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Vettel Wins 2009 Chinese GP and Webber Takes P2 to Mark a Red Bull Surge
April 19, 2009
Welcome to the third round of the 2009 Formula One World Championship, the Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai.
There would be no more fitting way to open Sunday's live race report than a mention of the weather: whereas the last round in Malaysia will forever be known as "that race where it rained... alot", it started off dry - it won't be the case here in China.
The wind and rain are out in full force this morning, as the heavens prepare for what will no doubt be an incredibly exciting race.
And if the rain wasn't enough, yesterday set the race up in spectacular fashion as the twenty drivers battled it out for pole position, and as we know, the man that won was Sebastian Vettel, putting Red Bull at the front of the grid for the first time.
Behind the German the grid order fell in a fairly randomised order: we saw Massa knocked out in Q2 and Kubica in Q1, and the two Brawns could only muster 4th and 5th, so we were already expecting some fight-backs and aggressive strategies.
Starting grid for the Chinese GP:
1. VETTEL Red Bull
2. ALONSO Renault
3. WEBBER Red Bull
4. BARRICHELLO Brawn
5. BUTTON Brawn
6. TRULLI Toyota
7. ROSBERG Williams
8. RAIKKONEN Ferrari
9. HAMILTON McLaren
10. BUEMI Toro Rosso
11. HEIDFELD BMW
12. KOVALAINEN McLaren
13. MASSA Ferrari
14. NAKAJIMA Williams
15. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso
16. PIQUET Renault
17. KUBICA BMW
18. SUTIL Force India
19. GLOCK Toyota*
20. FISICHELLA Force India
*Penalty
So here we are then, the race that last year gave Lewis Hamilton his final win in his push for the title, and where Alonso won the world championship in 2005, nearly lost it in '06, and where Hamilton did lose it in 2007. China is no dull place to be during a Grand Prix weekend.
Make sure that throughout the race you stay here with Bleacher Report as we bring you the latest, as-they-happen updates, including build-up and analysis.
Live Race Report
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All times will be in BST (GMT+1), which is 7hrs behind local time in Shanghai. The race will begin at 0800 BST.
0732 - It has been raining for the last half an hour, but it is no longer very heavy - just the odd drop falling. Half an hour to go!
0742 - Sebastian Vettel: "I was quite surprised - it's very wet. I suppose everyone is starting on extreme wets."
0746 - Fernando Alonso: "If it's a safety car start, I think we'll all agree."
0747 - The rain is falling heavier now, drivers don't seem too concerned about the track conditions, but race control will be cautious about how they start the session.
0750 - It has emerged that the two Toyotas will be started from the pitlane, they have decided to fuel the cars heavy to optimise their strategy.
0754 - The race will start under the safety car, according to Renault's Pat Symonds. That will really hamper the two front-row qualifiers, who are both very light on fuel, meaning they can't use that low fuel to maximise their speed advantage.
0759 - There will be no formation lap, as the safety car will simply start the race. Rob Smedley tells Felipe Massa over the team radio not to pass if he loses position under the safety car. They have clearly learnt from McLaren!
0800 - Race has begun under the safety car.
Lap 1 - Alonso tells his team he has "ok" grip from the tyres.
Lap 2 - Visibility is poor, which is the likely reason race control chose to start the race under the safety car.
Lap 3 - Massa has gone wide into the final turn, he doesn't lose any places though, so Rob Smedley's advice hasn't come into play just yet.
Lap 4 - Sutil goes wide, he loses a place to his team mate.
Lap 4 - Nico Rosberg reports "aqua-plaining on the main straight", which will tell Charlie Whiting, the race director, to keep the safety car out for now.
Lap 5 - Force India mechanics out in the pitlane for Adrian Sutil.
Lap 5 - Kimi Raikkonen runs wide where his team mate did three laps before, and, also like Massa, he doesn't lose a place.
Lap 6 - Renault ask Fernando Alonso whether he thinks it is safe for the safety car to come in, to which the Spaniard replies "I think so, if we are running quick it will clear the water."
Lap 6 - McLaren pit radio tells Lewis Hamilton that they expect the same level of rain for the next 30 minutes.
Lap 7 - It is expected that Fernando Alonso will pit within the next 5 laps, however it is likely the safety car may come on sooner than that, in which case it is likely that most cars will dive into the pits.
Lap 7 - Alonso pits earlier than expected.
Lap 8 - Safety car in this lap, that will by why the Spaniard pitted.
Lap 8 - Safety car comes in.
Lap 9 - Vettel leads from team mate Webber, from the two Brawns of Barrichello and Button.
Lap 9 - Hamilton passes Raikkonen into turn 11, he is alot more confident in the rain.
Lap 9 - What must be a very light Vettel by now has already pulled a gap of 2.5 secs to second place Webber.
Lap 10 - Raikkonen reports over the team radio that his "engine is not running very well".
Lap 10 - Buemi looks to pass Kimi Raikkonen, the Finn struggling. The rookie is hounding the back of the Ferrari down the back straight, doesn't pass in the hairpin, and subsequently goes wide into the last corner and loses places.
Lap 11 - BMW of Nick Heidfeld runs very wide, Lewis Hamilton runs wide up to turn 5, but loses no time.
Lap 11 - Buemi is still looking to pass Kimi Raikkonen, he is now in a Ferrari sandwich with Massa behind.
Lap 11 - Hamilton runs very wide in the last corner, but finds some grip and returns to the track.
Lap 12 - Buemi passes Raikkonen in turn 9.
Lap 12 - Massa passes Raikonen into turn 11.
Lap 12 - Lewis Hamilton was very, very slow up to turn 11, both Ferraris, Buemi and his team mate all pass him. A replay shows he had a spin on the exit of turn 10.
Lap 14 - Buemi passes Trulli, the Swiss driver is flying.
Lap 14 - Massa has now passed Trulli, it appears the Brazilian is excelling in the rain, very uncharacteristic. It seems Buemi is passing down drivers for Massa to overtake!
Lap 15 - Meanwhile, Hamilton has passes Kovalainen, and now Jarno Trulli. The Brit is behind Raikkonen who has also passed Trulli. Trulli is shown rolling backwards on the track.
Lap 15 - Hamilton passes Raikkonen.
Lap 16 - Button leads as Vettel pits, from Barrichello, Vettel, Buemi, Massa, Webber, Raikkonen, Hamilton.
Lap 17 - Raikkonen has passed Lewis Hamilton again according to the timing screens, there is an interesting duel between the two, it just isn't shown on the world feed!
Lap 18 - Trulli is shown crawling around the track, a replay shows a huge incident in which Kubica smashes into the back of the Italian. It was at the final corner, Kubica manages to dive into the pits, Trulli must do another tour of the circuit.
Lap 19 - The safety car is deployed to clear the large amount of debris on track. The two Brawns lead, expect them to pit during the safety car period, this will either help them by allowing them to come out near the field, or hamper them because they had pulled out a good lead from Vettel.
Lap 19 - Button pits from the lead. 9.9 seconds, decent fuel.
Lap 20 - Barrichello queued behind Button, both drivers have a clean pit stop.
Lap 20 - Buemi has run into the back of Sebastian Vettel, Vettel may have damage, Buemi certainly has.
Lap 20 - Trulli is pushed into his garage to retire. Vettel still leads, it is not yet clear whether the German has any damage.
Lap 21 - Felipe Massa has not yet pitted, it would seem wise that the third placed Ferrari driver should pit under the safety car, but it doesn't look like it will happen. Could this be another one of Ferrari's infamous rain mistakes? Or a strategic decision?
Lap 22 - It doesn't matter - Felipe Massa is now out of the car as it has stopped on track. The car came to a halt on the long back straight.
Lap 22 - McLaren tell Hamilton he has until lap 33 for fuel. He will stay out until then - very risky from McLaren, their driver needs to be very fast.
