2009 European Grand Prix

The 2009 European Grand Prix (formally the 2009 Formula 1 Telefónica Grand Prix of Europe ) [ 2 ] was a Formula One motor race held on 23 August 2009 at the Valencia Street Circuit in Valencia, Spain . It was the 11th race of the 2009 Formula One season . The race was contested over 57 laps, an overall race distance of 308.9 km (191.9 mi). The winner was Rubens Barrichello for Brawn GP after starting from third on the grid. [ 3 ] The 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton finished second for McLaren...

Jenson Button headed into the weekend still on top of the Drivers' Championship, 18.5 points in front of Mark Webber who had jumped ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel , who was on 47 points and only 3 ahead of Brazilian Rubens Barrichello . [ 6 ]

Brawn GP still lead the Constructor's Championship by 15.5 points from Red Bull Racing , with a further 58.5 points separating the latter from defending champions Ferrari . Ferrari had overtaken Toyota after Kimi Räikkönen has finished 2nd place in the previous race. [ 6 ]

"I did not have a holiday. I just worked very hard in a physical way because after Felipe’s accident and Michael tried to drive the car it was very clear for us that, if Michael was not able, then it was my turn. I kept really concentrating and thinking about everything I could do to be in the best position for the race. I did really a lot of training. I drove a go-kart because I think it is very good for general training. Obviously I did the special training for the neck with my special machine...

Meanwhile, Renault announced on 4 August that Nelson Piquet Jr. 's contract with the team had been terminated with immediate effect; [ 10 ] this decision was made after Piquet had not scored a single point all season. [ 6 ] His replacement Romain Grosjean was announced on 18 August; it was believed that he would be racing for the remainder of the season. [ 11 ]

Renault had initially been suspended from the Grand Prix as a result of the events that led to a wheel coming off Alonso's car during the Hungarian Grand Prix. [ 12 ] However, Renault appealed to the FIA Court of Appeal, who overturned the suspension, and enabled Alonso to race at his second home Grand Prix. [ 13 ]

"It was a positive day for us with some good laps and the car performed well right from the start of the first session. We worked on the set-up throughout the day and now we’re pretty much happy with what we have so I think we are in good shape for the rest of the weekend. The incident with Nick Heidfeld this afternoon was a normal incident that can happen during racing or free practice. For tomorrow, we will try our best to get on the front row of the grid with the objective of scoring points o...

Brawn came back to form with the track temperature higher than at other circuits making Barrichello the pace-setter with the two McLarens behind him. Kovalainen and Hamilton were only separated by 0.018 seconds. [ 18 ] Nico Rosberg who has topped most Friday practice sessions throughout the season struggled in his Williams coming 14th in session 1, 1.3 seconds off Barrichello, while team-mate Kazuki Nakajima fared better, coming 7th. However both Rosberg and Nakajima got into the top five in the...

Renault 's Romain Grosjean had a solid two sessions, coming 17th and 13th respectively, although Alonso outpaced him in each by over a second. Luca Badoer came 20th and 18th in the two Friday sessions as he continued to struggle with the car as team-mate Kimi Räikkönen was 11th and 10th in the two sessions. [ 18 ] The Toyotas struggled in session 1 with Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock coming 18th and 19th respectively. Although there was a small piece of hope as Trulli in the second session came 12t...

Force India 's big updates [ 20 ] were showing improvements as Adrian Sutil came 6th in the first session, while in the second session Sutil came 6th again while Giancarlo Fisichella showed a bit of form when he came in 8th. BMW Sauber were still struggling as they came 12th and 15th. But Robert Kubica was hopefully showing a light at the end of the tunnel as he came 7th in the second session, splitting the two Force Indias.

Red Bull seemed to be struggling in the hotter conditions as they were outpaced in both sessions by title challengers Brawn. Vettel (5th and 9th) and Webber (8th and 14th) were hopeful things would improve on Saturday.

The second session was topped by the other Brawn, Rubens Barrichello, a time of 1:38.076; half a second quicker than the quickest time in Q1. Sebastian Buemi came bottom of the session, half a second behind débutante Romain Grosjean in 14th. Glock, Sutil and Heidfeld were the others eliminated. Robert Kubica ended a long drought and made it to Q3.

The final 10-minute shoot-out began with very close lap times. As the chequered flag fell everyone was on their final lap. Button was the first of the main contenders to cross it for the final time and he didn't improve and stayed 5th. Next was Barrichello as he crossed the line and didn't improve and stayed 2nd. Kovalainen looked set for pole position but a lockup and a slide in the final corner could only get him up into second, so Hamilton didn't feel the need to complete his lap with no one ...

On lap 15, Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel came into the pits. Hamilton rejoined in sixth place but Vettel's fuel pump failed to work so he had to come in again. Kovalainen came in a lap later while Barrichello was pushing to try to build a gap. Button and Räikkönen pitted on lap 18, the Finn coming out in eighth while Button rejoined in 11th. Barrichello came in on lap 19, the Brazilian had made a lot of ground as he rejoined just behind Lewis after being around 10 seconds adrift. But most import...

"It has been fantastic. It has been a weekend that I will never forget especially because after five years you don’t forget how to do it, but it is tough. In the middle of the race they were telling me push, push, push and although you are pushing like hell there are some things that go through your mind. You know that you cannot commit any mistakes and you want to do it for yourself, you want to do it for your country and you want to do it for your family. There was a lot going through my mind ...

Hamilton seemed to have found some pace but he pitted soon after on lap 37. He came in but his new tyres were still in their blankets and a lot of time was wasted. Barrichello came in three laps later on lap 40 and came out in first. Button came in on lap 41 along with Alonso leaving Webber to tackle a bit of traffic. Webber pitted and the traffic had cost him as he came out behind Button and Kubica leaving himself out of the points. Räikkönen also jumped Kovalainen in the second round of stops....

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