Results of the 2009 Australian F1 Grand Prix.
Right from the first sunny Australia GP, the F1 2009 form book was thrown out the window with an historic one-two for the newly formed Brawn team. The victory for Jenson Button, followed by Ruben’s Barrichello, with a team whose participation was in doubt just six weeks ago, was a remarkable feat not achieved since the fifties.
Lewis Hamilton was the only pre-season favourite to finish in the results, with a surprise podium finish that is under FIA challenge. Despite starting from the back he passed Jarno Trulli during a safety car confusion three laps from the end. It was the result of a collision between BMWs Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel racing in a Reb Bull for the first time. It ruined both their races and gifted Barrichello and Brawn second.
Another Toyota followed, with Timon Glock driving well to finish ahead of Fernando Alonso – back this season in the Renault. In fact, so unusual were the results that even rookie Sebastien Buemi gain a point for Torro Rosso, finishing behind Nico Rosberg in a Williams.
And where was Ferrari and the other Mclaren in all this. Both Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa retired on laps 55 and 45 respectively for the Prancing Stallion’s worst finish in 16 years. Heikki Kovailanen didn’t even make it through the first lap.
There was however more drama during the race and despite Brawn’s runaway dominance with their surprise superior wing, Vettel pushed him the whole way. The choice of soft or hard compound tyres also played a factor, proving to be a disastrous strategic move for Ferrari.
Buttonnearly lost his lead when a refuelling nozzle incident kept him in the pits 7 secounds longer than needed. A safety car deployment on lap 18 (Nakajima crashing) also worked for and against some teams (notably Ferrari). However, throughout the race there was some intense position battles throughout the order, especially with Hamilton working his way through the field. Even Rubens Barrichello was lucky to finish where he did, considering he blew his P2 on the grid to slip to seventh.
So, Brawn, the team the nearly wasn’t in these recessionary times, took 18 points away from Melbourne with high hopes of being equally competitive in Sepang this next weekend. Their nearest rival is Toyota (11), with Ferrari, McLaren and BMW all yet to get out of the starting blocks. Furthermore the Red Bull Racing team and BMW have proven to be very quick, it all adds up to a potentially exciting season with any one of eight drivers capable of victories and Championship hopes.
UPDATE: Lewis Hamilton was subsequently stripped of his third place and all points after new evidence emerged that he and his team had not unintentionally gained a place lwhen Jarno Trulli was passed during the safety car deployment. Sebastien Bourdais picks up the last of the points for Torro Rosso.
Results
- Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 34:15.8
- Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 34:16.6
- Jarno Trulli Toyota 34:17.4
- Timo Glock Toyota 34:20.2
- Fernando Alonso Renault 34:20.7
- Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 34:21.5
- Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 34:21.8
- Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 34:22.1
- Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 34:22.1
- Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 34:22.9
- Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Mercedes 34:23.2
- Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault lapped
RET Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault retired, 56 laps
RET Robert Kubica BMW Sauber crash, 55 laps
RET Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari retired, 55 laps
RET Felipe Massa Ferrari retired, 45 laps
RET Nelson Piquet Jr Renault crash, 24 laps
RET Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota crash, 17 laps
RET Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes retired, 0 laps
DSQ Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 34:18.7