2009 Italian Grand Prix stats and facts

14th September 2009, 7:0021st March 2012, 9:01 | Written by Keith Collantine

From start to finish, Barrichello averaged 241kph to win the Italian Grand Prix

Yesterday’s race was the 80th running of the Italian Grand Prix, and the 60th time it has been a world championship event.

So it was fitting that the ‘temple of speed’ served up another of the fastest races of all time – and it was won by the sport’s oldest practitioner.

Here are the facts and stats from the Italian Grand Prix, plus a teaser for you to tackle…

Fastest races

The Italian Grand Prix was the eighth-fastest F1 championship round of all time. Rubens Barrichello completed the race at an average speed of 241.000kph (149.7mph) to the nearest thousandth.

That was 6.586kph slower than the fastest race ever, also at Monza back in 2003 – when engines had two cylinders more and the aerodynamic regulations were far less restrictive. Of the 23 fastest F1 races ever, 21 took place at Monza, the other two on the original Spa-Francorchamps.

This was also the 14th shortest race ever at 1hr 16’21.706s. This year’s curtailed Malaysian Grand Prix was the third shortest race of all time.

Wins and one-twos

Barrichello won his 11th Grand Prix, putting him level with Jacques Villeneuve and Felipe Massa. It was also the 50th time Barrichello has led a Grand Prix.

Barrichello won the Italian Grand Prix for the third time – his other wins were for Ferrari in 2002 and 2004. Only two drivers have won the Italian Grand Prix more than three times: Michael Schumacher (five times) and Nelson Piquet (four times).

Second place for Jenson Button gave Brawn their fourth one-two finish. It was the first one led by Barrichello.

Lewis Hamilton headed the grid for the 15th time in his F1 career, giving him as many pole positions as Massa.

Adrian Sutil claimed the fastest lap of the race with a 1’24.739 on lap 36. This was his and Force India’s first fastest lap. He also achieved his highest grid position (second) and best finishing position (fourth). Second and seventh on the grid was Force India’s best qualifying performance so far.

Hamilton and Sutil shared the front row of the grid for the first time since an F3 Euroseries race at Zandvoort in August 2005 when they were team mates at ASM.

That Heidfeld record, again…

Nico Rosberg’s points-scoring streak came to an end after eight races.

Nick Heidfeld continues to increase his tallies in the Least Interesting F1 Records Ever: he has now been classified in 41 consecutive races and has finished the last 33 in a row. Rosberg has now become the driver with the second largest number of consecutive finishes and classifications, with 25.

As mentioned several times in the build-up to the race, this was the first appearance for an Italian in Italy in a Ferrari since 1994, thanks to Giancarlo Fisichella.

The previous race in Spa was almost certainly Luca Badoer’s final appearance in an F1 Grand Prix. His two-race stint at Ferrari served only to increase his existing record for ‘most starts without a point scored’ to 51 races.

This was the 60th Italian Grand Prix that counted towards the world championship. All of these took place at Monza except the 1980 race, which was held at Imola. The British Grand Prix is the only other event on the calendar to have appeared every year since the championship began in 1950.

Including non-championship races, this was the 80th Italian Grand Prix. The first was held at a circuit called Montichiari, near Brescia, in 1921.

But by the following year the Autodromo Nazionale Monza had been built and the race moved there.

Over to you

One stat I haven’t been able to pin down in was was the last time a driver was shown the black-and-orange flag, as Robert Kubica was on lap eight.

Please post any suggestions in the comments, along with any other stats I failed to spot with my anorak gaze…

More on the Italian Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine

Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...
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92 comments on “2009 Italian Grand Prix stats and facts”

Noel
14th September 2009, 7:26

Two -more- cylinders, Keith? :)
1. Lustigson
  14th September 2009, 7:31
  
  Exactly. I don’t remember there ever being V-twins in F1. ;-)
2. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
  14th September 2009, 8:51
  
  Yes, two cylinders more, sorry.
  1. sato113
    14th September 2009, 14:17
    
    keith wasn’t it 2004 that would have produced the fastest monza speed? because that was the year when most of the lap records were set…
    1. sumedh
      14th September 2009, 15:48
      
      It should have been, but the 2004 race was held in wet conditions. The Ferraris started at the front then went back, and came back to the front again.
      
