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Malaysian GP

2009 Formula 1 Malaysian GP

Malaysia
Apr 2, 2009 to Apr 5, 2009
Sepang International Circuit, MY
Live text
Formula 1 Malaysian GP

2009 Malaysian Grand Prix Race day at Sepang

Live Text

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Lap 14: Having cruised up to the back of Glock, ninth placed Sebastian Vettel comes into the pits for his first stop.
Lap 14: Lewis Hamilton in tenth has not been able to go on with Vettel and catch the train of cars up ahead. Lewis is now three seconds behind that group.
Lap 14: Timo Glock is the next man to line up for a move on Alonso's Renault.
Lap 14: The scrap continues in to Turn 1 and Alonso runs wide, allowing Webber through.

Sensational racing in Malaysia.
Lap 13: Mark Webber dives past Alonso in to Turn 13 ... Alonso takes it back on the straight but Webber moves again into the final corner to take it back...
Lap 13: Down the field, Nelson Piquet is holding up a train of cars in a squabble over 13th position. Nakajima, Bourdais, Sutil and Fisichella are all close to the Brazilian.
Lap 12: The timing of this rain is going to be critical, with the leading cars needing to pit shortly for fuel.
Lap 12: Fernando Alonso loses the back end of his Renault in to Turn 4 and that is all Kimi Raikkonen needs to slip by the Spaniard for fifth.
Lap 12: Sebastian Vettel - now clear of Heidfeld in ninth - has easily caught the train of cars that is being led by Fernando Alonso.
Lap 11: Nico Rosberg sets the fastest lap at 1:37.660 as he continues to lead for Williams ahead of his first stop.
Lap 11: The Formula 1 weather radar shows the continuing advance of the rain. Most teams are now expecting rain in the next few minutes.
Lap 10: Nick Heidfeld runs wide at Turn four and Sebastian Vettel says 'thank you', moving up easily into 10th place as Heidfeld recovered.

Lewis Hamilton was also able to take advantage of Heidfeld's mistake, and he is up to tenth, with Heidfeld now 11th.
Lap 10: Jarno Trulli is the next man to take the fastest lap, but he is only a fraction quicker than leader Rosberg.
Lap 9: Rubens Barrichello sets the fastest lap as he continues in fourth and begins to close on team-mate Button.
Lap 9: Nico Rosberg continues to lead in the Williams with his advantage now 2.8 seconds over Trulli's Toyota.
Lap 8: Nick Heidfeld in ninth is losing a lot of ground to Timo Glock. Vettel is on the tail of Heidfeld, and Hamilton is less than a second behind Vettel. Felipe Massa in 12th is closing down that trio, with Piquet, Nakajima, Bourdais, Sutil and Fisichella behind him.
Lap 8: Button is told on the radio that heavy rain is expected.
Lap 8: Jenson Button is closing on Trulli's Toyota in a battle for second. The pair have a similar fuel load for this first stint.
Lap 7: Kimi Raikkonen continues to tail Alonso's Renault but is unable to get by the Spaniard for the moment.
Lap 7: Vettel is right on the gearbox of Heidfeld's BMW now and he tries a move on his fellow-German, but as yet no change. They run in ninth and tenth.
Lap 7: The weather continues to threaten with dark clouds moving ever closer to the circuit.
Lap 6: Sebastian Vettel pulls a great move on Lewis Hamilton for tenth place. Vettel passed up the inside at Turn 10 and is homing in on Nick Heidfeld.
Lap 6: Nico Rosberg leads by almost two seconds from Jarno Trulli, with Jenson Button closing in on the lead pair.
Lap 5: Behind the frontrunners, Nick Heidfeld runs in ninth place with Lewis Hamilton right behind him. Sebastian Vettel is right there too in 11th.

Felipe Massa and Nelson Piquet have made good starts and they are 12th and 13th.
Lap 5: Kimi Raikkonen, Mark Webber and Timo Glock are now tailing Alonso's Renault.
Lap 4: Alonso's heavy Renault now has a train of cars behind him ... Rubens Barrichello sends a move into Turn 14 but he can't slow the Brawn enough.

Rubens continues his attack and takes fourth from Alonso in to Turn 1.
Lap 4: Robert Kubica has now retired from the race. The Pole was reporting strange noises from the engine before the race started.
Lap 4: Replays show that the second half of the field did a brilliant job to avoid Kubica's slow-starting BMW.

Sebastien Buemi has come into the pits from 18th to change the nosecone on the Toro Rosso.
Lap 3: Nico Rosberg in the Williams is the leader after an amazing start to the Malaysian Grand Prix. He is a 1.2 seconds ahead of Trulli going in to the third lap.
Lap 3: Fernando Alonso made a sensational start from way down the grid, and he now runs fourth with a significant fuel load.

Rubens Barrichello is behind the Renault and is desperate to overtake with his lighter car.
Lap 2: A disgruntled Kovalainen stalks away from his McLaren Mercedes.

Lewis Hamilton has made a good start and is up to 10th place in the early stages.
Lap 2: In to lap two it is Rosberg from Trulli, Button, Alonso, Barrichello, Raikkonen, Webber and Glock.
Lap 2: Jenson Button sends a move up the inside of Turn 13 to take third back from Fernando Alonso.
Lap 1: Robert Kubica made a very slow start and trails the field in 20th. Heikki Kovalainen has spun off and is out of the race.
Lap 1: A sensational start with major changes from the grid order.
Lap 1: Through Turn 4 it is Rosberg from Trulli, Alonso, Button and Raikkonen.
Lap 1: Jarno Trulli and Jenson Button are neck and neck off the line, but it is the Williams of Nico Rosberg who rockets past them all into Turn 1.
Lap 1: The five red lights go out and we are racing in Malaysia!
The field begin to form up behind the Briton.

We await the start ...
Button rounds Turn 15 and checks the grip level on his way to the grid. He slots the Brawn comfortably into place on the pole.

By: Emlyn Hughes, Geoff Creighton

Published: