Buzzin F1 – Formula One Blog

The Italian Grand Prix 2009

The Brawn GP driver Rubens Barrichello took the chequered flag yesterday ahead of team-mate Jenson Button at the Italian Grand Prix.

At the start of the race it was pole man Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren that led the field into the first corner followed by Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari and Adrian Sutil in the Force India in third, after qualifying in second place.

Both of the Brawn GP drivers passed the McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen on the first lap as Mark Webber in the Red Bull Racing car went off into the gravel trap at the second chicane, after being clipped by the BMW Sauber of Robert Kubica.  Kubica was called into the pits on lap 9 to have his front wing replaced while running in ninth position while Webber was out of the race.

Tonio Liuzzi, who has replaced Giancarlo Fisichella in the Force India cockpit, was the next man to pass Kovalainen who was running on a heavy fuel load for his one-stop of the day.

By the second lap Hamilton was leading Raikkonen, Sutil, Barrichello, Button, Liuzzi, Kovalainen and Alonso, but by lap 4, Alonso’s Renault had also passed the McLaren of Kovalainen.

Lewis Hamilton came in for his first pit stop on lap 15, with a 17 second lead on Rubens Barrichello, not nearly enough as the two Brawn GP cars were on a one-stop strategy.

On lap 16, the BMW Sauber driver Robert Kubica retired his car to the garage, while Adrian Sutil in the Force India came in for his first pit-stop on lap 18.  Kimi Raikkonen entered the pits from the lead on lap 20 and rejoined just behind the Renault of Fernando Alonso in sixth place.

On lap 21, Jaime Alguersari retired his Toro Rosso as Barrichello led the Italian Grand Prix ahead of his team-mate Button, Hamilton, Liuzzi, Raikkonen, who has passed Alonso, Sutil and Kovalainen.

On lap 23, the Force India car of Tonio Liuzzi developed a problem and was seen crawling around the track until he parked it at the side of the track and retired from the race, a great shame after an impressive drive from Liuzzi.

Alonso pitted the Renault on lap 27 as Barrichello increased the gap from Hamilton to 14 seconds while Button made his first and only pit stop on the following lap.  Barrichello entered the pits from the lead on lap 28 and rejoined ahead of Button leaving Hamilton up front until his next stop.

Hamilton took his final stop on lap 35, with only a 16 second gap on Barrichello and rejoined behind Button. Raikkonen pitted on lap 38 along with the Force India of Sutil, who got it all wrong on his approach to his box and clipped one of his crew.  Raikkonen exited the pits ahead of Sutil and was now running in fourth place behind race leader Barrichello, Button and Hamilton.

Hamilton began to pick up the pace and was chasing down second placed man Button while Sutil was all over the back of Button again.

Vettel went off track on lap 43, taking the Red Bull Racing car through the gravel at the second Lesmo while on lap 47, Button set his fastest lap as he desperately tried to shake off the approaching McLaren of Hamilton.

On lap 48, Jarno Trulli in the Toyota made contact with the Williams of Kazuki Nakajima into the first chicane, causing him to nearly collect his team-mate Timo Glock as he battled to stay on track, taking a trip through the gravel at the second chicane.

On lap 51, Kovalainen seemed to find the extra speed he’d been looking for and was chasing the Renault of Alonso as Hamilton continued to put the pressure on second placed man Button.

On lap 52, it was all over for the reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton, who got it all wrong at the exit to the second Lesmo, putting his McLaren into the wall.  The safety car was deployed as Barrichello crossed the line to take his second victory of the season followed by his team-mate Button in second and Ferrari driver KimiRaikkonen in third.

Force India driver Adrian Sutil finished in fourth place followed by Alonso in fifth, Kovalainen in sixth, Nick Heidfeld for the BMW Sauber team in seventh, Vettel in eighth, Giancarlo Fisichella in his first drive for the Ferrari team in ninth and the Williams of Nakajima completing the top ten drivers of the day.

Here are the results;

1. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Brawn-Mercedes 53 laps 1h 16m 21.706s
2. Jenson Button Britain Brawn-Mercedes +2.8s
3. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari-Ferrari +30.6s
4. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes +31.1s
5. Fernando Alonso Spain Renault-Renault +59.1
6. Heikki Kovalainen Finland McLaren-Mercedes +60.6s
7. Nick Heidfeld Germany BMW Sauber +82.4s
8. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault +85.4s

all times unofficial