2009 Chinese Grand Prix

The 2009 Chinese Grand Prix, formally known as the 2009 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix (alternately the 2009年中国大奖赛 or 2009 Zhōngguó dàjiǎng sài in Chinense), was the third round of the FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Shanghai International Circuit near Shanghai, China, on 19 April 2009.'3. China 2009', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2009/chine.aspx, (Accessed 20/03/2020)'Vettel storms to first Red Bull F1 victory in China!', crash.net, (Crash Media Group, 20/03/2020), https://www.crash.net/f1/race-report/145535/1/vettel-delivers-red-bull-first-f1-win-in-shanghai, (Accessed 20/03/2020) The race would be significant as the first race victory for as a constructor, as Sebastian Vettel led teammate Mark Webber to the chequered flag.
Ahead of the race the FIA dismissed appeals by seven teams against the "double diffuser" designs used by , and , meaning those three were free to use the solution for the rest of the season. and duly revealed their first iterations of the design on their cars in China, with Fernando Alonso running it on his car for the first time during qualifying.
The update to Alonso's car worked beautifully, for the Spaniard would claim second on the grid in between the two Red Bulls of Vettel and Webber. It was Vettel who was the faster of the two, two tenths faster than Alonso to secure Red Bull's maiden pole position, while Championship leader Jenson Button claimed fifth behind his Brawn teammate Rubens Barrichello.
Heavy rain on raceday ensured that the race would start behind the Safety Car, with the entire field starting on full wet tyres. The conditions proved so poor that the safety car remained out until lap eight, with Adrian Sutil, Nico Rosberg and Alonso deciding to make their first stops during the procession.
When the race did get underway Vettel was able to establish a small lead, leaving teammate Webber to fend off the early attentions of the two white Brawns. Indeed, once the Australian escaped their attentions Button would make a move on Barrichello for third, as behind Lewis Hamilton climbed up to fifth, before spinning all on his own and dropping back to tenth.
Webber was the first of the lead group to stop on lap fourteen, with Vettel following him in a lap later to leave Button and Barrichello at the head of the field. The two Brawns would lead until the safety car appeared for a second time, caused by a collision between Jarno Trulli and Robert Kubica.
As the SC signs were deployed Vettel almost found himself out of the race, for in avoiding a limping Trulli the German youth received a whack from Sébastien Buemi. Miraculously, however, it was the Swiss racer who received front wing damage and was forced to pit, while Vettel managed to continue and retook the lead ahead of a rejoining Button.
Vettel duly escaped at the restart, while Button tried to go with him, before a mistake at the hairpin saw the #22 Brawn run wide and gift second to Webber. With that the two Red Bulls were away, and would only lose the lead to the Brawns again when they made their second stops on lap 37 and 39.
Once Button and Barrichello stopped the race was effectively over, with the only action in the closing stages seeing Hamilton slip down the field with a series of errors, while Adrian Sutil crashed heavily at turn five. There was some surprise that Sutil's accident did not trigger a safety car, as an errant wheel from the bounced right across the track in front of Nick Heidfeld, who immediately dropped behind Timo Glock and Buemi when trying to avoid it.
Out front, meanwhile, Vettel cruised through the final laps to claim victory, with teammate Webber ensuring that there were two maiden wins for constructors in the opening three rounds of 2009. Behind, Button claimed a lonely third ahead of Barrichello, with Heikki Kovalainen, Hamilton, Glock and Buemi claiming the remaining points.
==Background==
Jenson Button extended his Championship lead as a result of the Malaysian Grand Prix, leaving Sepang with fifteen points to his name and two race wins. Rubens Barrichello had likewise retained second on ten points, while Jarno Trulli was third and the first driver with half a point, leaving Malaysia on 8.5 points. Timo Glock was half a point behind in fourth, while Nick Heidfeld had moved into fifth.
In the Constructors Championship had retained their advantage at the head of the pack, leaving Malaysia on 25 points. had remained in second, 8.5 points behind, while had leapt into third on four points. Elsewhere, were on the board with a single point, while and were the only constructors yet to score.
