Background
Going into the round, Brawn GP driver Jenson Button led the Drivers' Championship by 6 points from teammate Rubens Barrichello . Barrichello led Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing and Timo Glock of Toyota by 5 points in second. Brawn GP led the Chinese Grand Prix winners Red Bull Racing by 16½ points in the Constructors' Championship . Toyota were a further point back and the only other team to hit double figures. Tyre supplier Bridgestone selected the medium and supersoft tyres for the Grand Prix weekend. Ferrari were yet to score a point, and failure to do so in Bahrain would have resulted in Ferrari's worst ever start to a season in Formula One . Their previous worst start also came when they were Constructors' Champions; in the 1980 season the team scored no points until the fourth race, the 1980 United States Grand Prix West , where Jody Scheckter finished fifth. Force India introduced a revised floor and diffuser in Bahrain for the Force India VJM02 , as well as an upgraded front wing and reprofiled sidepods. Force India driver Giancarlo Fisichella welcomed the upgrades, hoping the car's lack of downforce would be addressed by the new modifications. BMW Sauber decided to install KERS in Robert Kubica's car for the entire race weekend after it had been tested in free practice in China.
Race
Timo Glock got off to a perfect start from second on the grid and took the lead. Jarno Trulli was running second, but had to fight off Lewis Hamilton in the first corner, who had passed Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel from fifth on the grid after a flying start with the help of his KERS. Button had also overtaken Vettel, who was running a heavier fuel load. Kimi Räikkönen, meanwhile, had pushed his Ferrari up to sixth place, making up four positions from the start. Further back in the field, ... At the start of lap 2, Button overtook Hamilton to claim third position. The KERS-aided McLaren of Hamilton then kept Vettel's Red Bull at bay, and only when Hamilton entered the pits on lap 15 did Vettel finally pass him. Since both the Toyotas were running light on fuel, they made their pit stops early, with Glock in on lap 12 and Trulli on lap 14. The Toyota team opted to put both their drivers onto the slower, harder compound tyres for the middle stint of the race, opposite to the strategy being run by the other teams. By the time Button had made his stop on lap 15 on the softer tyres, he had made up enough ground over Trulli in just one lap to come out in front. Glock, who had once led the race, had lost so m... Vettel's pit stop on lap 18 placed him ahead of Hamilton, but just thirty metres behind the slower-lapping car of Trulli, preventing him from challenging Button for the lead. Button took this opportunity to pull out a 7.5 second gap between himself and Trulli by lap 22. On lap 44 there was drama with Räikkönen and Glock fighting for sixth position, with the Finn just edging out Glock at turn four. Rubens Barrichello had lost a lot of time earlier in the race after failing to pass the KERS-equipped Renault of Nelson Piquet. However, he showed the pace of the Brawn car by ending up just in front of Räikkönen, even after having one pit stop more, then pulled away from him in the final laps. Button drove home to his third victory of the season, 7 seconds clear of Vettel, who was pushing particularly hard in the last laps. Trulli crossed the line 2 seconds behind Vettel, with Hamilton finishing fourth. Barrichello took fifth, Räikkönen sixth, Glock less than a second behind in seventh, and Fernando Alonso finished eighth, 52 seconds behind Button. Nick Heidfeld equalled Michael Schumacher 's record of 24 consecutive finishes, bringing home his BMW Sauber in 19th and last place...
Qualifying
Cars that used KERS are marked with "‡"
Race Result
| Pos | No | Driver | Constructor | Part 1 | Part 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:32.799 | 1:32.671 |
| 2 | 10 | Timo Glock | Toyota | 1:33.165 | 1:32.613 |
| 3 | 15 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1:32.680 | 1:32.474 |
| 4 | 22 | Jenson Button | Brawn-Mercedes | 1:32.978 | 1:32.842 |
| 5 | 1‡ | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:32.851 | 1:32.877 |
| 6 | 23 | Rubens Barrichello | Brawn-Mercedes | 1:33.116 | 1:32.842 |
| 7 | 7‡ | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:33.627 | 1:32.860 |
| 8 | 3‡ | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:33.297 | 1:33.014 |
| 9 | 16 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 1:33.672 | 1:33.166 |
| 10 | 4‡ | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:33.117 | 1:32.827 |
Championship Standings After This Race
The Paddock Breakdown
Barry · Gary · KatGary — 33 · Three Fantasy F1 leagues
Let's examine the Renault RS26's turbocharger spool-up. The 80kg/h unit, displacing 1. 5 liters, exhibited a particularly aggressive transient response – a documented 25% increase in instantaneous horsepower over the first 2. 5 seconds of acceleration, a critical factor in Button's initial surge past Rosberg. This wasn't simply down to the 680bhp output; the rapid turbine speed modulation allowed for almost immediate torque delivery, a tactical advantage the team had been refining throughout the season. Curious, isn't it, how such a seemingly subtle characteristic could dictate the rhythm of a Grand Prix?
Let's examine the distribution of pole positions preceding a race-winning performance. Red Bull secured the front row an astounding seven times in the initial six races of 2009; a statistical outlier considering their relative engine power deficit compared to Brawn GP. This dominance, coupled with a win ratio of just 25% across those six events, suggests a critical interplay between track characteristics and the car's inherent aerodynamic strengths – a factor that Brawn would subsequently exploit with devastating effect. The race itself, won by Button, demonstrates a compelling shift in the balance of power, revealing the inherent volatility within Formula One's competitive landscape.
Kat — 30 · Technical journalist
Barrichello's gearbox. A shudder, a missed shift – the telemetry screams it. The rotational speed differential between the left and right wheels post-shift is… unacceptable. The resultant torque spike, a full 18% higher than predicted, suggests a catastrophic bearing failure within the third gear cluster. The resultant loss of drive, a brief but brutal interruption, cost him valuable ground, didn't it? The simulation now confirms a progressive wear pattern, exacerbated by the demanding Sakhir track surface.
Let's examine Button's strategy. The Brawn team's calculated tire management – particularly the early undercut – speaks volumes about their understanding of the Pirelli's evolving compounds. Observe the differential in degradation rates between his left and right tires; a subtle shift in pressure differential, no doubt, dictated that aggressive first-lap move. It's a demonstration of precise control, a chess match played out on asphalt. The telemetry reveals a meticulously calibrated response to Vettel's early challenge, a defensive maneuver executed with ruthless efficiency. This isn't simply speed; it's data-driven dominance.