2009 Japanese Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Sebastian Vettel kept his championship hopes alive with an assured victory as Formula 1 returned to Suzuka. A chaotic qualifying day gave way to a controlled performance from Red Bull Racing’s title contender, while Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello salvaged only minor points.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing
Pole time	1:32.160
Fastest lap	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing
Fastest-lap time	1:32.569 on lap 50
First	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing
Second	Jarno Trulli	Toyota
Third	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
2 October 2009	Practice 1	10:00
2 October 2009	Practice 2	14:00
3 October 2009	Practice 3	11:00
3 October 2009	Qualifying	14:00
4 October 2009	Race	14:00

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Jenson Button arrived at round 15 leading the 2009 F1 World Championship on 84 points, with Rubens Barrichello on 69. Brawn GP headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 153 points.

Race entries

Kamui Kobayashi replaced the unwell Timo Glock for Friday practice. Timo Glock returned on Saturday but was injured in qualifying and could not race. Toyota’s request to put Kamui Kobayashi in the car on Sunday was refused because he had not driven in a Saturday session, leaving Jarno Trulli as its sole starter.

Free Practice

Rain made the opening practice a difficult introduction for the drivers unfamiliar with Suzuka. Times improved as the track dried, with Kazuki Nakajima prominent before Heikki Kovalainen went fastest late on. Kamui Kobayashi gained unexpected running in Timo Glock’s Toyota, while the title contenders finished well down the changing order.

Heavier rain severely restricted FP2. Visibility and limited tyre supplies discouraged running, and Heikki Kovalainen and both Brawn GP drivers stayed in the garage throughout. Adrian Sutil eventually set the fastest time, but the conditions allowed little meaningful preparation for the dry running expected later in the weekend.

Dry conditions finally arrived for FP3, making the hour especially valuable. Jenson Button needed a new front wing after contact with Jaime Alguersuari, while Mark Webber crashed at Degner and damaged his chassis badly enough to miss qualifying. Jarno Trulli went fastest on his final lap as Timo Glock returned to the cockpit.

Free Practice 1 Classification

2009 Japanese Grand Prix FP1, 2 October 2009

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	2	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren	1:40.356	24
2	17	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams	+0.292s	18
3	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India	+0.450s	14
4	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Ferrari	+0.629s	27
5	12	Sebastien Buemi	Toro Rosso	+1.065s	26
6	1	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+1.087s	15
7	7	Fernando Alonso	Renault	+1.176s	22
8	4	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+1.221s	25
9	23	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn GP	+1.465s	19
10	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams	+1.832s	20
11	14	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+1.976s	10
12	21	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India	+2.119s	15
13	9	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	+2.301s	13
14	11	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso	+2.311s	27
15	5	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	+2.477s	17
16	6	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+2.621s	14
17	15	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	+2.862s	11
18	22	Jenson Button	Brawn GP	+2.962s	17
19	10	Kamui Kobayashi	Toyota	+3.051s	16
20	8	Romain Grosjean	Renault	+3.216s	22

Free Practice 2 Classification

2009 Japanese Grand Prix FP2, 2 October 2009

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India	1:47.261	5
2	15	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	+0.662s	6
3	21	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India	+0.670s	5
4	1	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+0.722s	5
5	17	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams	+0.797s	8
6	12	Sebastien Buemi	Toro Rosso	+1.430s	9
7	7	Fernando Alonso	Renault	+1.432s	5
8	9	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	+1.476s	7
9	11	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso	+1.541s	11
10	5	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	+1.600s	6
11	4	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+1.625s	5
12	10	Kamui Kobayashi	Toyota	+1.793s	7
13	14	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+2.121s	7
14	8	Romain Grosjean	Renault	+2.144s	6
15	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Ferrari	+2.292s	5
16	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams	+2.611s	8
17	6	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+2.918s	10

