Japanese GP: Strong result from Rosberg


Nico Rosberg

By Andrew Hooper
October 4 2009

The running of the 2009 Japanese GP would see a strong result from AT&T Williams driver Nico Rosberg who was able to bring his car home in fifth to secure four points for himself and the Williams team. Nico was able to push bringing his car back out in front of several cars after his second stop. Team-mate Kazuki Nakajima's race was not of any merit and his days at Williams should be numbered.

 
 Japanese GP Race Review

 

After an interrupted qualifying for the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix AT&T Williams drivers Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima would start the race from seventh and fifteenth on the grid. The grid would take sometime to finalised as several drivers were given grid penalties for various issues ranging from not slowing down under a yellow flag to gearbox replacements. Those drivers given penalties for not slowing down were Button, Barrichello, Alonso, and Sutil. Buemi was given a penalty while Webber would start the race from the pitlane as a result of not been able to take part in qualifying after crashing his car. The other major news was that Timo Glock would not start the race after injuring his leg in a crash that he had during qualifying.

RosbergBoth Williams cars were fuelled quite heavy with Nico being very heavy in comparison to the cars around him. Nico was originally meant to start the race from eleventh but with all the penalties he moved up to seventh. At the front it was Vettel on pole from Trulli and Hamilton. The grid would move off on their parade lap with Both Nico and Kazuki starting on the harder tyre. Vettel was also on the harder tyre along with Button, Barrichello, and Trulli. Button could win the drivers title but would need lot of things to fall his way in the race. Hamilton was on the softer tyre as the grid formed up. Webber was in the pit lane waiting.

As the lights went out Vettel was leading with Hamilton second. Trulli was third from Heidfeld, Raikkonen, Barrichello, Nico, and Sutil. It was a poor start from Button who was now twelfth. Lap one and Vettel was 1.1 seconds ahead of Hamilton. Kazuki had made a few places and was up to thirteenth. Webber would pit early swapping tyre compounds. Lap two and a fastest lap from Vettel, 1m:34.661, with Nico now 2.2 seconds behind Barrichello. Kazuki had lost a place to Alguersuari to now be fourteenth. Webber would pit again with a problem with his head rest seeing the mechanics tape it down.

NakajimaLap three and another fastest lap from Vettel with a 1m:33.949. Button had passed Kubica for tenth. Hamilton was fastest on lap four, 1m:33.721, but was 2.0 seconds behind Vettel. Nico was now 1.6 seconds behind Barrichello. Trulli was still third from Heidfeld and Raikkonen. Lap five and Vettel was again fastest with a 1m:33.286 as Webber pitted again this time for a puncture. Lap seven and Vettel extended his lead with a new fastest lap, 1m:33.236, to now be 2.9 seconds ahead of Hamilton. Sutil was attacking eighth placed Kovalainen as Vettel added more time to his lead over Hamilton as after lap eight it was out to 3.3 seconds. Nico was now 2.8 seconds behind Barrichello while Kazuki was 1.2 seconds behind Alguersuari.

Lap eleven and Nico was now 3.1 seconds behind Barrichello while Hamilton was now 4.4 seconds behind Vettel. Buemi would pit from eighteenth on lap twelve to park in his garage to retire with a clutch problem. Nico was losing more time to Barrichello with Barrichello's lead out to 3.9 seconds after lap thirteen. Sutil would try to pass Kovalainen at the chicane but the two cars would make contact seeing Sutil spin. Button was able to take advantage of this seeing him move up to eighth. Button would set a personal best on lap fourteen with a 11m:33.859. Sutil was down in twelfth. Hamilton would pit on lap sixteen pitting from second. He would take on the harder tyre as Nico set a personal best with a 1m:34.482. Sutil would also pit also taking on the harder tyre.

Trulli would pit on lap seventeen returning on the harder compound. Nico was now sixth 5.4 seconds behind Barrichello. Hamilton would come back out behind Nico with thirty six lap remaining. Kazuki was now thirteenth as Button pitted from eighth on lap eighteen. He would return on the harder tyre while Fisichella would also pit from eleventh. Nico was now fifth while Vettel pitted on lap nineteen. He would have a slightly slow stop as Heidfeld, Raikkonen, and Barrichello all pitted. Vettel was out back in front of Nico with Nico second. Hamilton was third from Trulli, Heidfeld, Kovalainen, Kubica, and Raikkonen. Nico had quite a way to go before he had to pit. Kazuki was now eleventh right behind Alguersuari.

FW31 RearLap twenty and Vettel was now 1.1 seconds ahead of Nico as Nico set a personal best on lap twenty one with a 1m:34.155. Given his pace Nico was looking good to move past Barrichello when he made his pit stop. Nico would pit on lap twenty two returning on the harder tyre. But Nico would not get back out in front of Barrichello with the Brawn passing Nico as he exited the pit lane. Twelfth placed Alguersuari would pit on lap twenty four seeing Kazuki now tenth. Nico was back out in ninth just ahead of team-mate Kazuki. At the front Vettel was leading Hamilton by 4.5 seconds with Trulli third. Heidfeld was fourth from Kubica, Kovalainen, Raikkonen, and Barrichello.

Kovalainen would pit on lap twenty five from sixth seeing Nico and Kazuki move up to eighth and ninth. Liuzzi would pit from eleventh on lap twenty six while Kubica would pit from fifth on lap twenty seven staying on the harder tyre. Button was now up to eleventh but in front of him Kazuki and Alonso had yet to pit. ninth placed Kazuki would pit on lap twenty eight swapping to the softer tyre for his run to the finish. Eighth placed Alonso had yet to pit while Kazuki had come back out in sixteenth but this would become fifteenth when Grosjean pitted taking on the softer tyre. lap thirty and a new fastest lap from Vettel, 1m:33.052, with Hamilton now 6.1 seconds behind the Red Bull.

