Jenson Button took his second successive pole position for Brawn GP beating the Toyota pair of Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock in qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

It follows on from that dream start in Melbourne last weekend and it indicates just how well this Mercedes-powered BGP 001 is capable of on different types of race tracks.

Button’s lap around the 3.444-mile Sepang International Circuit was one minute, 35.181 seconds and at one point during the session, the differences between Trulli and Button was only a matter of four thousands of a second! This is incredible when you consider the new regulations for this season, meaning the competition between the drivers and teams is remarkably close.

Not forgetting the top four quickest cars in qualifying are running that clever ‘double’ diffusers, in which a court hearing on April 14th will determined the legality of this aerodynamic device.

Even though Sebastian Vettel qualified in third, the Red Bull Racing driver will lose ten places due to his penalty for tangling with Robert Kubica’s BMW Sauber in Melbourne. As for Rubens Barrichello, who set the fourth fastest time, the Brazilian will drop back five positions after changing his Brawn’s gearbox in practice.

This means Timo Glock will share the second row on the grid with Nico Rosberg in fourth spot for Williams.

Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber will start the Malaysian Grand Prix in fifth position, ahead of BMW’s Robert Kubica, with Kimi Raikkonen in the tricky handling Ferrari in seventh. His team-mate Felipe Massa – the pole-sitter at Sepang for the past two years – will start in a disappointing P16 after a misjudgement by the team in Q1.

In ninth place following his gearbox penalty will be Rubens Barrichello, ahead of the sick Fernando Alonso. The double world champion is struggling for fitness with an ear infection and it will be interesting if the Spaniard has the necessary energy to drive his Renault on race day.

As for McLaren, this has been a difficult week for the team following that controversy regarding Hamilton and Trulli. The defending world champion has a lot on his mind and with the MP4-24 still slow despite running a new floor to improve the car; Lewis Hamilton could only manage a frustrating P12. His team-mate Heikki Kovalainen also struggled and will start in P14.

But the surprise of the whole qualifying session was Massa’s shock early exit. The team believed its first runs for the championship runner-up would be sufficient enough to get him through to Q2, but as the Brazilian remained in the garage choosing not to run and save a set of Bridgestones for the race, Felipe and the team discovered that this wasn’t quick enough and he drop down the order rapidly as the other cars went faster thanks to improved track conditions. The decision not to go out for a second attempt was a big mistake meaning Massa and the team paid the heavy price of not competiting.

Even Raikkonen was on the cusp on being knocked out and he just made it with the 13th quickest time in that session. The Finn went on to qualify in seventh. So a bad tactical error was made in the Ferrari camp and it will be fascinating what strategy the team will adopt for Massa in Sunday’s Grand Prix.

As for Jenson Button, this is a fantastic result for the British driver and team. If he can keep up this winning performance in the Malaysian Grand Prix and repeat his lights-to-flag win in Melbourne just like last weekend, then Jenson will be consider as a main title contender this season. The others will need to work extremely hard in order to catch Button and Brawn GP from taking the main prize – the world championship.

Anyway, here is the revised grid order for the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix:

1.  Button       Brawn-Mercedes        1:35.181
2.  Trulli       Toyota                1:35.273
3.  Glock        Toyota                1:35.690
4.  Rosberg      Williams-Toyota       1:35.750
5.  Webber       Red Bull-Renault      1:35.797
6.  Kubica       BMW-Sauber            1:36.106
7.  Raikkonen    Ferrari               1:36.170
8.  Barrichello  Brawn-Mercedes        1:35.651*
9.  Alonso       Renault               1:37.659
10.  Heidfeld     BMW-Sauber            1:34.769
11.  Nakajima     Williams-Toyota       1:34.788
12.  Hamilton     McLaren-Mercedes      1:34.905
13.  Vettel       Red Bull-Renault      1:35.518**
14.  Kovalainen   McLaren-Mercedes      1:34.924
15.  Bourdais     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1:35.431
16.  Massa        Ferrari               1:35.642
17.  Piquet       Renault                 1:35.708
18.  Fisichella   Force India-Mercedes  1:35.908
19.  Sutil        Force India-Mercedes  1:35.951
20.  Buemi        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1:36.107

* Five-place grid penalty for changing gearbox
** Ten-place grid penalty after colliding with Kubica in Melbourne

World champion Lewis Hamilton and the McLaren Mercedes team have been accused of ‘lying’ to the FIA stewards following a new investigation in the aftermath of last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix.

