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After a
difficult qualifying session where the session was stopped due to heavy rain
the AT&T Williams team would see their cars line up seventh and ninth on the
grid for the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix. Nico Rosberg would finish ahead of
team-mate Kazuki Nakajima in a session that saw Barrichello on pole. Sunday
would see the weather vastly improved with the track dry. Would these dry
conditions pose a problem for the Williams team as it was felt that they
were running a wet weather setup prior to going into parc ferme. There was
talk of some rain during the race but the sun was shinning as the cars lined
up on the grid. It was estimated that Nico would stop on lap twenty three.
As for the championships with Barrichello on pole and his other rivals
Button and Vettel in fourteenth and sixteenth it would be interesting to see
how they finish after the race. If Button finishes on the podium he will be
champion. Vettel must finish in first or second to keep his hopes alive.
Liuzzi had taken a five grid penalty due to a gearbox change. Latest
forecasts had a possibility of rain thirty minutes into the race. Webber and
Barrichello were on the harder tyre as the grid moved away for the parade
lap of the seventy one lap race. Raikkonen was on the softer tyre for the
start.
The grid would from and as the lights went out it would be Barrichello
leading from Webber. Raikkonen was in third and would get a broken front
wing as we had drama on the first lap with Trulli going off with a damaged
left front suspension. Sutil was also involved as the Safety Car came out.
Trulli would show his displeasure with Sutil. Raikkonen, Kovalainen, and
Hamilton would pit. Kovalainen would leave too quickly and would take the
fuel hose with it. Alonso would be listed as having stopped out on the
track. He was hit by a car spinning in front of him. Kovalainen would be
able to return to the race after his mechanics removed the fuel hose.
Lap three and Barrichello was leading from Webber, with Nico in third.
Kubica was fourth followed by Buemi, Kazuki, Kobayashi, and Grosjean in
eighth. Button was in ninth with Vettel in eleventh. The Safety Car would
come in at the end of lap five. At the restart Kubica would take Nico for
third. Lap six and Barrichello was fastest with a 1m:15.380 from Webber,
Kubica, Nico, Buemi, Kobayashi, Button, and Kazuki in eighth. Button had
passed Kazuki going into Turn one under braking. Lap seven and it was a
1m:14.636 from Barrichello with Webber 1.4 seconds behind Barrichello. A
1m:14.454 would see Barrichello's lead out to 1.7 seconds over Webber.
Button was now attacking Kobayashi for sixth, while Kubica was running close
to Webber. Lap ten and a 1m:14.411 from Webber as Webber responded to
Barrichello. Nico was now 1.4 seconds behind Kubica while Kobayashi would
continue to frustrate Button's efforts to pass. Webber was 1.6 seconds
behind Barrichello after anew fastest lap on lap eleven, 1m:14.371. Kazuki
was still in eighth with Vettel 1.4 seconds behind the Williams. Lap
thirteen and Barrichello would lead by 1.8 seconds from Webber, Kubica,
Rosberg, with Buemi slipping away in fifth. Lap fourteen and Barrichello was
2.0 seconds ahead of Webber as Nico set a personal best on lap fifteen with
a 1m:14.397 to only be a few hundredths off the quickest time. Hamilton and
Kovalainen were in eleventh and twelfth but Kovalainen was under
investigation for his pit lane incident.
A 1m:14.293 from Barrichello on lap sixteen but Webber kept the gap at 2.0
seconds. Kazuki had closed in onto Button as Barrichello continued to push
setting another fastest lap with a 1m:14.179. His lead was 2.2 seconds,
while Nico was 1.9 seconds behind Kubica. The first lap incident between
Sutil and Trulli would be investigated after the race. Barrichello would
continue to set fastest laps, lap nineteen a 1m:14.048. Lap twenty and a
1m:13.950 from Barrichello and was now 2.7 seconds ahead of Webber.
Barrichello would pit from the lead on lap twenty one staying on the harder
tyre. He would come out in eighth. Nico was now in third with Webber leading
from Kubica. Kubica would pit on lap twenty four seeing Webber leading from
Nico.