Free Practice 3 Classification

2009 Japanese Grand Prix FP3, 3 October 2009

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	9	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:31.709	24
2	12	Sebastien Buemi	Toro Rosso	+0.062s	26
3	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams	+0.634s	28
4	15	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	+0.705s	19
5	4	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+0.736s	26
6	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India	+0.758s	25
7	23	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn GP	+0.779s	24
8	2	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren	+0.837s	22
9	22	Jenson Button	Brawn GP	+0.959s	25
10	11	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso	+0.980s	20
11	8	Romain Grosjean	Renault	+1.008s	25
12	6	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+1.027s	21
13	7	Fernando Alonso	Renault	+1.033s	21
14	10	Timo Glock	Toyota	+1.040s	26
15	17	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams	+1.043s	23
16	1	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+1.080s	19
17	5	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	+1.139s	20
18	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Ferrari	+1.169s	26
19	14	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+1.221s	15
20	21	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India	+1.458s	18

Qualifying

Sebastian Vettel secured pole ahead of Jarno Trulli and Lewis Hamilton after an extraordinary qualifying session interrupted by several accidents. Jaime Alguersuari and Timo Glock crashed in Q2, with Timo Glock taken to hospital, while Heikki Kovalainen’s Q3 accident caused another stoppage.

Sebastien Buemi damaged his car and left debris on the circuit near the end of Q2. The resulting investigation brought grid penalties for several drivers, including Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, who had failed to slow sufficiently under yellow flags. Sebastien Buemi was penalised for continuing in his damaged car, leaving the final grid markedly different from the qualifying order.

Qualifying Classification

2009 Japanese Grand Prix Qualifying, 3 October 2009

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	15	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	1:30.883	1:30.341	1:32.160	14
2	9	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:31.063	1:30.737	1:32.220	20
3	1	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	1:30.917	1:30.627	1:32.395	21
4	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India	1:31.386	1:31.222	1:32.466	20
5	23	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn GP	1:31.272	1:31.055	1:32.660	18
6	6	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	1:31.501	1:31.260	1:32.945	19
7	22	Jenson Button	Brawn GP	1:31.041	1:30.880	1:32.962	18
8	4	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:31.228	1:31.052	1:32.980	23
9	2	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren	1:31.499	1:31.223	No time	21
10	12	Sébastien Buemi	Toro Rosso	1:31.196	1:31.103	No time	12
11	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams	1:31.286	1:31.482	—	17
12	7	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:31.401	1:31.638	—	14
13	5	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	1:31.417	1:32.341	—	15
14	10	Timo Glock	Toyota	1:31.550	No time	—	13
15	11	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso	1:31.571	No time	—	14
16	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Ferrari	1:31.704	—	—	11
17	17	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams	1:31.718	—	—	8
18	8	Romain Grosjean	Renault	1:32.073	—	—	8
19	21	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India	1:32.087	—	—	9
20	14	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	No time	—	—	—

What happened in the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix?

Sebastian Vettel held the lead while Lewis Hamilton passed Jarno Trulli for second. Jenson Button initially lost places but recovered, benefiting later when Adrian Sutil and Heikki Kovalainen collided at the chicane. Mark Webber’s afternoon was compromised almost immediately by repeated stops for a loose headrest and then a puncture.

Jarno Trulli moved ahead of Lewis Hamilton through the second pit-stop sequence as the McLaren driver also encountered KERS trouble. Sebastian Vettel remained comfortably in control until Jaime Alguersuari crashed heavily at 130R, bringing out the safety car and compressing the field for a late restart.

Sebastian Vettel pulled clear again to win from Jarno Trulli and Lewis Hamilton, keeping the drivers’ title contest alive. Rubens Barrichello finished seventh and Jenson Button eighth, with Jenson Button resisting Robert Kubica’s late challenge. Brawn GP left Japan just half a point short of securing the constructors’ championship, while Sebastian Vettel was 16 points behind Jenson Button with two races remaining.

After the race, Jenson Button headed the drivers’ standings with 85 points, followed by Rubens Barrichello on 71. Brawn GP led the constructors’ table on 156, with Red Bull Racing on 120.5.

