The 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix was significant for the first victory of a F1 hybrid car – McLaren MP4-24 with a Mercedes 2,4-litre V8 engine equipped with a KERS Kinetic Energy Recovery System, but will also be remembered for Massa’s accident.
After Hamilton won the title in 2008, defending the title in the troublesome MP4-24 proved to be a mission impossible with the dominant Brawn and the ever-improving Red Bull. Great improvements on MP4-24 were made at Nurburgring, and in the next race in Hungary, Hamilton managed to win for the 10th time in his career.
We also remember the race in Massa’s accident that almost ended his career. During the second qualifying round, the third spring separated from Rubens Barrichello’s car (between the rear wheels, used to control the vertical movement of the car due to the high aerodynamic pressure). The spring hit Massa, which went faster than 250 km/h in a helmet visor, broke it and hit him in his left eye.
Although the injuries were ‘life-threatening’, the great job of the surgeon from the AEK hospital in Budapest allowed Felipe to begin to recover quickly. First came the story of a possible return at the end of the season, maybe at his Interlagos, but his anticipated return to the track was delayed for the start of next season.
In early October, he was examined by the FIA medical delegate in Paris after which he received a green light for racing. Felipe went to Interlagos, but only to wave with a checquered flag at the end of the last race of the season.
At the Hungarian GP 2009. Mark Webber set the first fastest lap in the F1 career in his Red Bull RB5, just two weeks after winning the first race at Nurburgring.
Interestingly, there was a confusing situation at the end of Q3 when nobody knew who won pole position for some time due to problems with the timing system.
STARTING GRID
| 1 | 7 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:21.569 | – |
| 2 | 15 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull/Renault | 1:21.607 | 0.038 |
| 3 | 14 | Mark Webber | Red Bull/Renault | 1:21.741 | 0.172 |
| 4 | 1 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren/Mercedes | 1:21.839 | 0.270 |
| 5 | 16 | Nico Rosberg | Williams/Toyota | 1:21.890 | 0.321 |
| 6 | 2 | H.Kovalainen | McLaren/Mercedes | 1:22.095 | 0.526 |
| 7 | 4 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:22.468 | 0.899 |
| 8 | 22 | Jenson Button | Brawn/Mercedes | 1:22.511 | 0.942 |
| 9 | 17 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams/Toyota | 1:22.835 | 1.266 |
| 10 | 12 | Sébastien Buemi | Toro Rosso/Ferrari | 1:21.002 | -0.567 |
| 11 | 9 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:21.082 | -0.487 |
| 12 | 23 | R.Barrichello | Brawn/Mercedes | 1:21.222 | -0.347 |
| 13 | 10 | Timo Glock | Toyota | 1:21.242 | -0.327 |
| 14 | 8 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | Renault | 1:21.389 | -0.180 |
| 15 | 6 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 1:21.738 | 0.169 |
| 16 | 21 | G.Fisichella | Force India/Mercedes | 1:21.807 | 0.238 |
| 17 | 20 | Adrian Sutil | Force India/Mercedes | 1:21.868 | 0.299 |
| 18 | 5 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 1:21.901 | 0.332 |
| 19 | 11 | J.Alguersuari | Toro Rosso/Ferrari | 1:22.359 | 0.790 |
RACE RESULTS
| 1 | 1 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren/Mercedes | 70 | 1:38:23.876 | |
| 2 | 4 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 70 | 1:38:35.405 | 11.529 |
| 3 | 14 | Mark Webber | Red Bull/Renault | 70 | 1:38:40.762 | 16.886 |
| 4 | 16 | Nico Rosberg | Williams/Toyota | 70 | 1:38:50.843 | 26.967 |
| 5 | 2 | H.Kovalainen | McLaren/Mercedes | 70 | 1:38:58.268 | 34.392 |
| 6 | 10 | Timo Glock | Toyota | 70 | 1:38:59.113 | 35.237 |
| 7 | 22 | Jenson Button | Brawn/Mercedes | 70 | 1:39:18.964 | 55.088 |
| 8 | 9 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 70 | 1:39:32.048 | 1:08.172 |