RosbergLap thirty one and Alonso would pit seeing Button move up to eighth. With Barrichello sixth and Button eighth the Brawn team would secure the Constructors championship. Nico was 3.2 seconds behind Barrichello as Liuzzi passed Kazuki going into Turn one. Trulli was still in third followed by Heidfeld. Button was closing in onto Nico while Kubica was doing the same to Button. Lap thirty three and a new fastest lap from Raikkonen, 1m:32.999, to now be 1.6 seconds behind Heidfeld. Trulli would respond to Hamilton taking a few tenths off the McLaren. Button was right behind Nico as Nico struggled for pace. Lap thirty six and Raikkonen would pit from fifth coming back out behind Button in eighth. Heidfeld would pit from fourth on lap thirty seven taking on the softer tyre.

Heidfeld would come back out behind Raikkonen after a slight delay in the BMW drivers pit stop. Lap thirty eight and Hamilton would pit from second taking on the softer tyre. Trulli was now second 10.1 seconds behind Vettel with the Toyota driver pushing hard. Hamilton was running in third from Barrichello, Nico, Button, Raikkonen, and Heidfeld in eighth. Trulli would pit from second on lap forty taking on the softer tyre with the Toyota driver coming out in front of Hamilton as he exited the pit lane. Vettel would pit on lap forty one joined by Button shortly after. Vettel had a problem with the right front but would come back out in front of Trulli. Nico was running in fifth 4.6 seconds behind Barrichello.

RosbergSeventh placed Kubica would pit on lap forty two while Kazuki continued to run in sixteenth. Vettel was 8.4 seconds ahead of Trulli with Hamilton 2.3 seconds behind the Toyota. Lap forty three and Barrichello would pit from fourth. Nico would set a personal best on lap forty two with a 1m:33.822. Barrichello would come back out in front of Button. Lap forty three and Vettel set a new fastest lap with a 1m:32.572. Nico continued to push setting a 1m:33.595 looking to respond to the Brawn's. Nico was running in fourth from Raikkonen, Heidfeld, Barrichello, and Button in eighth. Alguersuari would have a big crash at 130R seeing the safety Car come out seeing Nico pit straight away.

Alguersuari would say that he lost control seeing him spin into the tyre barriers very heavily. Nico was able to come back out in front of both Brawn cars while Alguersuari's  car was craned away and the debris was cleared. Vettel was behind the Safety Car followed by Trulli, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Nico, Heidfeld, Barrichello, and Button. In this position the Brawn team would not secure the Constructors title having to wait until Brazil. Webber would make his fifth stop taking on a new front wing. Alguersuari was taken away in an ambulance more as a precautionary measure as he gave the thumbs up.

Five laps remaining and the safety Car was still out on the track but it would pit at the end of lap forty nine. A four lap sprint to the finish. Grosjean was behind Vettel giving him a bit of a buffer to Trulli. Raikkonen was having a look at Hamilton going into Turn one while Nico was close to Raikkonen. Vettel was leading easily as Kubica was challenging Button looking to take eighth. Two laps remaining and the top three were looking secure but Nico was still challenging Raikkonen for fourth. Kazuki was down in fifteenth. Vettel would start his final lap while Kubica was running close to Button. Vettel would cross the line to take victory in the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix. Trulli was second from Hamilton, Raikkonen, Nico, Heidfeld, Barrichello, and the final point going to Button.

As for the AT&T Williams team it was a great drive from Nico to see him come home in fifth and secure four points fro the team. He was able to push so that after his second stop he would come back out in front of the Brawn cars, even with the Safety Car. Kazuki's race was not of any merit and his days at Williams should be numbered.

Pos  Driver  	   Team		  	      Time
 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  1h28:20.443
 2.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  +     4.877
 3.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +     6.472
 4.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  +     7.940
 5.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota       (B)  +     8.793
 6.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +     9.509
 7.  Barrichello   Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  +    10.641
 8.  Button        Brawn-Mercedes        (B)  +    11.474
 9.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +    11.777
10.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  +    13.065
11.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +    13.735
12.  Fisichella    Ferrari               (B)  +    14.596
13.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +    14.959
14.  Liuzzi        Force India-Mercedes  (B)  +    15.734
15.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)  +    17.973
16.  Grosjean      Renault               (B)  +     1 lap
17.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +    2 laps

Fastest lap: Webber, 1:32.569

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)    58
Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)    26
Glock         Toyota                (B)    15

Bookmark or share this story with:

Japanese GP: Strong result from Rosberg
Discussion started by Williams F1 , 04/10/2009 07:55
Williams F1
04/10/2009 07:55
What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.

FormulaFan
04/10/2009 08:50
Great race by Rosberg, but a 25 second penalty is still possible. Hopefully Räikkönen gets penalized too, surely they can find something he did wrong.

Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.
We record all IP addresses on the Sportnetwork message boards which may be required by the authorities in case of defamatory or abusive comment. We seek to monitor the Message Boards at regular intervals. We do not associate Sportnetwork with any of the comments and do not take responsibility for any statements or opinions expressed on the Message Boards. If you have any cause for concern over any material posted here please let us know as soon as possible by e-mailing abuse@sportnetwork.net