FORMULA ONE
2009 Bahrain Grand Prix Race Report
Brawn GP driver Jenson Button won the Bahrain Grand Prix to secure his third victory in four races this season. Not a bad start to the season for the British driver who at one point thought he wouldn’t even have a race seat for 2009.
Jenson Button started the race in fourth on the grid and was up to third position by the start of the second lap. Button fended off an attack from Mclaren’s Lewis Hamilton's who was using the KERS system.
Jenson Button beamed, “It was a great race today and I’m so happy to have seen the chequered flag without a safety car or red light in front of me To achieve my third victory of the season is amazing and we are going back to Europe with a strong lead in both championships. I couldn’t wish for anything more. It has been a tough weekend for the team which makes this win even more rewarding as we didn’t have the pace that we expected. I was really happy with my first lap. I knew that I had to overtake Sebastian quickly and got him round the outside on turn one. I had a couple of attempts at Lewis round the first lap and almost got him at the last corner. I knew that he would pull away from me on the straight so I dropped in behind and used the tow to overtake him at turn one. It wasn’t easy from there but getting up to third on the first lap was crucial for me. Our thanks to Mercedes-Benz this weekend who have not only provided us with a powerful engine but have integrated so well with our team. You need a close-knit unit to succeed in Formula One and that is what we have at this team.”
Team boss of Brawn GP was delighted with the result, he stated, “A fantastic performance today from Jenson and all credit is due to him for an outstanding opening lap which made today’s victory possible. We have had a challenging weekend in dealing with the extreme temperature conditions which was made more difficult by our lack of hot weather testing prior to the season. I am very proud of the way that the team here in Bahrain has worked together to overcome the issues that we faced and how they performed in the race today. Our particular thanks this weekend are due to our engine partner Mercedes-Benz and we are delighted to have achieved our third victory of the season with them here today. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank the team at the factory in Brackley who have been working very hard on our upgrade package. After a demanding but successful start of the season, we are all looking forward to returning home and the opportunity for the team to celebrate together before our focus turns to the start of the European season in Spain in two weeks.”
With the Toyotas of Glock and Trulli leading the pack away, Button had to bide his time until the first lot of pit stops. He led from that point on and kept the lead until the chequered flag.
Both Toyoa cars made good starts but Glock edged in front into the first corner. The pair were closely matched early on, building up a cushion over the third placed car as Trulli set the race's fastest lap.
Timo Glock pitted on lap 11 and Jarno Trulli took advantage of his extra lap of fuel, jumping ahead at his first stop. Both drivers swapped to the medium compound tyre and Trulli ran second after the first round of stops. But Timo Glock struggled for grip on his heavy fuel load and he brought his second stop forward to lap 33, fuelling to the end on the super soft tyre. Jarno Trulli also took the super soft tyres when he pitted on lap 37, battling hard en route to the podium.
Jarno Trulli was a little disappointed, "I'm a little disappointed to be honest because I thought we had a chance to take Toyota's first win this weekend. But it was a hard race. I was slightly slower into the first corner than Timo so I spent the first stint following him. I knew I was going longer than him but it was still difficult. Then we went for a very long second stint on the hard tyres. It was really hard fighting with the other cars and eventually Sebastian took the position after my last stop. After that he was on the hard tyres and I was on the soft. I was pushing him because I was quicker but there was no way to overtake. Still, I have to thank the engineers and mechanics because they did a very good job and it's good to be on the podium again."
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel was second from Toyota's Jarno Trulli, while Lewis Hamilton finished the race in fourth position. Brawn GP driver, Rubens Barricello finished an eventful race in fifth. The brazillian was on a a three-stop strategy. At the start of the race Barricello, Massa and Raikkonen in the Ferrari cars tried to make three go into one, Barricello seemed to tag Massa’s front wing and the Ferrari cars banged wheels.
Barricello said, “We brought home some valuable points today but it was a tough race for me. I lost a lot of time behind Piquet after my first stop which was a real shame as it compromised my race plan. We went for a three-stop strategy and then took the decision to come in slightly early for my second stop as I was being held up behind Hamilton. It was so hot out there this afternoon and the car was burning my waist on the right-hand side which made it very difficult for me. It seems that luck is on Jenson’s side at the moment and well done to him and to the team for winning the race today. I hope that my turn comes soon”
Kimi Raikkonen finished the Bahrain Grand Prix in sixth place, picking up Ferrari’s first points of the championship. The Finn drove an attacking race but was unable to battle for the lead of the race.
Team-mate Felipe Massa finished fourteenth, after an early nose change ruined his race after Barricello seemed to tap Massas front wing.
With significant aerodynamic updates due to be fitted to the F60 when it appears at the Circuit de Catalunya, Ferrari hopes that the scarlet car will soon get better.
Glock added another two valuable points with 7th. Toyota was already celebrating in Bahrain as third driver Kamui Kobayashi wrapped up the GP2 Asia championship on Saturday.
Timo Glock said, "That was a difficult race. I made a promising start and I was surprised to get ahead of Jarno from the dirty side. Then we were the first car to pit, which was already critical. But when I went out on the prime tyres I don't know how many seconds I lost on the first two laps because I was really struggling for grip. I couldn't get any heat into the tyres and I really lost the race in the second stint. I was sliding around and it was clear that the speed was better on the options. In the end I was chasing Kimi but there was no chance to overtake. Still, two points are better than none and we will now look for more in Spain."
Renault driver Fernando Alonso finished the race in the final points scoring position.
