Japan 2009
BACK AT SUZUKA FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2006, THIS RACE PROVED TO BE AS FULL OF INCIDENTS AS ANY OF ITS PREDECESSORS!
THIS WAS PARTLY, IF NOT WHOLLY, DUE TO THE FACT THAT 8 OUT OF THE 20 DRIVERS HAD NEVER RACED HERE BEFORE IN F1 AND MANY OF THESE HAD NEVER EVEN RACED HERE IN ANY OTHER SERIES.
THE DRAMA STARTED ON FRIDAY WHEN THE 90-MINUTE FREE PRACTICE 2 WAS VIRTUALLY WASHED OUT WITH NO DRY RUNNING AT ALL AND ONLY 13 MINUTES OF WET RUNNING POSSIBLE. THE 60-MINUTE FREE PRACTICE 3 ON SATURDAY WAS THE ONLY TIME DRY RUNNING WAS POSSIBLE AND, FOR MARK WEBBER, THE RUSH TO GET ALL THE WORK DONE PROVED TOO MUCH. HE SPUN OFF AND DAMAGED THE CAR BADLY ENOUGH THAT IT REQUIRED A NEW CHASSIS.
CONSEQUENTLY, HE WAS UNABLE TO TAKE PART IN QUALIFYING ON SATURDAY AND STARTED THE RACE FROM THE PIT-LANE. QUALIFYING HERE WAS AS DISRUPTED AS IT POSSIBLY COULD BE AND NOT BECAUSE OF THE WEATHER. BOTH Q2 AND Q3 WERE RED-FLAGGED AS A TOTAL OF 4 CARS CRASHED OUT AT VARIOUS TIMES. TIMO GLOCK SUFFERED THE ONLY INJURY AND WAS AIR-LIFTED TO HOSPITAL TO HAVE A SEVERE LEG WOUND DEALT WITH.
THE DEBRIS FROM THE LAST CRASH, SEBASTIEN BUEMI'S, IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO THE TWO BRAWN'S ONLY FLYING LAPS IN Q3, CAUSED A NUMBER OF DRIVERS TO BE PENALISED FOR NOT SLOWING DOWN UNDER THE RESULTANT YELLOW FLAGS. THIS CREATED A GRID THAT BORE LITTLE RELATION TO THE ACTUAL LAP TIMES.
SEBASTIEN VETTEL TOOK POLE, HELD OFF THE CHALLENGES FROM JARNO TRULLI AND LEWIS HAMILTON AT TURN 1 AS THE RACE GOT UNDER WAY AND NEVER LOOKED BACK. JARNO AND LEWIS HAD A CLOSE BATTLE ALL RACE BUT JARNO WAS ABLE TO GET AHEAD OF LEWIS AT THE TIME OF THE LAST PIT-STOPS AND THAT IS HOW THEY FINISHED.
A LATE SAFETY CAR INCIDENT CREATED A DESPERATE DASH FOR THE LINE BY ALL THE FRONT-RUNNERS AND THE TWO BRAWNS ALMOST SECURED THE FOUR POINTS THE TEAM NEEDED TO SEAL THE CONSTRUCTORS TITLE BUT HAD TO SETTLE FOR 3 POINTS.
THE DRIVERS TITLE RACE HAS CLOSED UP BEHIND JENSON BUTTON AS A RESULT OF SEBASTIEN'S WIN BUT HE ONLY LOST ONE POINT TO HIS CLOSEST RIVAL, RUBENS BARRICHELLO - THE GAP NOW BEING 14 POINTS TO RUBENS AND 16 TO SEBASTIEN. THIS MAY YET GO TO ABU DHABI FOR A DECIDER!
STARTING GRID
| | | |
| 1.
|
Sebastian Vettel
|
| 2.
|
Jarno Trulli
|
| 3.
|
Lewis Hamilton
|
| 4.
|
Nick Heidfeld
|
| 5.
|
Kimi Raikkonen
|
| 6.
|
Rubens Barrichello
|
| 7.
|
Nico Rosberg
|
| 8.
|
Aidrian Sutil
|
| 9.
|
Robert Kubica
|
| 10.
|
Jenson Button
|
| 11.
|
Heikki Kovalainen
|
| 12.
|
Jaime Alguersari
|
| 13.
|
Sebastien Buemi
|
| 14.
|
Giancarlo Fisichella
|
| 15.
|
Kazuki Nakajima
|
| 16.
|
Fernando Alonso
|
| 17.
|
Romain Grosjean
|
| 18.
|
Vitantonio Liuzzi
|
| 19.
|
Mark Webber
|
RESULT
| |
| 1.
|
Sebastian Vettel
|
| 2.
|
Jarno Trulli
|
| 3.
|
Lewis Hamilton
|
| 4.
|
Kimi Raikkonen
|
| 5.
|
Nico Rosberg
|
| 6.
|
Nick Heidfeld
|
| 7.
|
Rubens Barrichello
|
| 8.
|
Jenson Button
|
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Drivers :
| |
| Jenson Button
|
85
|
| Rubens Barrichello
|
71
|
| Sebastian Vettel
|
69
|
| Mark Webber
|
51.5
|
| Kimi Raikkonen
|
45
|
| Lewis Hamilton
|
43
|
| Nico Rosberg
|
34.5
|
| Jarno Trulli
|
30.5
|
Constructors :
|
| Brawn GP
|
156
|
| Red Bull Racing
|
120.5
|
| Ferrari
|
67
|
| McLaren
|
65
|
| Toyota
|
54.5
|
| Williams
|
34.5
|
| Renault
|
26
|
| BMW
|
24
|
| Force India
|
13
|
| Scuderia Toro Rosso
|
5
|
Race Results posted by
David Little
5th October 2009
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