      But the speeds weren’t as high owing to the rain.
      1. sato113
        14th September 2009, 19:38
        
        aha, cheers! so 2004 has been the fastest year of formula one right? if so, why?
sumedh
14th September 2009, 7:30

The least number of pitstops by a team finishing 1-2. Just 2!!

Also possibly, the least number of pitstops in a races held after 1990 (recent times, I mean)
Lustigson
14th September 2009, 7:30

This was also the 14th shortest race ever at 1hr 16′21.706s.

And then to think that some in the Formula One Teams Association want shorter races. The outrage! What’s their goal? Monza within the hour?

I vote for longer races: a minimum 350 km distance in stead of the current 305. That would make races only 9 to 11 laps longer, while still taking them to 90-105 minutes length.

As mentioned several times in the build-up to the race, this was the first appearance for an Italian in a Ferrari since 1994, thanks to Giancarlo Fisichella.

In my book, this was the first appearance for an Italian in a Ferrari since, well… the last race. ;-)

If you meant the last time an Italian race a Ferrari in the Italian Grand Prix, that was Ivan Capelli in 1992, while the last time an Italian raced a Ferrari on Italian soil, that was Nicola Larini at the fateful San Marino GP in 1994.

Other than that, keep up the good work! :-)
1. Bleu
  14th September 2009, 7:38
  
  I think the race distance should take account the time taken. So that race in Monza would be significanyly longer in distance than race in Hungaroring. Now it’s only Monaco which has shorter distance.
  1. Rikadyn
    14th September 2009, 8:56
    
    make them timed races, each GP is 2hrs, really make pit strategy interesting if we were to ever go back to refueling
    1. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
      14th September 2009, 8:59
      
      if we were to ever go back to refueling
      
      No, thank you.
      1. Rikadyn
        14th September 2009, 9:26
        
        I think current races are too short really for there to be any real strategy done, refueling isn’t the problem, the 93,000 other rules are the problem
      2. manatcna
        15th September 2009, 0:33
        
        Yes please
      3. Martin
        15th September 2009, 17:41
        
        refeuling isnt an issue, its the speeds and the length. thedistances need to be alterred to make it closer to the 2hr. time limit..
        I preffer the tracks with more speed such as monza , spa, silverstone and the old hochenheim. The newer tracks are for the most part uninteresting and if Tilke designed it, the race is almost always boring.
2. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
  14th September 2009, 8:54
  
  In Italy, yes – have changed it :-)
Bleu
14th September 2009, 7:37

* In all Barrichello’s three Monza wins his team-mate has finished 2nd.

* Mark Webber’s retirement left three drivers who have finished every race of the season and all of them are German: Heidfeld, Rosberg and Glock.

* Damon Hill won at Monza in 1993 and 1994 – since then no one has two victories in a row in Italian GP.

– about the black/orange flag. Our pit commentator mentioned black/orange flag being shown for Michael Schumacher in Australian GP 2003 when his bargeboard was loose. However the cameras didn’t show it and Schumacher pitted for fuel and new tyres. Might have also been that organizers were just going to show it on a lap he pitted.
1. Ned Flanders
  14th September 2009, 12:23
  
  I also think it was Australia 2003 for Schumi’s bargeboard, but that is just from my memory, I can’t be bothered to check old race reports to find out for certain!
  1. Alianora La Canta
    15th September 2009, 0:02
    
    Come to think of it, Ned, I believe you’re right. I was really annoyed because I couldn’t find any record of it in my annuals, but that incident rings a bell.
Tom
14th September 2009, 8:25

not sure about the last time the orange and black flag was waved but i can tell you last time it should have been: alonso in hungary this year and vettel in australia this year too.
1. Patrickl
  14th September 2009, 8:52
  
  How would they have been able to show that flag to Alonso? For Vettel they would have had to be pretty quick too. He did pass the start/finish line but only once.
  
