Last lap: Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel takes his third win in the season ahead of Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. Fourth place for Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, fifth for Williams’ Nico Rosberg, sixth for BMW’s Nick Heidfeld, seventh for Brawn GP’s Rubens Barrichello and eighth for championship leader Jenson Button.
2009 Japanese Grand Prix, race results:
| Pos. | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 53 | Winner | 1 | 10 |
| 2 | 9 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 53 | +4.8 secs | 2 | 8 |
| 3 | 1 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 53 | +6.4 secs | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 4 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 53 | +7.9 secs | 5 | 5 |
| 5 | 16 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 53 | +8.7 secs | 7 | 4 |
| 6 | 6 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 53 | +9.5 secs | 4 | 3 |
| 7 | 23 | Rubens Barrichello | Brawn-Mercedes | 53 | +10.6 secs | 6 | 2 |
| 8 | 22 | Jenson Button | Brawn-Mercedes | 53 | +11.4 secs | 10 | 1 |
| 9 | 5 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 53 | +11.7 secs | 9 | |
| 10 | 7 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 53 | +13.0 secs | 16 | |
| 11 | 2 | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren-Mercedes | 53 | +13.7 secs | 11 | |
| 12 | 3 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Ferrari | 53 | +14.5 secs | 14 | |
| 13 | 20 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 53 | +14.9 secs | 8 | |
| 14 | 21 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | 53 | +15.7 secs | 18 | |
| 15 | 17 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams-Toyota | 53 | +17.9 secs | 15 | |
| 16 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Renault | 52 | +1 Lap | 17 | |
| 17 | 14 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 51 | +2 Laps | 19 | |
| Ret | 11 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 43 | Accident | 12 | |
| Ret | 12 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 11 | +42 Laps | 13 |
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