The British driver had finished fourth on track, but was moved up to a podium position following a 25-second penalty added to Toyota’s Jarno Trulli. The Italian was deemed to having overtaken Hamilton behind the safety car.

However, following the discovery of new evidence from McLaren’s own radio communications, the race stewards have decided to issue a harsh punishment by stripping the team and the driver of all points scored in Melbourne.

This outcome has arrived at the worst possible time, as it follows on from that diffuser controversy… If the FIA International Court of Appeal come to a conclusion on April 14th that Brawn GP, Williams and Toyota’s rear aerodynamic kit is illegal, then the results of the opening Grand Prix and at Malaysia will become null and void. Meaning the whole integrity of the sport is a farce.

As for this latest development, it is difficult to understand the logic behind McLaren and world champion Lewis Hamilton to ‘twist’ the story in front of the race stewards. Is it a sign of desperation as this year’s car is not competitive? Why go all that way to lie for the sake of those extra six points?

From what I can understand, yes McLaren and Hamilton made a big mistake by initially saying that Trulli was at fault, but with the evidence now in the public domain, that error of judgement has proved costly.

To be honest, the lack of consistency from the race stewards is another issue to be looked at. The way it is right now, with different penalties handed out for drivers or/and teams that break the Formula One rule book, is testing the strain of hardcore Formula One fans to breaking point. Just look at the reaction from various motor sport forums on this issue.

It is a crying shame that following an exciting Grand Prix in Melbourne, the same old story of the stewards manipulating the results after the chequered flag, means the credibility of the sport is tarnished yet again with rows and controversy.

Right, you can read the full verdict by the race stewards below:

At the first hearing following the Australian Grand Prix the Stewards did not have the benefit of the radio exchanges between driver No 1 Lewis Hamilton and his Team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes nor did they have access to the comments to the Media given by Lewis Hamilton immediately after the end of the race.

From the video recordings available to the Stewards during the hearing it appeared that Jarno Trulli’s car left the track and car No 1 moved into third place. It then appeared that Trulli overtook Hamilton to regain third place, which at the time was prohibited as it was during the Safety Car period.

During the hearing, held approximately one hour after the end of the race, the Stewards and the Race Director questioned Lewis Hamilton and his Team Manager David Ryan specifically about whether there had been an instruction given to Hamilton to allow Trulli to overtake. Both the driver and the Team Manager stated that no such instruction had been given. The Race Director specifically asked Hamilton whether he had consciously allowed Trulli to overtake. Hamilton insisted that he had not done so.

The new elements presented to the Stewards several days after the 2009 Australian Grand Prix which led to the reconvened Stewards Meeting clearly show that:

a. Immediately after the race and before Lewis Hamilton attended the Stewards Meeting he gave an interview to the Media where he clearly stated that the Team had told him to let Trulli pass.

b. Furthermore, the radio exchanges between the driver and the Team contain two explicit orders from the Team to let the Toyota pass.

The Stewards, having learned about the radio exchanges and the Media interview, felt strongly that they had been misled by the driver and his Team Manager which led to Jarno Trulli being unfairly penalised and Lewis Hamilton gaining third place.

Formula One – the pinnacle of motor racing? More like Formula Farce…

Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello gave the new Brawn GP team an extraordinary one-two result in a dramatic season-opening Australian Grand Prix, which finished behind the safety car after Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica collided into one another while fighting over second position.

Button controlled the race from the off, making a good start from pole position. While team-mate Barrichello had to recover after the Brazilian was bogged down when his car activated its anti-stall device. Rubens was then embroiled in a first-corner clash with BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld, Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber, Force India’s Adrian Sutil and McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen.

That first corner mayhem allowed McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and the Toyota pair of Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock to emerge into a surprising third, fourth and fifth places.