  I’d say Raikkonen should have gotten that flag at Magny Cours and after he pitted and the thing was still on, he should have been black flagged.
  1. James_mc
    14th September 2009, 9:36
    
    Barichello in Australia had exactly the same damage ad Kubica yesterday as he preceded to barge everyone out of the way :-)
    1. sato113
      14th September 2009, 10:56
      
      I don’t think Barichello’s was quite as bad though. the whole of Kubica’s endplate was dangling off at monza.
      1. Ned Flanders
        14th September 2009, 12:27
        
        If Barrichello’s wing had of been that badly damaged at Melbourne, he still wouldn’t have got thst penalty. Kubica was only flagged because the FIA has clamped down on incidents involving flying debris since the Surtees/ Massa incidents
      2. sato113
        14th September 2009, 14:11
        
        and that too ned. ;)
Rikadyn
14th September 2009, 8:52

So, what is the shortest(read fastest) Grand Prix that went the full race length?
ivz
14th September 2009, 9:17

With Sutil taking fastest lap, is it now 10 different drivers with fastest laps this season?
1. ajokay
  14th September 2009, 9:35
  
  Indeed it is. Glock, Vettel, Barrichello, Rosberg, Webber, Button, Trulli, Alonso, Massa, Sutil.
  1. StrFerrari4Ever
    14th September 2009, 18:06
    
    Wow Kimi hasn’t had a fastest lap this year and last year he had 11 if I’m not mistaken.
    1. Alianora La Canta
      15th September 2009, 0:03
      
      You have counted correctly, StrFerrari4Ever.
Robert
14th September 2009, 9:23

Here is one I came up with.

This is the first second place for Jenson Button since the 2004 Chinese Grand Prix. And who did he finish second to in that race? Rubens Barrichello.

Jenson has ever had three other second place finishes, all in 2004. Twice he finished second to Schumacher (San Marino and Germany) and once to Jarno Trulli in his only career win in Monaco.
Yorricksfriend
14th September 2009, 9:36

Heidfeld is now the only German driver in the field without a fastest lap this year.
David A
14th September 2009, 9:40

After 10 seasons without a safety car finish, yesterday’s was the 2nd this year, both resulting in Brawn 1-2s and both due to the driver in 3rd place crashing.
1. LewisC
  14th September 2009, 11:26
  
  Now that’s good.
  I’m sure we had a safety car finish more recently than that though?
  1. David A
    14th September 2009, 15:20
    
    To clarify, this was the first safety car finish at full distance since Canada 99. Brazil 03 and Malaysia 09 ended under the safety car, but the race distance was cut short on both occasions.
    1. SonyJunkie
      14th September 2009, 16:19
      
      Was Australia 09 not full race distance?
      
      I thought the final 3 laps were behind the Safety Car, maybe I’m wrong.
    2. Jonny
      14th September 2009, 16:21
      
      I think you’ll find no race can finish under the safety car – it can only finish under safety car conditions. This is what happened in Australia this year (2009) because the safety may come in on that lap, but racing (and overtaking)only resumes after the start/finish line.
Journeyer
14th September 2009, 10:07

Has anyone noticed that this is Kimi Raikkonen’s 4th consecutive podium? And they’ve all come since Massa’s injury.
eF-0nE
14th September 2009, 10:23

what are the chances that Kubica in 4 consecutive races, not will to be every time move 10 positions to the rear. ?
djdaveyp
14th September 2009, 10:45

This has been quite a low “for sure” weekend.

In fact i think rubens barrichello has replaced it with “i mean” i lost count during his interview after the race!

The only two people I heard use for sure were jenson and stefano dominicalli!

