Country: | Portugal |
Grand Prix: | Portuguese |
Round No: | 10 |
Season No: | 10 |
Year: | 2009 |
Location: | Autódromo Internacional do Algarve Portimão, Portugal |
Course: | Permanent racing facility |
Course Mi: | 2.915 |
Course Km: | 4.692 |
Date R1: | 19 September |
Laps R1: | 37 |
Pole Driver Country: | Russia |
Pole Driver: | Vitaly Petrov |
Pole Team: | Barwa Addax Team |
Pole Time: | 1:30.819 |
First Driver Country R1: | Germany |
First Driver R1: | Nico Hülkenberg |
First Team R1: | ART Grand Prix |
Second Driver Country R1: | Italy |
Second Driver R1: | Luca Filippi |
Second Team R1: | Super Nova Racing |
Third Driver Country R1: | Brazil |
Third Driver R1: | Lucas di Grassi |
Third Team R1: | F. B. Racing Engineering |
Fast Driver Country R1: | Brazil |
Fast Driver R1: | Diego Nunes |
Fast Team R1: | iSport International |
Fast Time R1: | 1:32.113 |
Fast Lap R1: | 14 |
Date R2: | 20 September |
Laps R2: | 24 |
First Driver Country R2: | Italy |
First Driver R2: | Luca Filippi |
First Team R2: | Super Nova Racing |
Second Driver Country R2: | Spain |
Second Driver R2: | Javier Villa |
Second Team R2: | Super Nova Racing |
Third Driver Country R2: | Spain |
Third Driver R2: | Dani Clos |
Third Team R2: | F. B. Racing Engineering |
Fast Driver Country R2: | Germany |
Fast Driver R2: | Nico Hülkenberg |
Fast Team R2: | ART Grand Prix |
Fast Time R2: | 1:32.388 |
Fast Lap R2: | 10 |
The 2009 Portuguese GP2 round was the final round of the 2009 GP2 Series season. It was held on September 19 and 20, 2009 at Autódromo Internacional do Algarve at Portimão, Portugal. This race was the only race in the 2009 GP2 Series season that was not acting as a support race for Formula One, instead supporting an 2009 FIA GT Algarve 2 Hours event.
As Nico Hülkenberg claimed the drivers title at the previous round in Monza, only the battle for the Teams championship could be fought in the Algarve. This was the final GP2 race for Hülkenberg, as he will step up to Formula One in . Durango team was forced to also lose this round of not being able to hire any pilot to compete.
Vitaly Petrov started on pole for the feature race, with Dani Clos qualifying a career best second. GP2 Champion Hülkenberg started from third on the grid, but got a good start down into turn 1, where he slotted in behind Petrov. After a few laps behind the Russian, Hülkenberg made the decision to pit first. His gamble eventually paid off as after Petrov stopped, Hülkenberg gained the lead and never looked back, winning by 10 seconds. Petrov faded afterwards, by finishing in fourth, with Luca Filippi battling his way through the field to finish second ahead of a surging Lucas di Grassi. Roldán Rodríguez was fifth behind Petrov, with Michael Herck earning his first points in GP2 in sixth, before stewards disqualified him. Kamui Kobayashi finished seventh, while Davide Valsecchi finished eighth, both moved up one place after Herck's disqualification, with Valsecchi scoring his first points for Barwa Addax Team. Andreas Zuber finished ninth but was promoted to the reverse-grid pole. With Hülkenberg winning, both championship battles finished, as he earned enough points for ART Grand Prix to win the teams championship.
The Sprint Race was equally thrilling, with a large collision at the start. Vitaly Petrov struggled to get away in his Barwa Addax car, with the car's anti-stall system kicking in race was red flagged. Most drivers passed him, but Michael Herck was not so lucky and crashed into the back of him, hitting the pit wall afterwards. It ended a miserable weekend for the Romanian, who lost what would have been his first GP2 points finish in Race 1 due to a technical infringement. The crash left the main straight covered with debris and prompted a suspension while the mess was cleaned up. After nearly half an hour the field was led back out behind the safety car, with Coloni's Andreas Zuber leading from Davide Valsecchi, Kamui Kobayashi, Lucas di Grassi, Luca Filippi, Nico Hülkenberg and Pastor Maldonado. Zuber backed the field up at the final corner in preparation for the green flag on lap six, but timed his charge too early and shot past the safety car as it was still entering the pit lane. The top seven, with the exception of Filippi, passed the safety car and were all duly given drive-through penalties. After the penalties were issued, Filippi was in the lead. He never looked back and won by over 4 seconds to claim his first win since 2007, and his team's first win of the season. Sergio Pérez was second on the road ahead of Filippi's team-mate Javier Villa. Dani Clos scored his first points of the season in fourth, with Álvaro Parente and Diego Nunes completing the top six. Pérez lost his second place due to a post-race time penalty for overtaking under the safety car. He slipped to eleventh, giving Super Nova a 1-2 and third place in the teams championship on countback.
Pos | Driver | Points | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Nico Hülkenberg | 100 | |
2 | Vitaly Petrov | 75 | |
3 | Lucas di Grassi | 63 | |
4 | Romain Grosjean | 45 | |
5 | Luca Filippi | 40 |
Pos | Team | Points | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | ART Grand Prix | 136 | |
2 | Addax Team | 122 | |
3 | Super Nova Racing | 67 | |
4 | Racing Engineering | 67 | |
5 | iSport International | 42 |