However, Trulli’s third place is currently under investigation by the FIA race stewards with McLaren suggesting that the Italian re-passed Hamilton during the safety car period after sliding off the track.

If the race results change, then the world champion could be elevated to third place, grabbing those extra six points. Even so, to see Lewis Hamilton finishing quite highly up the order after a frustrating qualifying session that resulted in taking a five-grid penalty after changing the gearbox is still a remarkable achievement. Though the car’s pace is still a major problem for McLaren.

Hamilton’s team-mate didn’t even finish the first lap, as Heikki Kovalainen was forced to retire with damage after that first corner chaos. Still, at least the team did better than rival Ferrari.

Championship runner-up Felipe Massa initially looked like a race contender after making a good start but had to retire in the late stages of the Grand Prix with a mechanical problem. As for Kimi Raikkonen, the Finn had a spin upon exiting a corner, which resulted in damaging his front wing as he brushed against the wall. He would later retire with only three laps to the chequered flag.

Double world champion Fernando Alonso brought home his slow Renault in sixth, while the bitterly disappointed Nice Rosberg finished in seventh, despite setting the race’s fastest lap. Nico was initially running in fourth with six laps to go but had used up his Bridgestone option tyres and was simply in no position to defend the place.

By the end of the race, the Williams driver just held on to his position ahead of Formula One rookie Sebastien Buemi, who drove a solid race in his maiden Grand Prix. The Swiss not only out-qualified his more experience team-mate at Toro Rosso, but he also scored a championship point with eighth.

It was lost points and opportunity for BMW Sauber in particular Robert Kubica, as the Pole was involving in a collision with Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel.

The incident happened on lap 55. Kubica was rapidly closing in thanks to his harder Bridgestone tyres offering better grip compared to Vettel (running the softer option tyre respectively). The Pole’s dramatic speed in tyre performance allowed him to challenge the young German over second position as the race was heading to the finish. On the approach to turn one, Vettel made a mistake and lost momentum. That allowed Robert the chance to pass and he got alongside his rival as they approach turn three. Neither was willing to give way, and they became entangled in the corner before both crashing on the next straight as their battered suspension gave way. This was an unfortunate accident and the fault lies between the two. Neither wanted to give up the position and the end result means two damaged cars and batted egos.

Incredibly, that melee promoted Rubens Barrichello back to second place, despite his first-lap incident and a later touch with Raikkonen, which damaged his Brawn’s front wing. To finish on the podium despite his problem, even the Brazilian was surprised. Barrichello joked that the accidents removed any potential advantage from Brawn’s controversial diffuser!

So, a fantastic achievement by Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello, Ross Brawn and everyone at the Brackley-based squad. This historic one-two result is a great positive outcome for the sport following the last couple of days of controversy regarding the legality of those diffusers… It is just unbelievable that the transformation of the former Honda team, who were massively under performing in the last two years, which went under over the winter and then rescued by a management buy-out just a few weeks before the season began is simply remarkable.

This was Jenson’s second career Grand Prix victory, following his debut win in Hungary back in 2006. He also becomes the 200th British driver to triumph and he now leads the drivers’ standings with the next race in Malaysia taking place the following week.

As for Brawn GP, this impressive result marked the first time a new team has won its first race since Jody Scheckter steered the Wolf outfit to victory in the 1977 Argentine Grand Prix.

Can this ‘fairy tale’ dream continue? Well, the Mercedes-powered BGP 001 is quick, reliable and in the case of Rubens, strong at withstanding impacts against other cars(!), then expect some more great results from Ross Brawn’s team. Roll on Malaysia for the next exciting Grand Prix!