Also I though Sutils little “Not Yet!” comment was legendary!
1. Sush Meerkat
  14th September 2009, 16:06
  
  This has been quite a low “for sure” weekend.
  
  Actually since Massa’s accident the whole Ferrari team have pulled their resources together to keep their For Sure title hopes up, even Chris Dyer was “For Sure”‘ing when interviewed a few races ago.
fminas
14th September 2009, 10:51

About the black-and-orange flag I think the last time was in Australia when it was shown to Michael Schumacher for his barge-board.
sumedh
14th September 2009, 11:03

If Roger Federer wins the Men’s title, then all the big winners this weekend would be parents.

1. Rubens Barrichello
2. Kim Clijsters
3. Roger Federer

Its quite off-topic, but it rarely happens, doesn’t it?
1. Damon
  14th September 2009, 11:29
  
  WHAT??
2. Charlie
  14th September 2009, 12:07
  
  And they’re all children too yeah? Everybody is somebody’s baby.
  1. mm
    14th September 2009, 12:58
    
    Being a child and being a parent is not the same. One is always true. One is not.
ken
14th September 2009, 12:52

It’s the first time that we have a podium Rubens, Jenson, and Kimi in that order.

It is also the first time a mclaren has beat a force india to pole at the last second.

It’s also the first time Fisichella has raced in a ferrari.

:)
1. sato113
  14th September 2009, 14:13
  
  these aren’t that great TBH mate.
2. Bleu
  14th September 2009, 18:32
  
  Actually not on the first one – see Chinese GP 2004.
Mad Dan Eccles
14th September 2009, 13:12

So what is the shortest race ever of those that have gone the full scheduled distance? ie Leaving out events red-flagged for rain or crashes.

MDE
Rod
14th September 2009, 13:37

Is it the first Grand Prix where 6 of the top 7 cars have been powered by the same engine?
1. Bleu
  14th September 2009, 18:39
  
  Cosworth era has almost certainly those but apart from that it might be.
Ardeninian
14th September 2009, 13:44

FYI, average speed was 241.000kph (306.720 km in 1º16’21.706″. Unfortunately this drops it below the magic 150mph figure (149.750mph average)
1. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
  15th September 2009, 18:53
  
  Oddly, I calculated it’s position on the list correctly (it was the eighth-fastest ever) yet wrote the speed wrong in the article. I’ve changed it to 241kph now.
project4
14th September 2009, 13:59

Keith do me a little favour, will you? Tell me whether you’ll lift this ban on me or not. If you plan not to do so, i’ll not even bother to visit this blog again :( . I still believe this is the best blog out there & I still hold you in great regard.
John H
14th September 2009, 14:02

Keith,

I think Melbourne 2003 is the last time the black and orange flag was used (M. Schumi).
1. John H
  14th September 2009, 14:03
  
  (Sorry, I missed Bleu’s comment above)
sato113
14th September 2009, 14:15

does anyone know what the highest speed was for this race? (not average speed, top speed) and how it compares to the fast years of 2003/2004?
1. IDR
  14th September 2009, 15:19
  
  Maximum speed this year has been 335,4 Kph. (A Sutil, during the race)
  
  Data for 2004 is not available but if you look at the circuit chart in the FIA archive for 2003 and 2004, you can see maximum speed of 340 Kph at the Variante Ascari. This year, the chart shows 335 Kph.
2. Alex-Ctba
  14th September 2009, 20:51
  
  about the speed record, I’m not so sure, but it belong to JPM with 372.6kph (practice)and 370.1kph from Kimi(race) , both in Monza 2005 with V10 engines
AndrewT
14th September 2009, 14:23

– this was Nick Heidfelds 60th point scoring finish, and the 4th consecutive point scoring finish in Monza. He finished all his races in Monza except for 2000 (and missed the GP in 2005)

– this was Fernando Alonsos 90th point scoring Finish

– title challenger Mark Webber has failed to score a single point for the last 3 races

– Tonio Liuzzi grabbed his best ever grid position, starting from 7th. His former best positions were 11th, which he achieved twice, Spain 2005 and China 2007. Also this was his 40th Grand Prix.

