2009 Chinese Grand Prix

The 2009 Chinese Grand Prix (formally the 2009 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix ) [ 3 ] was a Formula One motor race held on 19 April 2009 at the Shanghai International Circuit , Shanghai , People's Republic of China . It was the third race of the 2009 Formula One season , a change from previous years, when it took place towards the end of the season.

Heading into the event, Jenson Button of Brawn GP led the Drivers' Championship by 5 points from team-mate Rubens Barrichello and by a further 1.5 points from Jarno Trulli of Toyota . Brawn GP led Toyota by 8.5 points in the Constructors' Championship, with Renault and BMW Sauber a further 12.5 points behind.

Ferrari announced that its team manager Luca Baldisserri was taken off the track operations to be replaced by race engineer Chris Dyer . [ 9 ] The reshuffle was undertaken after Ferrari failed to score a point in the first two races of the season. [ 10 ] Ferrari also announced that both its drivers, Kimi Räikkönen and Felipe Massa , would not use the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) in the race, citing reliability and safety issues. [ 11 ] BMW Sauber , on the other hand, declared that Rober...

Italian teams and drivers indicated their support for the victims of 2009 L'Aquila earthquake through charity initiative " Abruzzo nel cuore" ( Abruzzo in my heart ) led by Italian drivers Jarno Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella . [ 14 ] [ 15 ] Ferrari displayed the writing "Abruzzo nel cuore" on their cars while Trulli wore the logo on his overalls. [ 16 ] The Toro Rosso cars had the message "Vicini All'Abruzzo" ( All neighbouring Abruzzo ) on their cars. [ 14 ]

"The car instantly felt a bit better. I can feel more stability and downforce from the front. We've definitely made a step forward for this race. The car feels much stronger through the corners and I think we've got a very positive baseline for the rest of the weekend. My first run on the options felt quite consistent".

Williams' Rosberg was quickest in the practice session on Saturday morning. Rosberg, who slid off the track onto the gravel at the start of the session, timed 1:36.133 to top the timesheets, followed by Trulli and Hamilton. [ 22 ] Button finished fourth with Renault's Nelson Piquet Jr. clocking the fifth fastest lap time for the session. Piquet's team-mate Fernando Alonso on the other hand, whose Renault R29 car was fitted with new diffuser and without the KERS, could only manage a time good eno...

"...if you only have one lap and if you have [ sic ] any mistake, you go wide or whatever, there is no second chance and it means it is the end. It was not so easy but I am very, very happy. Unbelievable we made it to pole position in the end."

Robert Kubica and Timo Glock started from the pit lane. Due to heavy rain, the first eight laps of the race were run under the safety car . Sutil, Rosberg and Alonso made their first pit stops during the safety car period so they were at the back of the pack when the green flag was shown. Lewis Hamilton made early progress and overtook Jarno Trulli and Kimi Räikkönen, before he spun on lap 12 and dropped back to 10th. Meanwhile, Jenson Button overtook Rubens Barrichello for third after the Brazi...

Trulli and Räikkönen were quite slow in the early laps and they dropped back. Hamilton made progress once again and was 7th on lap 11 before another mistake which dropped him one place down. Webber made his first scheduled stop on lap 14 and Vettel on the following lap. At this point, Button led from Barrichello, Vettel, Buemi, Massa and Webber.

On lap 17, Robert Kubica crashed into Jarno Trulli on the run to the last corner. Kubica damaged his front wing and Trulli his rear wing, which caused him to crawl one lap slowly into the pits to retire. The safety car was deployed due to debris left on the track. While avoiding the slowing Trulli, Vettel suffered a minor collision with Buemi, who damaged his front wing in the process. Buemi made his pit stop at that point, along with both Brawn GP drivers and Sutil, who had his second stop at t...

Felipe Massa suffered an electrical problem during the safety car period and he stopped on the back straight. At the restart, Sébastien Bourdais spun before the green flag and dropped a number of places. The race continued with Vettel leading from Button while Webber, Räikkönen, Hamilton, Barrichello, Kovalainen and Buemi rounded out the top eight.

Piquet crashed on lap 28 and damaged his front wing but was able to continue. Button missed his braking point at the hairpin on the following lap, allowing Webber through. Webber ran wide two laps later and Button was ahead again, until Webber passed him from the outside in turn 7.

Cars that used KERS are marked with "‡"

31°20′20″N 121°13′11″E  /  31.33889°N 121.21972°E  / 31.33889; 121.21972