===Entry List===
The full entry list for the is outlined below:
No. 	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor 	Chassis 	Engine 	Model 	Tyre
1 	Lewis Hamilton 	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 	 	MP4-24 	 	FO 108W 2.4 V8 	
2 	Heikki Kovalainen 	Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 	 	MP4-24 	 	FO 108W 2.4 V8 	
3 	Felipe Massa 	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 	 	F60 	 	056 2009 2.4 V8 	
4 	Kimi Räikkönen 	Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 	 	F60 	 	056 2009 2.4 V8 	
5 	Robert Kubica 	BMW Sauber F1 Team 	 	F1.09 	 	P86/9 2.4 V8 	
6 	Nick Heidfeld 	BMW Sauber F1 Team 	 	F1.09 	 	P86/9 2.4 V8 	
7 	Fernando Alonso 	ING Renault F1 Team 	 	R29 	 	RS27 2.4 V8 	
8 	Nelson Piquet, Jr. 	ING Renault F1 Team 	 	R29 	 	RS27 2.4 V8 	
9 	Jarno Trulli 	Panasonic Toyota Racing 	 	TF109 	 	RVX-09 2.4 V8 	
10 	Timo Glock 	Panasonic Toyota Racing 	 	TF109 	 	RVX-09 2.4 V8 	
11 	Sébastien Bourdais 	Scuderia Toro Rosso 	 	STR4 	 	056 2008 2.4 V8 	
12 	Sébastien Buemi 	Scuderia Toro Rosso 	 	STR4 	 	056 2008 2.4 V8 	
14 	Mark Webber 	Red Bull Racing 	 	RB5 	 	RS27 2.4 V8 	
15 	Sebastian Vettel 	Red Bull Racing 	 	RB5 	 	RS27 2.4 V8 	
16 	Nico Rosberg 	AT&T Williams 	 	FW31 	 	RVX-09 2.4 V8 	
17 	Kazuki Nakajima 	AT&T Williams 	 	FW31 	 	RVX-09 2.4 V8 	
20 	Adrian Sutil 	Force India F1 Team 	 	VJM02 	 	FO 108W 2.4 V8 	
21 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	Force India F1 Team 	 	VJM02 	 	FO 108W 2.4 V8 	
22 	Jenson Button 	Brawn GP F1 Team 	 	BGP 001 	 	FO 108W 2.4 V8 	
23 	Rubens Barrichello 	Brawn GP F1 Team 	 	BGP 001 	 	FO 108W 2.4 V8 	
Source:'China 2009: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2009/chine/engages.aspx, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'China 2009: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2009/chine/engages.aspx, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'China 2009: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2009/chine/engages.aspx, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'China 2009: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2009/chine/engages.aspx, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'China 2009: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2009/chine/engages.aspx, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'China 2009: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2009/chine/engages.aspx, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'China 2009: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2009/chine/engages.aspx, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'China 2009: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2009/chine/engages.aspx, (Accessed 20/03/2020)
==Practice Overview==
==Qualifying==
===Q1===
===Q2===
===Q3===
===Qualifying Results===
The full qualifying results for the are outlined below:
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Team 	 	Q1 	Q1 	 	Q2 	Q2 	 	Q3 	Q3 	Grid
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Team 	 	Pos. 	Time 	 	Pos. 	Time 	 	Pos. 	Time 	Grid
1 	15 	Sebastian Vettel 	 	 	13 	1:36.565 	 	1 	1:35.130 	 	1 	1:36.184 	1
2 	7 	Fernando Alonso 	 	 	11 	1:36.443 	 	7 	1:35.803 	 	2 	1:36.381 	2
3 	14 	Mark Webber 	 	 	3 	1:35.751 	 	2 	1:35.173 	 	3 	1:36.466 	3
4 	23 	Rubens Barrichello 	 	 	2 	1:35.701 	 	3 	1:35.503 	 	4 	1:36.493 	4
5 	22 	Jenson Button 	 	 	1 	1:35.533 	 	4 	1:35.556 	 	5 	1:36.532 	5
6 	9 	Jarno Trulli 	 	 	9 	1:36.308 	 	5 	1:35.645 	 	6 	1:36.835 	6
7 	16 	Nico Rosberg 	 	 	5 	1:35.941 	 	8 	1:35.809 	 	7 	1:37.397 	7
8 	4 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 	 	6 	1:36.137 	 	9 	1:35.856 	 	8 	1:38.089 	8
