Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Brawn-Mercedes driver Jenson Button has won the FIA Formula One 2009 Australian Grand Prix on the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit at Albert Park and Lake, in Melbourne, Australia.

After winning the pole position, Button lead his competitors and had control of the race throughout. His teammate Rubens Barrichello experienced some problems on the start and dropped down several places, but Barrichello managed to come in second at the end of the race.

Team McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton, raced his Mercedes-engined car to third place at the chequered flag. Gearbox problems in the qualification session forced the team to change it and face a penalty by closing the starting grid. Hamilton secured third place after a collision with Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull and Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber, in their chase for the podium.

Timo Glock‘s Toyota and Fernando Alonso‘s Renault finished behind Hamilton, just off the podium.

Nico Rosberg‘s struggle was rewarded by taking 6th place for the Williams team after starting 5th. Drivers for Toro Rosso, two Sébastiens — Buemi and Bourdais — were the last to earn points, coming in 7th and 8th place, respectively.

Button and his team, Brawn GP, are now leading the drivers and constructors championships as a new entry formed by Ross Brawn on March 6 from the remains of the former Honda team.

Debutant Formula One team BrawnGP, previously known as Honda Racing, placed 9th in the 2008 season was on a brink of quitting the sport, but successfully changed ownership to Ross Brawn this month and hired former Honda drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. The team already shown surprising pace on the tests in Barcelona and now qualified and won the race on the first and second place.

The team is involved in a situation against the rear diffuser of the car as well as Williams and Toyota teams. After a brief investigation of the cars the FIA officials reported that the cars weren’t illegal. Still, the protest of some teams would be heard at the FIA International Court of Appeal on April 14, 2009.[1]

Williams driver Nico Rosberg and both Toyota drivers Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli as well as Robert Kubica from BMW Sauber and German Sebastian Vettel, who moved from Torro Rosso to Red Bull Racing prior to this season also shown high pace in the classification and the race.