The 2009 European Grand Prix (formally the 2009 Formula 1 Telefónica Grand Prix of Europe)[2] was a Formula One motor race held on 23 August 2009 at the Valencia Street Circuit in Valencia, Spain.

Ferrari had jumped Toyota after Kimi Räikkönen has finished 2nd place in the previous race.

[6] Lewis Hamilton of McLaren-Mercedes won the last race in the championship, 4 weeks previously in Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

[9] Consequently, this Grand Prix would see the return of Luca Badoer to Formula One in order to replace Massa.

We worked on the set-up throughout the day and now we’re pretty much happy with what we have so I think we are in good shape for the rest of the weekend.

For tomorrow, we will try our best to get on the front row of the grid with the objective of scoring points on Sunday" Brawn came back to form with the track temperature higher than at other circuits making Barrichello the pace-setter with the two McLarens behind him.

Fernando Alonso in his home grand prix topped the second session while Hamilton came last after spinning out early on and damaging his car.

[20] Renault's Romain Grosjean had a solid two sessions, coming 17th and 13th respectively, although Alonso outpaced him in each by over a second.

But Robert Kubica was hopefully showing a light at the end of the tunnel as he came 7th in the second session, splitting the two Force Indias.

Red Bull seemed to be struggling in the hotter conditions as they were outpaced in both sessions by title challengers Brawn.

It was a surprise result on Saturday as Adrian Sutil topped the time sheets, as Vettel's engine blew halfway through the session causing it to be red-flagged as oil was on the track.

Heikki Kovalainen was the only one of the major contenders for pole in the top 5 as he came in 4th ahead of Nico Rosberg.

Both Red Bull cars were in the bottom 5 as Vettel (18th) and Webber (17th) continued to struggle in the hot conditions.

Luca Badoer continued to be well behind the pace as he came in at 20th, 3.055 seconds behind session winner Adrian Sutil.

The first part ran for 20 minutes, and cars that finished the session 16th or lower were eliminated from qualifying.

The second part of qualifying lasted 15 minutes and eliminated cars that finished in positions 11 to 15.

Sebastian Buemi came bottom of the session, half a second behind débutante Romain Grosjean in 14th.

Button was the first of the main contenders to cross it for the final time and he didn't improve and stayed 5th.

[citation needed] The fuel-adjusted times showed that Barrichello was actually the fastest in qualifying with Kovalainen 0.216 seconds behind him.

The race started with Lewis Hamilton, Heikki Kovalainen and Rubens Barrichello as the top three after the first lap.

Romain Grosjean then tapped the rear of Badoer's Ferrari, causing the Italian to spin.

Button then fell behind Webber although it is unclear whether it was a legitimate pass or Jenson let the Red Bull driver through.

Hamilton rejoined in sixth place but Vettel's fuel pump failed to work so he had to come in again.

Barrichello came in on lap 19, the Brazilian had made a lot of ground as he rejoined just behind Lewis after being around 10 seconds adrift.

On lap 24, a lot of smoke was pouring from the rear end of Vettel's car and he retired with a suspected engine failure.

Hamilton was ordered over the radio to try to cool down his rear brakes as the temperature were getting out of control, but he was unable to shake off the challenge of Barrichello in second.

[28] As the race was heading into the closing stages, Hamilton seemed to be on a charge to try to catch the leading Brawn but in reality it looked only a mistake would stop the Brazilian winning.

Barrichello took the chequered flag to win his first grand prix since the inaugural Chinese Grand Prix in 2004, and record the 100th win by a Brazilian driver in Formula One (including the victories of Emerson Fittipaldi, José Carlos Pace, Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna, Felipe Massa and Barrichello).

Fernando Alonso came sixth in his home race, championship leader Jenson Button came seventh, while Robert Kubica came eighth, only his second points scoring finish so far this season.

Neither Red Bull's Vettel or Webber scored a point, while Barrichello moved into second place in the drivers championship.