Williams driver Nico Rosberg finished in ninth while Japanese driver Kazuki Nakajima retired on lap 48 with an oil pressure problem.
Rosberg said “It was not so good today. I was on the limit and really got the best out of it, but we were simply not quick enough. I lost so many places at the start because all of the KERS cars came flying past me, which was really shocking because I had a very good start. This is just where we are at the moment so we need to push hard to improve and catch up with the others in front. Just like everyone else, we will have some new parts ready for Barcelona and I hope our package will be competitive.”
The Force India Formula One Team achieved a solid double finish in the Bahrain Grand Prix. Giancarlo Fisichella brought his VJM02 home in 15th position, with Adrian Sutil under three seconds behind in 16th place. The Force India cars finished ahead of both the BMW Sauber cars, quite a scalp for the Force India team.
Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and team principal of Force India said, “The team has made some very promising progress this weekend. We've introduced a major new aero package that helped move us forward and we raced fairly and squarely in the midfield. Both drivers yet again had very solid races, which shows we have a good foundation for future updates. We can now look forward to Spain and the start of the European season to continue this good form.”
For the BMW Sauber team the Chinese Grand Prix was bad, and the Bahrain GP was even worse. Thanks to starting from rather hopeless grid positions, the BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers found themselves at the back of the pack after being involved in first corner incidents. Robert Kubica finished 18th and Nick Heidfeld 19th.
Robert Kubica stated, “My race was destroyed after corner one. I was between Nick and another car, we touched each other and I destroyed my front wing. Then after the crash there was a miscommunication with the pit crew. I asked to come in straight away, but was only able to pit after the second lap. Then the race was very difficult, as for a long time I was in a heavy car on prime tyres. We were really nowhere with our pace. I hope we make a big step forward in Barcelona.”
While Nick Heidfeld added, “The result is a disaster, although we were unlucky with the collision in the first corner. At first I thought the suspension was broken, but I only had to have a new nose fitted in the pits and then continued. The first half of the race with the harder tyres was difficult, but the softer compound made it a little bit easier. However, it is another race to forget and we all hope for improvements in Barcelona.”
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director) said, “We knew it would be another difficult race weekend for us, and it was also clear the danger of a collision would be higher the further down the grid we were. As we feared, both our drivers had early collisions and as a result the race was practically over. During the pit stops we gave them a lot of fuel and sent them out with hard tyres, because the only chance of getting back into the race would have been during a safety-car period. But even if this had happened scoring a point would have been impossible. We are now concentrating on the next race in Barcelona, where we will compete with a new aero package.”
As Formula One returns to Europe for the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday 10 April, Brawn GP lead the Constructors’ Championship with 50 points with Jenson heading the Drivers’ Championship with 31 points and Rubens in second position with 19 points.
Simon McBride
2009 Bahrain Grand Prix Results
| 1 Jenson Button | Brawn GP | 1h31m48.182 |
| 2 Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | 1h31m55.369s |
| 3 Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1h31m57.352s |
| 4 Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1h32m10.278s |
| 5 Rubens Barricello | Brawn GP | 1h32m25.961s |
| 6 Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1h32m30.239s |
| 7 Timo Glock | Toyota | 1h32m31.062s |
| 8 Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1h32m40.957s |
| 9 Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 1h32m46.380s |
| 10 Nelson Piquet Jr | Renault | 1h32m53.331s |
| 11 Mark Webber | Red Bull | 1h32m55.823s |
| 12 Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren | 1h33m06.006s |
| 13 Sebastien Bourdais | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1h33m06.987s |
| 14 Felipe Massa | Ferrari | Lapped |
| 15 Giancarlo Fisichella | Force India | Lapped |
| 16 Adrian Suitil | Force India | Lapped |
| 17 Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | Lapped |
| 18 Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | Lapped |
| 19 Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | Lapped |
| DNF Kazuki Nakajima | Williams-Toyota | Retired lap 48 |
2009 FIA Formula One Driver's World Championship
| 1 Jenson Button | 31 |
| 2 Rubens Barricello | 19 |
| 3 Sebastien Vettel | 18 |
| 4 Jarno Trulli | 14.5 |
| 5 Timo Glock | 12 |
| 6 Mark Webber | 9.5 |
| 7 Lewis Hamilton | 9 |
| 8 Fernando Alonso | 5 |
| 9 Nick Heidfeld | 4 |
| 10 Heikki Kovalainen | 4 |
| 11 Nico Rosberg | 3.5 |
| 12 Sebastien Buemi | 3 |
| 13 Kimi Raikonnen | 3 |
| 14 Sebastien Bourdais | 1 |
| 15 Robert Kubica | 0 |
| 16 Adrian Sutil | 0 |
| 17 Felipe Massa | 0 |
| 18 Nelson Piquet Jr | 0 |
| 19 Kazuki Nakajima | 0 |
| 20 Giancarlo Fisichella | 0 |
2009 FIA Formula One Constructor's World Championship
| 1 Brawn-Mercedes | 50 |
| 2 Red Bull Renault | 27.5 |
| 3 Toyota | 26.5 |
| 4 McLaren Mercedes | 13 |
| 5 Renault | 5 |
| 6 Torro-Rosso Ferrari | 4 |
| 7 BMW-Sauber | 4 |
| 8 Williams-Toyota | 3.5 |
| Ferrari | 3 |
| Force India | 0 |
All results subject to FIA confirmation
Simon McBride
Thanks to Brawn GP, Toyota, Force India, Williams, Ferrari and BMW F1 teams for suppling the images.