Lap 22 - Safety car in this lap.
Lap 23 - Safety car is in, Bourdais span at the final corner of the last lap, he is now at the back of the field.
Lap 23 - Hamilton passes Raikkonen yet again, he goes around the outside of turn 1.
Lap 23 - Alonso passes Nakajima for 10th position.
Lap 24 - Vettel sets fastest lap - 1m54.646.
Lap 25 - Glock pits for a new front wing and nosecone.
Current top 10 after 25 laps:
1. Vettel
2. Button
3. Webber
4. Hamilton
5. Raikkonen
6. Kovalainen
7. Barrichello
8. Buemi
9. Alonso
10. Nakajima
Lap 26 - Alonso is hounding the back of Sebastien Buemi, Buemi is struggling now to keep the car on track.
Lap 26 - We have now reached the hour mark of this race, half way before the time limit expires. We have yet to reach half distance.
Lap 27 - As Nakajima and Glock both go wide, Jenson Button hears on his team radio that both Vettel and Webber ahead of him are lighter on fuel.
Lap 28 - Ferrari mechanics out in the pit lane, it can only be for Raikkonen.
Lap 28 - The Finn pits, and takes on alot of fuel.
Lap 28 - Yellow flags, Nakajima is off at turn 1. He rejoins the track safely.
Lap 28 - Nelson Piquet has a large hole in his nose cone, but he finally gets going after anti-stall slowed his getaway. A reply shows the damage was caused by a polystyrene marker board!
Lap 29 - Piquet pits to fix the front of his car, the Brazilian gets a new steering wheel while he is there.
Lap 30 - Webber passes Button as the Brit outbrakes himself and goes wide in turn 13.
Lap 31 - Red Bull reckon Alonso is three laps heavier than Webber.
Lap 31 - Alonso is looking at the back of Buemi, the Swiss driver is defending hard.
Lap 31 - Button repasses Mark Webber as the Red Bull goes wide at the final turn.
Lap 32 - Webber comes straight back at Button though!
Lap 33 - Nakajima pits, Vettel is the fastest man out on track.
Lap 33 - Until now, Webber sets the fastest lap of the race.
Lap 33 - Hamilton pits.
Lap 34 - Vettel currently leads, from Webber who sets another fastest lap, Button, Barrichello and Alonso.
Lap 36 - Kubica has a very wonky front nose, it almost looks as though it will fall off.
Lap 36 - Alonso pits, as does Kubica who gets a new nose.
Lap 36 - Bourdais pirouettes several times at the final corner, but manages to keep his engine running.
Lap 37 - Race leader Sebastian Vettel pits, Webber leads, Button second, Vettel rejoins in third.
Lap 38 - Alonso drops it in turn 13, the Spaniard losing alot of time, and a place to Glock.
Lap 39 - It's all very processional out on track - for the time being at least.
Lap 39 - Spoke too soon - Vettel is now all over the back of Jenson Button.
Lap 39 - Webber pits from the lead. Vettel sets the fastest lap of the race. Good clean stop by Red Bull, Webber comes out third.
Lap 40 - Glock passes Raikkonen for 11th down at turn 14.
Lap 40 - Ferrari's worst start for 17 years will become their worst for 27 years if Raikkonen doesn't pull something magnificent out.
Lap 41 - Vettel is really pushing hard, Button is defenceless, the German makes a clean move to take the lead of the race. Button still needs to pit.
Lap 42 - Rosberg pits from 13th. He puts on the intermediate tyres for the first time in the race, Williams have nothing to lose - they are currently 14th and 17th.
Lap 42 - Vettel sets the fastest lap of the race: 1m52.627. Barrichello then beats that, 1m52.592.
Lap 42 - Second placed Button pits.
Lap 43 - Button comes out fourth, behind his team mate Barrichello. That is not where he wanted to be.
Lap 44 - Rosberg has set his personal best lap of the race, not that it was very impressive. Perhaps his intermediates may be helping him a bit.