– Hamilton, Heidfeld and Barrichello started from the place they used to achieve most regulary during their careers. 15th P1 for the Englishman, 17th P15 for the German and 29th P5 for the Brazilian.
dj
14th September 2009, 14:44

Bottom line is,F1 cars can’t pass on track…only in the pits…the package needs to change (big front wings didn’t help)…JB or RB who has the best pit crew?
1. Jonny
  14th September 2009, 16:29
  
  Button and Barichello have the same pitcrew. The same is for all teams. :|
Andrew White
14th September 2009, 15:03

When was the last time someone retired on the last lap? The most recent I can think of is Heikki at Spa last year.
1. Tom L.
  14th September 2009, 18:41
  
  Didn’t Kazuki Nakajima crash on the last lap in Monaco this year? And before that, perhaps Malaysia this year, when Vettel and possibly a couple of others spun out on what would have been the last classified lap? Not sure about that though.
GP1
14th September 2009, 15:19

Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen both have same total points earned their career ?
1. AndrewT
  14th September 2009, 16:13
  
  that’s right, 571 exactly!
  but meanwhile Räikkönen did it in 153 GP-s, Alonso needed 136 for this.
  
  however, their other statistics are almost the same as well:
  finished: 110-108
  point scoring finish: 92-90
FW11B
14th September 2009, 15:22

– Both of Barrichello’s victories this year have come in races were Hamilton was on pole. In fact, of Ruben’s 11 wins only 4 of them he won from pole.

– With this victory, Italy becomes the most sucessful GP for brazilian drivers, with ten wins, surpassing Brazil and the USA who have nine (although the United States is divided into three distinct races). The one year in which a race wasn’t held in Monza, in 1980, was also won by a brazilian (Piquet)
1. Potiguar
  15th September 2009, 0:26
  
  And that puts brazilians with 1/6 of all Italian grand prix in history
IDR
14th September 2009, 15:37

Off topic:

Santander have renewed the sponsorship agreement with McLaren, just few days after they signed a new mega-agreement with Ferrari.

So…I have a heart-beat: Raikkonen to McLaren next year!
1. Becken
  14th September 2009, 19:20
  
  Or, maybe Alonso to McLaren, if we believe in Spanish press reasoning… ;)
2. Becken
  14th September 2009, 19:26
  
  Oh, another off- topic, IDR: if we look slightly to your icon, it seems like Lewis´s helmet…
  1. sato113
    14th September 2009, 19:40
    
    ha I thought it was at first! a squashed one mind you.
Lustigson
14th September 2009, 15:44

According to Michele Merlino of Autosport.com, Hamilton scored Britain’s 200th pole position.

Interesting to note is that the first 50 poles came quickest to Britain, in 9 years (1955-1964), while the wordt period pole position-wise was 1976-1994, with poles 101 through 1950 taking 18 years.

D.G.D. Hill, D.M. Coulthard, J.A.L. Button and lastly L.C. Hamilton have gone a bit quicker, getting to 200 poles in 15 years.
CC
14th September 2009, 16:34

Don’t know if this has been mentioned before but what about the largest age difference between pole sitter (lewis) and winner (rubens)

second time that Lewis has been on pole and Rubens has won the race this year. (Monza + Valencia)
1. Bleu
  14th September 2009, 18:37
  
  No. Belgian GP 1992 comes to mind with Mansell and Schumacher. (about 15 years and five months)
RedGreen
14th September 2009, 18:04

With regards to the (particularly short) race length – by what criteria do the FIA determine how many laps make up a grand prix? Is it arbitrary, or do they calculate based on the expected speed of the cars?
1. Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
  14th September 2009, 22:00
  
  It’s whichever number of laps gets them past 200 miles first, except in the case of Monaco, where the track is very slow and so the race distance is geared to fall just short of the two-hour limit.
  1. RedGreen
    15th September 2009, 5:53
    
    I see, thanks for clarifying that Keith!
Jorge Lopes
14th September 2009, 18:19

– Barrichello’s 3rd win at Monza as Juan Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss, Ronnie Peterson and Alain Prost.

