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Brawn Button ! Australian Grand Prix 2009
Jenson Button secured a dream debut victory for the Brawn GP team after dominating the Australian Grand Prix.
The Englishman led throughout and team-mate Rubens Barrichello completed a Brawn one-two after a dramatic finish. We were glued to the flat screen - Wynn, Keith, Brandon and company, and I.
The Brazilian was promoted after Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and BMW's Robert Kubica collided while disputing second place with three laps to go.What a crazy deal that turned into - We were sure that BMW would have the third spot sealed.
Toyota's Jarno Trulli was hit with a 25-second penalty after the race giving Lewis Hamilton an unexpected third.
Clinching an eventual podium finish from 18th on the grid was a superb achievement for the British world champion, given the woeful performance of his McLaren coming into the race.
But all eyes were on Brawn after the chequered flag, with the success of the former Honda team - whose survival was only secured by team boss Ross Brawn in early March - firmly capturing the imagination of the sport as it enters a fresh era under new rules.
Awesome race! - F1 is back!
Victorious Button secured the second win of his 154-race Formula 1 career after driving coolly throughout, showcasing Brawn's speed to keep Red Bull's Vettel at bay for the vast majority of the race to eventually cruise to a finish behind the safety car.
Vettel looked set for a brilliant second place but he and Kubica tangled on Turn Three with just three laps remaining. Both crashed just around the lap, and although Vettel tried to continue on three wheels he was eventually forced to retire.
Brawn's one-two looked unlikely at the start of the race as Barrichello, sat next to Button on the front row, was easily passed by the chasing pack as his anti-stall system kicked in.
The Brazilian also tangled with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen to cause significant damage to his front wing, which had to be replaced during his stop on lap 18.
Trulli's team-mate Timo Glock eventually finished fourth in Melbourne ahead of Renault's Fernando Alonso and Williams's Nico Rosberg, who suffered a sticking front wheel at a pit stop on lap 15 which scuppered his chance of a podium finish.
Red Bull's Sebastien Buemi made an impressive debut to secure his first F1 points.
And Ferrari finished without scoring in the season opener for the second year running, as Felipe Massa - running in third place - sustained a reliability failure on lap 45, three laps after team-mate Raikkonen had spun out.
Posted by
Sven Schindler at
March 31, 2009
in Formula1
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