Lap 44 - Barrichello pits, clear air for Button, he can now hunt down Webber. Barrichello comes out 5th.
Lap 45 - Nakajima pits from last, it has not been a good race for him.
Lap 45 - The Williams driver just drives into the garage, his race is over.
Lap 46 - The on-screen graphic shows Heidfeld saves his whol 7-second per lap KERS to use entirely on the long back straight.
Lap 46 - Piquet has spun on the pit entrance. He knocked his nose on the barrier, and has now dived into the pits.
Lap 48 - Replays of the previous lap show Hamilton slid wide and allowed Kovalainen through.
Lap 49 - Rosberg has a major off, he slid across several gravel traps be rejoins the race with no apparent damage. Vettel still leads Webber, from Button and Barrichello.
Lap 49 - Barrichello has come under pressure from the two McLarens.
Lap 50 - Heidfeld, Glock and Buemi are all scrapping for the final world championship point.
Lap 50 - Hamilton has spun in the last corner, allowing Sutil through.
Lap 51 - Sutil is really keeping it together, this is remeniscent of his excellent drive in Monaco in 2008.
Lap 52 - Glock is really fighting behind Heidfeld.
Lap 52 - Huge crash from Sutil, just as I praised him. Replays show it wasn't majorly Sutils fault. The front of the car is pretty destroyed.
Lap 53 - With the Force India stranded in the gravel on the exit of turn 5, but only 4 laps to go, it looks like that section of the track will simply remain under yellow flags for the rest of the race.
Lap 55 - Vettel leads Webber, 30 seconds from Button, Barrichello, Kovalainen, Hamilton, Glock, Buemi, Heidfeld and Alonso.
Lap 56 - As race leader Sebastian Vettel comes around to begin his final lap, he just has to keep it together.
VETTEL WINS!
He's done it, Red Bull have done it, Webber has done it - a 1-2 finish on Red Bull's first ever win! Absolutely brilliant!
Button comes through in third, Barrichello crosses the line in forth, Kovalainen 5th, Hamilton 6th, from Glock, and Buemi scores points yet again.
Vettel parks up in Parc Fermé, stands on his car and throws his arms in the air in celebration. Webber congratulates him, and the top 3 go to get weighed.
The podium will be Vettel, Webber and Button.
Analysis
What a fantastic race! Formula 1 never arrives in China expecting a dull race, but this has been exceptional!
Sebastian Vettel is, without a shadow of a doubt, the man of the race: he showed the supreme skill he showed when he won his first Grand Prix, in the same conditions, at Monza last year.
Red Bull will be ecstatic; not only did they dominate the race, but a 1-2 finish is the icing on the cake. They really deserved to win after the amount of hard work the whole team have put in over the last four and a half years, it was overdue.
Webber's second is his best ever finish in a Grand Prix, which, again, was well overdue, and especially amazing considering he was in hospital with a broken leg just six months ago.
Brawn also did a fantastic job to score 3rd and 4th, but they were genuinely outpaced by Red Bull this weekend, even a hit from a Toro Rosso couldn't stop Vettel.
What a thrilling, action-packed Grand Prix, we saw many displays of driver brilliance in the rain, excellent acheivements from Red Bull, Brawn and McLaren, all with both drivers in the points.
Red Bull have dominated the Chinese Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel is the race winner.
Final finishing order, courtesy of Autosport.com:
Pos Driver Team/car Tyres Time
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1h57:43.485
2. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) + 10.970
3. Button Brawn GP-Mercedes (B) + 44.975
4. Barrichello Brawn GP-Mercedes (B) + 1:03.704
5. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 1:05.102
6. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 1:11.866
7. Glock Toyota (B) + 1:14.476
8. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 1:16.439
9. Alonso Renault (B) + 1:24.309
10. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) + 1:31.750
11. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 1:34.156
12. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) + 1:35.834
13. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) + 1:46.853
14. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) + 1 lap
15. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) + 1 lap
16. Piquet Renault (B) + 2 laps