– Brazil’s 101 win

– 4th 1-2 from Brawn, same number as Alfa Romeo

– Raikkonen equal to Alonso as 5th drivers with more points ever.

– Raikkonen equal David Coulthard as 5th drivers with more podiums in history.

– 1st time this year the win came from P5 at start.

– 1st time Sutil and Force India with a Best Race Lap

– 10 different drivers with BEST LAP this year equalling record of 1954, 1975, 1976, 1981 and 1982.

– 6 drivers scored their first BEST LAP this year (Button, Trulli, Vettel, Webber, Glock, Sutil). This equals 1968 Jean Pierre Beltoise, Jarama, Richard Attwood, Monaco, Pedro Rodríguez, Rouen, Joseph Siffert, Brands Hatch, Jackie Stewart, Nurburgring and Jacky Oliver, Monza).

– Please confirm this one but I guess the Record numbers os Nick Heidfeld really are: 56 consecutive races finished without a mechanical problem (since France 2006) and he’s finishing always since Indy 2007, so now 41 races in a row.

– First time since Singapore 2008, 16 races ago, Toyota engines did not scored a point.

– 3 races in a row that Toyota doesn’t score a point. First time that happens since 2007.
1. LC Coelho
  14th September 2009, 18:31
  
  nice statistics!
2. sato113
  14th September 2009, 20:02
  
  – Raikkonen equal to Alonso as 5th drivers with more points ever.
  
  what does this mean Jorge?
  1. James G
    14th September 2009, 22:38
    
    He means that both Alonso and Raikkonen are the 5th most successful driver in terms of career points (571) after Barrichello (596), Senna (614), Prost (798.5) and some German guy I’ve never heard of (1369).
    
    DC is 7th and highest placed British driver.
Bleu
14th September 2009, 18:41

Fastest full-distance race, I found, is Italian GP 2003:

1 hour 14 minutes 19,838 seconds.
dibupaulk
14th September 2009, 21:59

Damon Hill is ma all time fav he is great
Kevanfolan
15th September 2009, 0:32

Brawn are now only 8 points off equaling the total points that Honda had scored in its 8 seasons (1964-1968,2006-2008) of 154 with 146 for Brawn in less than 1 season.
1. Kevanfolan
  15th September 2009, 0:42
  
  Also if Malaysia had run its full length then Brawn would only be 1 point off Honda’s total points.
IDR
15th September 2009, 6:35

Well, how about this one:

in last 20 years only four times the winner in Monza has won the WDC.

A Prost 1989
A Sena 1990
M Schumacher 2000 y 2003

Even in 2004, Schumacher won 13 of the 17 races and he didn’t won in Monza.

So 80% probability for J Button to win WDC.
1. Mad Dan Eccles
  15th September 2009, 9:28
  
  Not to mention 1988, when Monza was the only race McLaren didn’t win.
  
  Senna, the World Champion, was a tad impetuous in lapping an uncooperative Jean-Louis Schlesser and left the field open for a Ferrari 1-2.
just me
16th September 2009, 2:56

@Keith:

Second and seventh on the grid was Force India’s best qualifying performance so far.

huh??
what about Fisi’s pole?
1. Tom L.
  16th September 2009, 18:30
  
  Overall, that’s a better showing than their 1st and 11th at Spa.
rickee
16th September 2009, 5:04

nice facts…. i heard F1 cars wheels weighs four empty coke tin..is that true?
Joe Garnett
17th September 2009, 22:31

@rickee I don’t know but I wouldn’t have thought so. They do try to save weight wherever but it seems a bit too little weight.