2009 Bahrain Grand Prix

The 2009 Bahrain Grand Prix (formally the 2009 Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 26 April 2009 at the Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain. It was the sixth Bahrain Grand Prix and fourth race of the 2009 Formula One season.

The race was won by Jenson Button driving for Brawn after starting from fourth on the grid. Sebastian Vettel finished second for Red Bull and Jarno Trulli finished third for Toyota. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton drove to a season's best fourth position, followed by the second Brawn of Rubens Barrichello. Kimi Räikkönen picked up Ferrari's first points of the season in sixth, whilst Toyota's Timo Glock and Renault's Fernando Alonso finished in seventh and eighth position.

Going into the round, Brawn GP driver Jenson Button led the Drivers' Championship by 6 points from teammate Rubens Barrichello. Barrichello led Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing and Timo Glock of Toyota by 5 points in second. Brawn GP led the Chinese Grand Prix winners Red Bull Racing by 16½ points in the Constructors' Championship. Toyota were a further point back and the only other team to hit double figures.

Tyre supplier Bridgestone selected the medium and supersoft tyres for the Grand Prix weekend.

Ferrari were yet to score a point, and failure to do so in Bahrain would have resulted in Ferrari's worst ever start to a season in Formula One. Their previous worst start also came when they were Constructors' Champions; in the 1980 season the team scored no points until the fourth race, the 1980 United States Grand Prix West, where Jody Scheckter finished fifth.

Force India introduced a revised floor and diffuser in Bahrain for the Force India VJM02, as well as an upgraded front wing and reprofiled sidepods. Force India driver Giancarlo Fisichella welcomed the upgrades, hoping the car's lack of downforce would be addressed by the new modifications. BMW Sauber decided to install KERS in Robert Kubica's car for the entire race weekend after it had been tested in free practice in China.

Three practice sessions were held before the race; of which two were held on Friday April 24, 2009, with the first in the morning and the second in the afternoon. Both sessions lasted 90 minutes with weather conditions hot and dry throughout. The third session was held on Saturday morning and lasted for 60 minutes.

At the end of the first practice session, Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of 1:33.647 in his McLaren car, ahead of the two BMW Sauber cars of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica. Williams' Nico Rosberg continued his quick practice form with the fourth fastest time, followed by the Brawn of Jenson Button, the McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen, Brawn's Rubens Barrichello, and Ferrari's Felipe Massa. Red Bull's Mark Webber and the other Ferrari of Kimi Räikkönen shared the ninth fastest time, completing the top ten. Nico Rosberg was fastest in Friday's second practice session, topping the timesheets with a time of 1:33.339, followed by Fernando Alonso in the Renault and Jarno Trulli in the Toyota. The Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were fourth and fifth, with Button close behind. Adrian Sutil of Force India put in an impressive laptime to finish seventh in the standings, with Toyota's Timo Glock, Brawn's Rubens Barrichello, and Williams' Kazuki Nakajima rounding out the top 10. The BMWs of Heidfeld and Kubica could not repeat their times from the first session, and were classified in seventeenth and twentieth, respectively.