Race Results from Melbourne, 58 laps:

1.  Button        Brawn GP               1h34:15.784
2.  Barrichello   Brawn GP              +0.807
3.  Trulli        Toyota                +1.604
4.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes        +2.914
5.  Glock         Toyota                + 4.435
6.  Alonso        Renault                +4.879
7.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota       +5.722
8.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari    +6.004
9.  Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     +6.298
10.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes   + 6.335
11.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber             +7.085
12.  Fisichella    Force India-Mercedes    +7.374
13.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      +1 lap
14.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault      +2 laps
15.  Kubica        BMW Sauber             +3 laps
16.  Raikkonen     Ferrari                 +3 laps

Fastest lap: Rosberg, 1:27.706

Not classified/retirements:

Massa         Ferrari               46 laps
Piquet        Renault               25 laps
Nakajima      Williams-Toyota          18 laps
Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      1 lap

World Championship standings, round 1:

Drivers:
1.  Button        10
2.  Barrichello    8
3.  Trulli         6
4.  Hamilton       5
5.  Glock          4
6.  Alonso         3
7.  Rosberg        2
8.  Buemi          1

Constructors:
1.  Brawn GP               18
2.  Toyota                 10
3.  McLaren-Mercedes        5
4.  Renault                 3
5.  Williams-Toyota         2
6.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1

Next race: Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang. April 3-5.

Britain’s Jenson Button took his first pole position in three years after a sensational qualifying session in Albert Park, scene of this year’s Australian Grand Prix. Team-mate Rubens Barrichello will start alongside sealing the front row for the new Brawn GP team competing in its first Formula One race.

Although Brawn GP is effectively a renamed Honda operation, it is officially classed as a new outfit – which makes today’s result the first time a new entrant has taken pole position for its debut since the factory Mercedes-Benz team in the 1954 French Grand Prix.

This is a remarkable achievement as only a few weeks ago the squad’s future was secured when Ross Brawn completed his buyout from Honda. To lockout the front row in Melbourne, with a sixth tenths (of a second) advantage over Red Bull Racing’s Sebastien Vettel (who lines up third on the grid) makes this result even more special.

The margin between the Brawn GP pair was only separated by 0.305 seconds, revealing a close and private duel for the top spot. In fact, Button and Barrichello dominated both Q1 and Q2, with a clear advantage over their rivals in each of the qualifying session.

But in the all-important pole position shootout, it was Button who emerged on top with a lap time of one minute, 26. 202 seconds.

Red Bull Racing’s Sebastien Vettel will line up behind the Brawn GP pair while Robert Kubica demonstrated his KERS-free BMW Sauber is still quicker than the KERS-enabled car of team-mate Nick Heidfeld (fourth and eleventh places respectively).

Practice pacesetter Nico Rosberg could only manage fifth for Williams, ahead of Toyota’s Timo Glock and championship runner-up Felipe Massa in the Ferrari.

Jarno Trulli  puts the second Toyota in eighth position with past champion Kimi Raikkonen down in ninth place.

As for the home crowd favourite, Mark Webber was initially as high as third on the provisional grid following his first run in Q3, but over the course of the session, the Australian was pushed back down to tenth.

What about McLaren? How did the team fare in this all-important session in Melbourne? Well, as expected the team was unable to challenge for the top ten spots and world champion Lewis Hamilton was even forced to retire after a gearbox/drivetrain problem at the end of Q1. He will start his first race as a defending champion in a disastrous P15 on the grid… His team-mate Heikki Kovalainen didn’t suffer any technical problems but made little difference to boost the team, as the Finn could only P14.

Renault also lacked pace with the double world champion Fernando Alonso down in a disappointing P12, split between the BMW Sauber of Heidfeld and Kazuki Nakajima’s Williams.

As for the only rookie competing this year, Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi did a solid job to out-qualify his more experienced team-mate Sebastien Bourdais. The Swiss was 0.4 seconds faster over the four times Champ Car star and will line up on his maiden Formula One race in P16. As for the Frenchman, he will start last complaining of a lack of tyre temperatures.

So, an unusual grid for this Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Pre-race favourite Jenson Button is on target to score a dream victory for Brawn GP following an exciting qualifying session. The speed from the Red Bull Racing team is also impressive in particular Vettel. As for Lewis Hamilton, this result is not what he needed as the new champion, so the challenges that lay ahead as he races through mid-pack will be fascinating. Roll on race day for the start of the new 2009 Formula One World Championship!

