Formula One | German Grand Prix

Nurburgring

10th - 12th July 2009

Lap Distance 5.148 Km

Race 60 Laps 308.863 Km

Mark Webber drove superbly to win the German GP at the Nurburgring today. It was Webber’s maiden win and the second successive 1-2 finish for the Red Bull Racing F1 team. The Australian ace had a big moment coming off the grid when he misjudged the position of Rubens Barrichello's Brawn car and pulled right causing a collision that luckily did not cause anything other than superficial damage but did result in a drive through penalty for Webber. Mark kept his head and capitalised on the ongoing struggle by both Brawn drivers to get heat into their tyres throughout the race. Sebastian Vettel was never able to challenge Webber for the win after making a relatively poor start but drove a sensible race from thereafter to take second place. Felipe Massa drove well to take third place for Ferrari with team mate Kimi Raikkonen going out just before mid distance with what looked like an engine failure. Nico Rosberg produced a great result for Williams earning a fine fourth place. Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello ran strongly throughout but their three stop strategy and inability to get heat into their tyres prevented them from challenging for the win and eventually having to settle for fifth and sixth places. Fernando Alonso came on strong in the closing stages setting the fastest lap of the race on lap 49 and finishing in seventh place. The last remaining point was claimed by Heikki Kovalainen who had a far better day than his team mate Lewis Hamilton who finished last after a disastrous first corner touch with Mark Webber that resulted in a puncture for the McLaren driver. It was disappointing for Hamilton and the team as the car had shown some real potential for the first time this season. Poor Adrian Sutil finished down in fifteenth place after running in the top three but then clashing with Kimi Raikkonen on the pit exit and damaging his front wing, reminiscent of Monaco two years ago, where Raikkonen also cost him a near certain points finish.

Lewis Hamilton made a surprise appearance at the top of the timesheets at the end of the second free practice for the German GP at the Nurburgring. The session was run under mainly dry conditions but the threat of rain was omnipresent after an early brief shower. Hamilton saw off a challenge from second fastest Sebastian vettel and championship leader Jenson Button in third place. Red Bull looks set to continue its strong form with Mark Webber also well in contention during the session finally ending up fourth fastest. Despite a spin at the complex section Toyota's Jarno trulli recovered to set the fifth fastest time with Adrian Sutil achieving a creditable sixth for Force India. Rubens Barrichello kept a relatively low profile finishing seventh fastest ahead of Fernando Alonso and Kazuki Nakajima with Nelson Piquet rounding out the top ten. Neither Felipe Massa nor Kimi Raikkonen made the top ten with Massa down in twelfth and Raikkonen sixteenth. This was in contrast to the earlier session when Massa was third fastest and Raikkonen sixth.

In a qualifying session that took place in changeable conditions at the Nurburgring Red Bull's Mark Webber drove superbly to secure his first ever pole position. Webber saw off a strong challenge from the Brawn GP cars of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button taking second and third places on the grid. Sebastian Vettel was fourth fastest ahead of a rejuvenated McLaren team with Lewis Hamilton fifth and Heikki Kovalainen sixth. McLaren have been working hard throughout the summer break and the new parts they have introduced appear to have made their mark. Adrian Sutil made it to the final shoot out for Force India claiming a superb 7th place on the grid and defeating the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen in the process, as the red cars finished eighth and ninth fastest. Nelson Piquet rounded out the top ten beating his team mate Fernando Alonso for the first time in qualifying. The middle part of the qualifying session was affected by rain showers causing spins for several drivers but no serious damage. The changeable conditions saw the teams struggling to decide on the best tyre choice as the track conditions changed rapidly throughout. Rain is expected to feature in the race itself and if it does we should see some spectacular action and unpredictable results.

01 M Webber
1m 33.082s
02 J Button
1m 33.463s
03 F Massa
1m 33.745s
04 J Trulli
1m 33.795s
05 G Fisichella
1m 33.839s
06 K Raikkonen
1m 33.84s
07 N Rosberg
1m 33.902s
08 S Vettel
1m 33.909s
09 K Nakajima
1m 33.952s
10 F Alonso
1m 34.148s
11 N Heidfeld
1m 34.221s
12 R Barrichello
1m 34.227s
13 L Hamilton
1m 34.483s
14 R Kubica
1m 34.694s
15 N Piquet
1m 34.738s
16 S Bourdais
1m 34.827s
17 S Buemi
1m 34.878s
18 H Kovalainen
1m 34.893s
19 T Glock
1m 34.911s
20 A Sutil
1m 35.092s

01 M Webber
1m 32.23s
02 R Barrichello
1m 32.357s
03 J Button
1m 32.473s
04 S Vettel
1m 32.48s
05 L Hamilton
1m 32.616s
06 H Kovalainen
1m 33.859s
07 A Sutil
1m 34.316s
08 F Massa
1m 34.574s
09 K Raikkonen
1m 34.71s
10 N Piquet
1m 34.803s

Eliminated Q2
11 N Heidfeld
1m 42.31s
12 F Alonso
1m 42.318s
13 K Nakajima
1m 42.5s
14 J Trulli
1m 42.771s
15 N Rosberg
1m 42.859s

Eliminated Q1<br/>
16 R Kubica
1m 32.19s
17 S Buemi
1m 32.251s
18 G Fisichella
1m 32.402s
19 T Glock
1m 32.423s
20 S Bourdais
1m 33.559s

01 L Hamilton
1m 32.149s
02 S Vettel
1m 32.331s
03 J Button
1m 32.369s
04 M Webber
1m 32.48s
05 J Trulli
1m 32.511s
06 A Sutil
1m 32.585s
07 R Barrichello
1m 32.664s
08 F Alonso
1m 32.774s
09 K Nakajima
1m 32.872s
10 N Piquet
1m 32.992s
11 N Heidfeld
1m 33.012s
12 F Massa
1m 33.052s
13 N Rosberg
1m 33.128s
14 R Kubica
1m 33.128s
15 T Glock
1m 33.172s
16 K Raikkonen
1m 33.182s
17 H Kovalainen
1m 33.724s
18 S Buemi
1m 33.903s
19 S Bourdais
1m 34.025s
20 G Fisichella
1m 38.877s

01 L Hamilton
1m 31.121s
02 F Alonso
1m 31.34s
03 F Massa
1m 31.351s
04 S Vettel
1m 31.542s
05 M Webber
1m 31.61s
06 K Raikkonen
1m 31.615s
07 J Trulli
1m 31.62s
08 N Rosberg
1m 31.69s
09 K Nakajima
1m 31.731s
10 N Heidfeld
1m 31.928s
11 J Button
1m 32.009s
12 T Glock
1m 32.022s
13 A Sutil
1m 32.104s
14 R Barrichello
1m 32.124s
15 G Fisichella
1m 32.135s
16 N Piquet
1m 32.223s
17 S Buemi
1m 32.239s
18 R Kubica
1m 32.269s
19 H Kovalainen
1m 32.742s
20 S Bourdais
1m 32.883s

01 M Webber
02 S Vettel
03 F Massa
04 N Rosberg
05 J Button
06 R Barrichello
07 F Alonso
08 H Kovalainen
09 T Glock
10 N Heidfeld
11 G Fisichella
12 K Nakajima
13 N Piquet
14 R Kubica
15 A Sutil
16 S Buemi
17 J Trulli
18 L Hamilton

Retired
L35 K Raikkonen
L19 S Bourdais

Fastest Lap
F Alonso
1m 33.365s L49