Kubica would come out in front of Barrichello while Nico and Buemi would pit
on lap twenty five. Nico stayed on the harder tyre as Webber set a 1m:13.875
on lap twenty four. Button would pass Kobayashi as Webber set another
fastest lap with a 1m:13.733. Webber would pit on lap twenty seven seeing
Button leading the race. Kazuki would also pit from eighth with Webber
coming back out in the lead. Kobayashi was in third from Vettel, Kubica,
Barrichello, and Hamilton. Nico was slowing dropping down the order and he
would pit driving his car into the garage with what appeared to be an engine
related failure. Vettel was attacking Kobayashi for third while Button would
pit on lap thirty. Kazuki had dropped to fifteenth while it was confirmed
that Nico's problem was gearbox related.
Lap thirty one and Kobayashi would pit seeing Webber leading from Vettel and
Kubica. For the Williams team their race would end when Kazuki would crash
heavily flying across the track at Turn four and into the barrier. Kazuki
would get out of the car seeing him score no points again. It was shown that
Kobayashi had moved over on Kazuki as the Williams driver tried to pass him
going down the back straight. Lap thirty five and Webber was leading Vettel
by 5.5 seconds with Kubica third from Barrichello, Hamilton, Raikkonen,
Button, and Buemi in eighth. As the half way point of the race approached
Vettel would pit on lap thirty eight. He would take on hard tyres meaning
that he would be stopping again.
Lap thirty eight and Webber was leading Kubica by 6.6 seconds. Barrichello
was in third from Hamilton, Raikkonen, Button, Vettel, and Buemi. Lap forty
three and Hamilton would pit from fourth nearly losing it in the pit lane
exit. Raikkonen would pit the next lap taking on the super soft tyre, coming
back out in eleventh. Kubica was slowly closing in onto Webber with Webber's
lead 5.5 seconds on lap forty five. But Kubica would pit on lap forty seven
taking on the softer tyre, seeing Barrichello move up to second 15.8 seconds
behind Webber. Kubica came out in third from Button, Vettel, Buemi,
Hamilton, and Kobayashi. Barrichello would pit on lap fifty one swapping to
the softer tyre. He would return in sixth.
Lap fifty three and Webber would pit from the lead taking on the softer tyre
and returning back in the lead. Kubica was second from Button, Vettel,
Buemi, Barrichello, Hamilton, and Kobayashi. Buemi would pit from fifth on
lap fifty five. Button would come in on lap fifty six taking on the softer
tyre and returning in seventh. Vettel would also pit coming in from third.
Vettel would come out in front of Button with Button stuck behind sixth
placed Kovalainen. Webber was still leading from Kubica, Barrichello,
Hamilton, Vettel, Kovalainen, Button, and Raikkonen in eighth. If the
positions remain as they are Button will take the title.
Seventh placed Kovalainen would pit on lap sixty moving Button into sixth.
Hamilton would pass Barrichello for third going into Turn one seeing
Barrichello now fourth. Barrichello was told that he had a puncture and he
would pit on lap sixty four. It looked like Barrichello had been hit by
Hamilton with the McLaren's front wing endplate seeing him suffer a left
rear puncture. Barrichello was now eighth while Webber lead from Kubica,
Hamilton, Vettel, Button, Raikkonen, Buemi, and Barrichello. Webber would
continue to lead easily as they started to complete their final laps.
Webber would
start his final lap and would cross the finish line to take victory in the
2009 Brazilian Grand Prix, his second of the 2009 season. Kubica would
secure second followed by Hamilton, Vettel, Button, Raikkonen, Buemi and
Barrichello. The fifth place for Button would see him score another points
to see him take the 2009 Drivers championship. The Brawn team would also
secure the 2009 Constructors tile. As for the AT&T Williams team this race
would see both drivers run competitively in the early stages of the race but
it both Nico and Kazuki would retire seeing the Williams team have a double
DNF. A disappointing result for the weekend. |