2009 Japanese Grand Prix race results

The 2009 Japanese Grand Prix was held on 4 October 2009, with a scheduled start of 14:00 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	15	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	53	1:28:20.443	10
2	9	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	53	+4.877	8
3	1	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	53	+6.472	6
4	4	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	53	+7.940	5
5	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams	53	+8.793	4
6	6	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	53	+9.509	3
7	23	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn GP	53	+10.641	2
8	22	Jenson Button	Brawn GP	53	+11.474	1
9	5	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	53	+11.777	0
10	7	Fernando Alonso	Renault	53	+13.065	0
11	2	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren	53	+13.735	0
12	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Ferrari	53	+14.596	0
13	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India	53	+14.959	0
14	21	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India	53	+15.734	0
15	17	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams	53	+17.973	0
16	8	Romain Grosjean	Renault	52	+1 Lap	0
17	14	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	51	+2 Laps	0
Ret	11	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso	43	Accident	0
Ret	12	Sébastien Buemi	Toro Rosso	11	Clutch	0
WD	10	Timo Glock	Toyota	0	Driver Injured	0

2009 Japanese Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time	Avg. Speed
1	14	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	50	1:32.569	225.833
2	15	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	43	1:32.572	225.826
3	4	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	33	1:32.999	224.789
4	9	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	38	1:33.152	224.420
5	22	Jenson Button	Brawn GP	42	1:33.251	224.182
6	1	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	13	1:33.259	224.162
7	5	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	44	1:33.334	223.982
8	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Ferrari	33	1:33.479	223.635
9	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams	43	1:33.595	223.358
10	6	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	13	1:33.600	223.346
11	20	Adrian Sutil	Force India	36	1:33.668	223.184
12	2	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren	35	1:33.801	222.867
13	23	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn GP	17	1:33.910	222.608
14	7	Fernando Alonso	Renault	28	1:33.946	222.523
15	11	Jaime Alguersuari	Toro Rosso	34	1:34.049	222.279
16	21	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Force India	36	1:34.294	221.702
17	8	Romain Grosjean	Renault	39	1:34.643	220.884
18	17	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams	26	1:34.783	220.558
19	12	Sebastien Buemi	Toro Rosso	5	1:35.392	219.150

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. Average speeds are in km/h. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded.

2009 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix.

2009 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Jenson Button	British	Brawn GP	85
2	Rubens Barrichello	Brazilian	Brawn GP	71
3	Sebastian Vettel	German	Red Bull Racing	69
4	Mark Webber	Australian	Red Bull Racing	51.5
5	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	Ferrari	45
6	Lewis Hamilton	British	McLaren	43
7	Nico Rosberg	German	Williams	34.5
8	Jarno Trulli	Italian	Toyota	30.5
9	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Renault	26
10	Timo Glock	German	Toyota	24
11	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Ferrari	22
12	Heikki Kovalainen	Finnish	McLaren	22
13	Nick Heidfeld	German	BMW Sauber	15
14	Robert Kubica	Polish	BMW Sauber	9
15	Giancarlo Fisichella	Italian	Force India / Ferrari	8
16	Adrian Sutil	German	Force India	5
17	Sébastien Buemi	Swiss	Toro Rosso	3
18	Sébastien Bourdais	French	Toro Rosso	2
19	Kazuki Nakajima	Japanese	Williams	0
20	Nelson Piquet	Brazilian	Renault	0
21	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Italian	Force India	0
22	Luca Badoer	Italian	Ferrari	0
23	Romain Grosjean	French	Renault	0
24	Jaime Alguersuari	Spanish	Toro Rosso	0

2009 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Brawn GP	156
2	Red Bull Racing	120.5
3	Ferrari	67
4	McLaren	65
5	Toyota	54.5
6	Williams	34.5
7	Renault	26
8	BMW Sauber	24
9	Force India	13
10	Toro Rosso	5

2009 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	2009 Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne	29 March
2	2009 Malaysian Grand Prix	Sepang International Circuit, Sepang	5 April
3	2009 Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai	19 April
4	2009 Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	26 April
5	2009 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló	10 May
6	2009 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	24 May
7	2009 Turkish Grand Prix	Istanbul Park, Istanbul	7 June
8	2009 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	21 June
9	2009 German Grand Prix	Nürburgring, Nürburg	12 July
10	2009 Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	26 July
11	2009 European Grand Prix	Valencia Street Circuit, Valencia	23 August
12	2009 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	30 August
13	2009 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	13 September
14	2009 Singapore Grand Prix	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore	27 September
15	2009 Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka	4 October
16	2009 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	18 October
17	2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi	1 November