| 9 | 17 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams/Toyota | 70 | 1:39:32.650 | 1:08.774 |
| 10 | 23 | R.Barrichello | Brawn/Mercedes | 70 | 1:39:33.132 | 1:09.256 |
| 11 | 6 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 70 | 1:39:34.488 | 1:10.612 |
| 12 | 8 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | Renault | 70 | 1:39:35.388 | 1:11.512 |
| 13 | 5 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 70 | 1:39:37.922 | 1:14.046 |
| 14 | 21 | G.Fisichella | Force India/Mercedes | 69 | 1:38:26.239 | 1 Lap |
| 15 | 11 | J.Alguersuari | Toro Rosso/Ferrari | 69 | 1:38:44.598 | 1 Lap |
| 16 | 12 | Sébastien Buemi | Toro Rosso/Ferrari | 69 | 1:39:11.399 | 1 Lap |
| (17) | 15 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull/Renault | 29 | 42:35.011 | suspension |
| (18) | 7 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 15 | 22:57.511 | fuel pump |
| (19) | 20 | Adrian Sutil | Force India/Mercedes | 1 | 1:44.266 | overheating |
| 3 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 0 | not started | ||
Fastest lap: Mark Webber – 1:21.931 (lap 65)
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER 10/17 RACES
| 1 | Jenson Button | 70 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| 2 | Mark Webber | 51.5 | – | 1.5 | 8 | – | 6 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 6 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | 47 | – | – | 10 | 8 | 5 | – | 6 | 10 | 8 | – |
| 4 | Rubens Barrichello | 44 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 8 | – | 6 | 3 | – |
| 5 | Nico Rosberg | 25.5 | 3 | 0.5 | – | – | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| 6 | Jarno Trulli | 22.5 | 6 | 2.5 | – | 6 | – | – | 5 | 2 | – | 1 |
| 7 | Felipe Massa | 22 | – | – | – | – | 3 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 6 | – |
| 8 | Lewis Hamilton | 19 | – | 1 | 3 | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | 10 |
| 9 | Kimi Räikkönen | 18 | – | – | – | 3 | – | 6 | – | 1 | – | 8 |
| 10 | Timo Glock | 16 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 3 |
| 11 | Fernando Alonso | 13 | 4 | – | – | 1 | 4 | 2 | – | – | 2 | – |
| 12 | Heikki Kovalainen | 9 | – | – | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 4 |
| 13 | Nick Heidfeld | 6 | – | 4 | – | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 14 | Sébastien Buemi | 3 | 2 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 15 | Robert Kubica | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | – |
| 16 | Sébastien Bourdais | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | |
| 17 | Giancarlo Fisichella | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 18 | Kazuki Nakajima | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 19 | Adrian Sutil | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 20 | Nelson Piquet Jr. | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 21 | Jaime Alguersuari | 0 | – |
CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP
| 1 | Brawn/Mercedes | 114 | 18 | 7 | 11 | 14 | 18 | 18 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 2 |
| 2 | Red Bull/Renault | 98.5 | – | 1.5 | 18 | 8 | 11 | 4 | 14 | 18 | 18 | 6 |
| 3 | Ferrari | 40 | – | – | – | 3 | 3 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 8 |
| 4 | Toyota | 38.5 | 11 | 5.5 | 2 | 8 | – | – | 6 | 2 | – | 4 |
| 5 | McLaren/Mercedes | 28 | – | 1 | 7 | 5 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 14 |
| 6 | Williams/Toyota | 25.5 | 3 | 0.5 | – | – | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 |
| 7 | Renault | 13 | 4 | – | – | 1 | 4 | 2 | – | – | 2 | – |
| 8 | BMW Sauber/BMW | 8 | – | 4 | – | – | 2 | – | 2 | – | – | – |
| 9 | Toro Rosso/Ferrari | 5 | 3 | – | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – |
| 10 | Force India/Mercedes | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