9 	1K 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	 	4 	1:35.776 	 	6 	1:35.740 	 	9 	1:38.595 	9
10 	12 	Sébastien Buemi 	 	 	8 	1:36.284 	 	10 	1:35.965 	 	10 	1:39.321 	10
11 	6K 	Nick Heidfeld 	 	 	12 	1:36.525 	 	11 	1:35.975 	 	 	 	11
12 	2K 	Heikki Kovalainen 	 	 	14 	1:36.646 	 	12 	1:36.032 	 	 	 	12
13 	3 	Felipe Massa 	 	 	7 	1:36.178 	 	13 	1:36.033 	 	 	 	13
14* 	10 	Timo Glock 	 	 	10 	1:36.364 	 	14 	1:36.066 	 	 	 	19
15 	17 	Kazuki Nakajima 	 	 	15 	1:36.673 	 	15 	1:36.193 	 	 	 	14
16 	11 	Sébastien Bourdais 	 	 	16 	1:36.906 	 	 	 	 	 	 	15
17 	8 	Nelson Piquet, Jr. 	 	 	17 	1:36.908 	 	 	 	 	 	 	16
18 	5 	Robert Kubica 	 	 	18 	1:36.966 	 	 	 	 	 	 	17
19 	20 	Adrian Sutil 	 	 	19 	1:37.669 	 	 	 	 	 	 	18
20 	21 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	 	 	20 	1:37.672 	 	 	 	 	 	 	19
Source:'2009 FORMULA 1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2009/races/845/china/qualifying.html, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'2009 FORMULA 1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2009/races/845/china/qualifying.html, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'2009 FORMULA 1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2009/races/845/china/qualifying.html, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'2009 FORMULA 1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2009/races/845/china/qualifying.html, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'2009 FORMULA 1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2009/races/845/china/qualifying.html, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'2009 FORMULA 1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2009/races/845/china/qualifying.html, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'2009 FORMULA 1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2009/races/845/china/qualifying.html, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'2009 FORMULA 1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2009/races/845/china/qualifying.html, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'2009 FORMULA 1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2009/races/845/china/qualifying.html, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'2009 FORMULA 1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2009/races/845/china/qualifying.html, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'2009 FORMULA 1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2009/races/845/china/qualifying.html, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'2009 FORMULA 1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2009/races/845/china/qualifying.html, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'2009 FORMULA 1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2009/races/845/china/qualifying.html, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'2009 FORMULA 1 CHINESE GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2009/races/845/china/qualifying.html, (Accessed 20/03/2020)
*K Indicates a driver was equipped with KERS during the session.
*Bold indicates the fastest driver's time in each session.
** Glock was awarded a five place grid penalty for changing his gearbox.
===Grid===
** Kubica and Glock would start the race from the pitlane.
==Race==
===Report===
On the podium, there was confusion when "God Save the Queen", the British national anthem was played for winning constructor Red Bull instead of "Land der Berge, Land am Strome", the Austrian national anthem. Red Bull Racing is based in the UK, but is registered with the Austrian national racing authority, reflecting its Austrian ownership. When Vettel recorded Red Bull's second win at the 2009 British Grand Prix, the Austrian anthem was played.
