Hungarian GP, Hungaroring

24 - 26 July 2009

Lap Distance 5.303 Km

Race 70 Laps 306.630 Km

Fernando Alonso took the lead from the flag in the Hungarian GP but it was Lewis Hamilton who edged past Red Bull's Mark Webber into second place aided by the KERS power of his McLaren. Significantly Kimi Raikkonen also made good use of the start to pass Sebastian Vettel who had made a poor start in his Red Bull for fourth place. Vettel came out the poorer in more ways than one as the two cars touched causing damage to the Germans' car that would lead to his eventual retirement. Despite being passed again by Mark Webber Hamilton soon regained the advantage and set off in pursuit of Alonso who was on a three stop strategy. Disaster struck for Alonso at the first of his pit stops when the mechanics failed to fit the right front wheel securely before the car left the pits. As Alonso limped around the circuit the wheel broke loose and bounced alarmingly along the edge of the circuit and the resulting damage to the Spaniards' car soon led to his retirement. This piece of good fortune was all that Hamilton needed to impose his authority on the race and although Raikkonen passed Webber for second place in the pits with the two cars narrowly avoiding a collision he was never in a position to challenge the rejuvenated McLaren driver revelling in the new found performance of his car. Webber closed in on Raikkonen in the closing stages but settled for third place at the flag. Nico Rosberg was a fine fourth for Williams with Heikki Kovalainen and Timo Glock rounding out the top six. A dejected Jenson Button finished seventh struggling to explain what had happened to the performance of his Brawn car which was expected to perform well in the higher temperatures afforded by the Hungarian circuit. Jarno Trulli secured the remaining championship point for Toyota with eighth place. Kazuki Nakajima and Rubens Barrichello completed the top ten finishers. It was another dismal performance by the BMW team as Heidfeld and Kubica languished along finishing eleventh and thirteenth.

Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen underlined McLarens form in the opening practice session for the Hungarian GP by topping the time sheets after Kovalainen had earlier topped the times in session one with Hamilton third. Nico Rosberg was third fastest in the final session of the day with team mate Kazuki Nakajima turning in a great lap to secure fifth fastest. The Red Bulls of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel finished the day fourth and sixth and looking solid for the final session and qualifying. Brawn drivers Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button kept a relatively low profile ending the day down in seventh and thirteenth places. Jarno Trulli, Nick Heidfeld and Timo Glock rounded out the top ten fastest. Also keeping a low profile in the final session of the day were the Ferraris of Raikkonen in tenth and Massa down in eighteenth with the latter taking some trips off track in the process. Toro Rosso newcomer Alguersuari propped up the timesheets in last position.

The qualifying session for the Hungarian GP was overshadowed by a potentially life threatening accident for Felipe Massa. The Brazilians' Ferrari was travelling at high speed approaching turn 4 when it's driver was hit on the head by a spring that had fallen from the Brawn GP car of Rubens Barrichello. Massa looked to have been knocked unconscious by the impact and his car went straight on through the gravel trap before hitting the tyre barriers head on at almost unabated speed. Massa was carefully extricated from the car and airlifted to hospital with skull fractures and concussion. Q3 was delayed as a result but as the session got underway it was Fernando Alonso in the Renault setting the pace.He was briefly usurped by Nico Rosberg but soon bounced back to secure pole position. The Red Bulls of Vettel and Webber were hot on his heels in second and third with Hamilton taking fourth and squeezing Rosberg down into a still excellent fith place in the final analysis. Heikki Kovalainen rounded out the top six. Kimi raikkonen, Jenson Button and Kazuki Nakajima occupied the remaining top nine places with Felipe Massa tenth although obviously a non starter in the session. It was a chaotic last segment as the timing screens went blank partway through and at the end it was some moments later before the final order was confirmed.

01 H Kovalainen
1m 22.278s
02 N Rosberg
1m 22.337s
03 L Hamilton
1m 22.554s
04 M Webber
1m 22.615s
05 K Nakajima
1m 22.619s
06 J Trulli
1m 22.705s
07 K Raikkonen
1m 22.796s
08 F Massa
1m 22.855s
09 F Alonso
1m 23.001s
10 J Button
1m 23.13s
11 R Kubica
1m 23.146s
12 N Heidfeld
1m 23.154s
13 R Barrichello
1m 23.209s
14 T Glock
1m 23.234s
15  S Vettel
1m 23.283s
16 G Fisichella
1m 23.484s
17 N Piquet
1m 23.678s
18 A Sutil
1m 23.845s
19 S Buemi
1m 23.998s
20 J Alguersuari
1m 24.228s

01 F Alonso
1m 21.569s
02 S Vettel
1m 21.607s
03 M Webber
1m 21.741s
04 L Hamilton
1m 21.839s
05 N Rosberg
1m 21.89s
06 H Kovalainen
1m 22.095s
07 K Raikkonen
1m 22.468s
08 J Button
1m 22.511s
09 K Nakajima
1m 22.835s
10 F Massa
1m 20.823s

Eliminated Q2
11 S Buemi
1m 21.002s
12 J Trulli
1m 21.082s
13 R Barrichello
1m 21.222s
14 T Glock
1m 21.242s
15  N Piquet
1m 21.389s

Eliminated Q1
16 N Heidfeld
1m 21.738s
17 G Fisichella
1m 21.807s
18 A Sutil
1m 21.868s
19 R Kubica
1m 21.901s
20 J Alguersuari
1m 22.359s
 

01 L Hamilton
1m 22.079s
02 H Kovalainen
1m 22.126s
03 N Rosberg
1m 22.154s
04 M Webber
1m 22.369s
05 K Nakajima
1m 22.426s
06 S Vettel
1m 22.55s
07 R Barrichello
1m 22.641s
08 J Trulli
1m 22.663s
09 N Heidfeld
1m 22.69s
10 T Glock
1m 22.751s
11 K Raikkonen
1m 22.763s
12 F Alonso
1m 22.793s
13 J Button
1m 22.806s
14 R Kubica
1m 22.87s
15  N Piquet
1m 22.927s
16 A Sutil
1m 22.978s
17 G Fisichella
1m 23.029s
18 F Massa
1m 23.156s
19 S Buemi
1m 23.176s
20 J Alguersuari
1m 23.942s

01 L Hamilton
1m 21.009s
02 N Heidfeld
1m 21.408s
03 N Rosberg
1m 21.509s
04 H Kovalainen
1m 21.655s
05 S Buemi
1m 21.8s
06 T Glock
1m 21.849s
07 F Massa
1m 21.911s
08 K Nakajima
1m 21.935s
09 M Webber
1m 21.936s
10 S Vettel
1m 21.971s
11 R Kubica
1m 22.076s
12 J Trulli
1m 22.097s
13 R Barrichello
1m 22.101s
14 N Piquet
1m 22.21s
15  K Raikkonen
1m 22.27s
16 F Alonso
1m 22.274s
17 J Button
1m 22.312s
18 J Alguersuari
1m 22.391s
19 G Fisichella
1m 22.684s
20 A Sutil
1m 23.231s
 

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

Retired
L30 S Vettel
L16 F Alonso
L2 A Sutil
DNS F Massa

Fastest Lap
M Webber
1m 21.931s L65