Formula 1 2009 | Spanish GP

Circuit de Catalunya

08-10 May 2009

Lap Distance 4.655 Km

Race 66 Laps 307.104 Km

Jenson Button won the Spanish GP from team mate Rubens Barrichello after a dramatic start and first corner melee that resulted in the elimination of Trulli, Buemi, Bourdais and Sutil. The carnage at the first corner left the track covered with corbon fibre debris and resulted in the safety car being deployed. It was Barrichello that took the lead from the start and built a commanding lead from second placed Jenson Button. Brawn had planned three stop strategies for both cars but at the first round of stops switched Button to a two stop which proved to be the decisive factor in determining the finishing order of the two cars. Barrichello drove a strong race but in the end was unable overcome the pace and strtegy of Button. Mark Webber drove a great race to take third for Red BUll outpacing team mate Sebastian Vettel on this occasion albeit by just one place as Vettel took fourth. Fernando Alonso finished fifth capitalising on Felipe Massa's Ferrari running low on fuel in the closing stages and having to yield his hard earned 4th place to first Vettel, then Alonso to ensure that he could make the end of the race. Massa took 6th but ran out of fuel on the slowing down lap. Nick Heidfeld and Nico Rosberg were the final points scorers rounding out the top eight. Lewis Hamilton just failed to make the points finishing in ninth position with his car suffering poor rear grip. It was a disappointing day all round for McLaren with Kovalainen retiring on lap 7. Kimi Raikkonen also had a disappointing race with his Ferrari coming to a stop out on the circuit on lap 19. Timo Glock brought some cheer to Toyota after the early loss of Trulli by bring his car home in 10th place.

Yet again Nico Rosberg topped the timesheets on a Friday free practice day, this time for the Spanish GP at Catalunya. Rosberg was ably supported by his team mate Kazuki Nakajima who ended the final session of the day second fastest less than 0.2s adrift of the flying Rosberg. Fernando Alonso gave the partisan crowd something to cheer about when he emerged third fastest in the Renault late in the session. Rubens Barrichello was next up 4th fastest with Mark Webber's Red Bull sandwiched between the two Brawn cars in 5th, with Button closing out the top six. The McLarens of Kovalainen and Hamilton look set to struggle again this weekend only managing 13th and 14th fastest. It was not much better at Ferrari with Raikkonen 10th and Massa 15th fastest. The Red Bull duo of Webber and Vettel were well placed in 5th and 7th and are looking good again for the weekend.

Jenson Button crossed the line to start his final qualifying lap with just two seconds to spare, putting together a superb lap to snatch pole from under the nose of Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel who looked to have it sown up. Rubens Barrichello made it a great team performance for Brawn GP crossing the line 3rd fastest. Felipe Massa salvaged what started out as a disastrous session for Ferrari following Kimi Raikkonen's Q1 exit by finishing the shoot out in a respectable 4th place and in the highest grid position for a KERS car. Mark Webber and Timo Glock rounded out the top six. It was another tough session for McLaren with Lewis Hamilton unable to find enough pace in the car to get to the final shoot out, ending the session down in a disappointing 14th place with team mate Heikki Kovalainen even further back in 18th. For BMW it was also a difficult session with Robert Kubica taking the final top ten place but Nick Heidfeld going out in Q2 starting 13th on the grid.

01 J Button
1m 21.799s
02 J Trulli
1m 22.154s
03 R Kubica
1m 22.221s
04 N Heidfeld
1m 22.658s
05 K Nakajima
1m 22.659s
06 N Rosberg
1m 22.667s
07 N Piquet
1m 22.753s
08 T Glock
1m 22.828s
09 F Massa
1m 22.855s
10 R Barrichello
1m 22.859s
11 K Raikkonen
1m 22.873s
12 M Webber
1m 22.934s
13 S Vettel
1m 22.959s
14 L Hamilton
1m 23.077s
15 S Bourdais
1m 23.088s
16 G Fisichella
1m 23.089s
17 F Alonso
1m 23.157s
18 S Buemi
1m 23.185s
19 H Kovalainen
1m 23.522s
20 A Sutil
1m 23.536s

01 J Button
1m 20.707s
02 S Vettel
1m 20.715s
03 R Barrichello
1m 20.808s
04 F Massa
1m 20.484s
05 M Webber
1m 20.689s
06 T Glock
1m 20.877s
07 J Trulli
1m 21.189s
08 F Alonso
1m 21.186s
09 N Rosberg
1m 20.745s
10 R Kubica
1m 20.931s
Eliminated Q2
11 K Nakajima
1m 20.531s
12 N Piquet
1m 20.604s
13 N Heidfeld
1m 20.676s
14 L Hamilton
1m 20.805s
15 S Buemi
1m 21.067s
Eliminated Q1
16 K Raikkonen
1m 21.291s
17 S Bourdais
1m 21.300s
18 H Kovalainen
1m 21.675s
19 A Sutil
1m 21.742s
20 G Fisichella
1m 22.204s

01 N Rosberg
1m 21.588s
02 K Nakajima
1m 21.74s
03 F Alonso
1m 21.781s
04 R Barrichello
1m 21.843s
05 M Webber
1m 22.027s
06 J Button
1m 22.052s
07 S Vettel
1m 22.082s
08 N Piquet
1m 22.349s
09 S Buemi
1m 22.571s
10 K Raikkonen
1m 22.599s
11 S Bourdais
1m 22.615s
12 G Fisichella
1m 22.67s
13 L Hamilton
1m 22.809s
14 H Kovalainen
1m 22.876s
15 F Massa
1m 22.878s
16 R Kubica
1m 22.948s
17 N Heidfeld
1m 23.173s
18 T Glock
1m 23.36s
19 J Trulli
1m 23.623s
20 A Sutil
1m No Time

01 N Rosberg
1m 25.808s
02 J Trulli
1m 25.811s
03 J Button
1m 25.981s
04 F Massa
1m 26.020s
05 K Nakajima
1m 26.078s
06 R Barrichello
1m 26.348s
07 M Webber
1m 26.355s
08 T Glock
1m 26.410s
09 R Kubica
1m 26.514s
10 N Heidfeld
1m 26.555s
11 H Kovalainen
1m 26.652s
12 L Hamilton
1m 26.714s
13 S Vettel
1m 27.009s
14 A Sutil
1m 27.062s
15 S Bourdais
1m 27.152s
16 S Buemi
1m 27.192s
17 F Alonso
1m 27.357s
18 G Fisichella
1m 27.492s
19 N Piquet
1m 27.739s
20 K Raikkonen
1m 28.801s

01 J Button
02 R Barrichello
03 M Webber
04 S Vettel
05 F Alonso
06 F Massa
07 N Heidfeld
08 N Rosberg
09 L Hamilton
10 T Glock
11 R Kubica
12 N Piquet
13 K Nakajima
14 G Fisichella

Retired
L1 J Trulli
L1 S Buemi
L1 S Bourdais
L1 A Sutil
L7 H Kovalainen
L19 K Raikkonen

Fastest Lap
R Barrichello
1m 22.762s Lap 28