===Results===
The full results for the are outlined below:
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor 	Laps 	Time/Retired 	Grid 	Points
1 	15 	Sebastian Vettel 	 	56 	1:57:43.485 	1 	10
2 	14 	Mark Webber 	 	56 	+10.970s 	3 	8
3 	22 	Jenson Button 	 	56 	+44.975s 	5 	6
4 	23 	Rubens Barrichello 	 	56 	+1:03.704 	4 	5
5 	2K 	Heikki Kovalainen 	 	56 	+1:05.102 	12 	4
6 	1K 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	56 	+1:11.866 	9 	3
7 	10 	Timo Glock 	 	56 	+1:14.476 	19 	2
8 	12 	Sébastien Buemi 	 	56 	+1:16.439 	10 	1
9 	7 	Fernando Alonso 	 	56 	+1:24.309 	2 	
10 	4 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 	56 	+1:31.750 	8 	
11 	11 	Sébastien Bourdais 	 	56 	+1:34.156 	15 	
12 	6K 	Nick Heidfeld 	 	56 	+1:35.834 	11 	
13 	5 	Robert Kubica 	 	56 	+1:46.853 	17 	
14 	21 	Giancarlo Fisichella 	 	55 	+1 Lap 	20 	
15 	16 	Nico Rosberg 	 	55 	+1 Lap 	7 	
16 	8 	Nelson Piquet, Jr. 	 	54 	+2 Laps 	16 	
17* 	20 	Adrian Sutil 	 	50 	Accident 	18 	
Ret 	17 	Kazuki Nakajima 	 	43 	Transmission 	14 	
Ret 	3 	Felipe Massa 	 	20 	Electrical 	13 	
Ret 	9 	Jarno Trulli 	 	18 	Damage 	6 	
Source:'China 2008: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2009/chine/classement.aspx, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'China 2008: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2009/chine/classement.aspx, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'China 2008: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2009/chine/classement.aspx, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'China 2008: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2009/chine/classement.aspx, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'China 2008: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2009/chine/classement.aspx, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'China 2008: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2009/chine/classement.aspx, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'China 2008: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2009/chine/classement.aspx, (Accessed 20/03/2020)	Source:'China 2008: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2009/chine/classement.aspx, (Accessed 20/03/2020)
*K Indicates a driver was equipped with KERS during the session.
** Sutil was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 90% of the race distance.
==Milestones==
* Sebastian Vettel secured the first pole position for as a constructor.
** Also the twentieth pole for a car using #15 as its race number.[Archived] '2009 Chinese GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2014), https://web.archive.org/web/20190409185943/http://chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=2009&gp=Chinese%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 20/03/2020) - Original
* Second career victory for Vettel.
* Red Bull claimed their first victory as a constructor.
** This was also Red Bull's maiden one-two finish.
** 116th win for as an engine supplier.
==Standings==
Jenson Button retained his lead in the Championship after the third round of the season, leaving China with a six point advantage. Rubens Barrichello had likewise retained second, moving onto fifteen points, while Sebastian Vettel had rocketed up to third with his victory. Timo Glock had remained in fourth ahead of Mark Webber, with thirteen drivers on the board after three races.
In the Constructors Championship remained at the head of the field, and had ensured that they had a fair advantage of sixteen and a half point. , meanwhile, had been the big winners in China as they shot into second on 19.5 points, with one of a handful of teams to make way for the Austro-Anglo-French combination. had also moved up the field into fourth, while and had once again failed to score.
World Championship for Drivers	World Championship for Drivers	World Championship for Drivers	World Championship for Drivers
Pos. 	Driver 	Pts. 	+/-
1 	Jenson Button 	21 	
2 	Rubens Barrichello 	15 	
3 	Sebastian Vettel 	10 	12
4 	Timo Glock 	10 	
5 	Mark Webber 	9.5 	4
6 	Jarno Trulli 	8.5 	3
7 	Nick Heidfeld 	4 	2
8 	Fernando Alonso 	4 	2
9 	Heikki Kovalainen 	4 	11
10 	Lewis Hamilton 	4 	
11 	Nico Rosberg 	3.5 	4
12 	Sébastien Buemi 	3 	4
13 	Sébastien Bourdais 	1 	2
World Championship for Constructors	World Championship for Constructors	World Championship for Constructors	World Championship for Constructors
Pos. 	Team 	Pts. 	+/-
1 	 	36 	
2 	 	19.5 	5
3 	 	18.5 	1
4 	 	8 	4
5 	 	4 	2
6 	 	4 	2
7 	 	4 	1
8 	 	3.5 	3
Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.
==References==
Images and Videos:
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References:
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:2009 Grands Prix
Category:Chinese Grand Prix