Qualifying times from Melbourne:

1.  Button      Brawn-Mercedes        1:26.202
2.  Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes        1:26.505
3.  Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1:26.830
4.  Kubica      BMW-Sauber            1:26.914
5.  Rosberg     Williams-Toyota       1:26.973
6.  Glock       Toyota                1:26.975
7.  Massa       Ferrari               1:27.033
8.  Trulli      Toyota                1:27.127
9.  Raikkonen   Ferrari               1:27.163
10.  Webber      Red Bull-Renault      1:27.246
11.  Heidfeld    BMW-Sauber            1:25.504
12.  Alonso      Renault              1:25.605
13.  Nakajima    Williams-Toyota       1:25.607
14.  Kovalainen  McLaren-Mercedes      1:25.726
15.  Hamilton    McLaren-Mercedes      1:26.454
16.  Buemi       Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1:26.503
17.  Piquet      Renault               1:26.598
18.  Fisichella  Force India-Mercedes  1:26.677
19.  Sutil       Force India-Mercedes  1:26.742
20.  Bourdais    Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1:26.964

This coming weekend is the start of the new Formula One season and with new rules and regulations in place, this season’s world championship could be the most unpredictable in the six decades of the sport.

The major changes can be seen in the look of these single-seaters. In a bid to improve the spectacle of the sport – in terms of providing on-track entertainment, namely overtaking – the sport’s governing body (the FIA) have drafted in a set of new rules to cut the level of downforce therefore making it easier for cars to pass one another.

Gone are the winglets, chimneys, barge boards and ‘bull horns’ that made last year’s Formula One cars so aerodynamically sensitive to be replace with a cleaner and less aero sophisticated bodywork. Such a shame that the Overtaking Working Group (OWG) have made the new 2009-spec Formula One cars look way out of proportion with it’s large and wide front wing (with changeable flaps), slick tyres (to replace the grooves) and tall, narrow rear wing (less turbulence for the cars following behind).

Not to mention the new Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) is there to provide an extra ‘boost’ to aid overtaking. I am quite sceptical about this new system. Not only for the safety aspect, as last winter a BMW Sauber mechanic was injured after suffering an electric shock, but also how it could improve the on-track racing. KERS is essentially a way of storing loss energy in deceleration and converting it into extra brake horsepower. It can be stored in either as a mechanical energy (a flywheel) or an electrical energy (as in a battery or super capacitor). The benefit with KERS is to give the driver that additional speed in making a passing manoeuvre. But I am worried that it will make the art of overtaking into whom presses the button sooner… But if you want to entertain the fans, then so be it.

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мебели

The racing season maybe over for another year but Formula One never stops and with new rules being implemented for 2009, the first signs of the new look to the single-seater racing car have being unveiled during testing at Barcelona.

In a bid to improve the spectacle and make overtaking easier, the sport’s governing body have drafted in a set of new aerodynamics regulations – as well as reintroducing slick tyres – to Formula One next year.

Williams was the first team to incorporate the new 2009-spec aero kit with a hybrid version of last year’s FW30. The front wing has been lowered in height and extended in width in a bid to get rid of the understeer effect when following another car. The driver can actually adjust the wing angle with a lever or switch inside the cockpit to change the level of downforce if needed.

As for the rear wing, the increase in height and a reduction in the width will create more drag, so that the slipstream effect can be achieved. In addition, the level of grip has been reduced to make it more of a challenge for the driver.

More on the 2009-aero spec can be seen in this detailed technical drawing taken from Autosport magazine (shown below). The mock-up of the Ferrari looks reasonable and in reality, the Willliams F1 car seems good.

But prepare to be shocked with what BMW Sauber has come up with during the first week of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya.

This hybrid BMW Sauber looks horrible! The front wing is out of proportion, no thanks to the retro-looking flat nose that magnifies the appalling mess… As for rear wing, it looks tiny when you view the Formula One car from the back. Sure, it is refreshing to see slick tyres back on a racing car after ten years running on grooves, but somehow the overall appearance is difficult to consume.

I really hope the FIA have done the correct approach in making these cars easier to overtake as the look behind these Formula One cars are ghastly. Perhaps I should hold back my first impressions when all the teams have sorted out their aerodynamics for the new season in time for the first race in Melbourne. But it’s hard for the designers to improve on the limitations that have been set in the rulebook…