FORMULA ONE
2009 Australian Grand Prix - Race Report
Button Gives A Dominant Display With Australian GP Win
Jenson Button drove a perfect race from start to finish and gave the Brawn GP team its dream debut with a dream win. The Brit dominated the grand prix as he led the race from start to finish and the Brawn GP was further boosted when Button’s team-mate Rubens Barricello finished in second place after a bad start.
An elated Jenson Button said,“What an amazing day This is just a fairytale ending to the first race of our career together at Brawn GP. It may have looked like an easy victory but it really wasn’t easy at all out there today but we brought the car home and that’s all that matters. This win is for me, my family and my team. It’s been a traumatic few months and I want to say a massive thank you to them all for being so strong and never losing belief. This weekend we have achieved everything that we deserve for all of our hard work over the past few months. And what’s so exciting is that there is so much more to come from myself and from this team. I can’t wait to get to Malaysia”
Ross Brawn was very pleased with the outcome of the Australian GP, "We have worked incredibly hard for this victory today and to see the dedication, commitment and sheer hard work come to fruition with Jenson and Rubens bringing home a one-two finish for Brawn GP at the first race of the season is immensely rewarding. After everything that our team has been through over the past four months, this is quite simply a sensational result. It is just the beginning for us and it wasn’t a perfect race by any means so we will learn from today and continue to improve. We have to keep developing the car throughout the season if we want to challenge for further wins and the championship. I would like to express our sincere thanks to Norbert Haug and Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines who have been so supportive over the past few months and have worked closely with the team to ensure we were in a position to go racing this year. Thanks also to Virgin, Henri Lloyd and all our team partners for having the vision to see what the team could do before today and wanting to be a part of it. It’s difficult to put into words what this win means to our team but I’m sure that I speak for every single one of them, here at the track and back at the factory in Brackley, when I say it has been a wonderful weekend.”
Barricello had got bogged down on the start line as as his anti-stall system kicked in and left the Brazillian struggling to get away, his chances of a good race were further hampered when he was involved in two collisions. The first was with at the very start of the GP. Baricello seemed to tag Red Bull's Mark Webber, who in turn collided with McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen, causing the Finn to retire and putting the Australian to the back for the duration of his home race.
Seemingly the car of Barricello was okay but then on lap 18 he collided with Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen to cause significant damage to his front wing, which had to be replaced during his stop on lap 18.
But the experienced Brazillian took the second spot on the podium when Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and BMW's Robert Kubica collided while vying for second place with three laps to go.
Rubens Baricello beamed, “Well you could say that I had an eventful afternoon I had a lot of mixed emotions during the race and honestly I am so delighted to have achieved second. It was really tough for me at the start as the anti-stall kicked in which cost me a few places off the line and then I was hit heavily from behind going into the first corner and thought my race was over. Thankfully the car survived and I was able to battle my way up to fourth and be in the position to take advantage of the accident between Vettel and Kubica. It just goes to show that you should never give up Congratulations to Jenson for a fantastic win today and my heartfelt thanks to the team for providing us with such a good car. This is the start of a very exciting journey for us.”
Red Bull driver had driven a solid race and looked set for second place when BMW’s Robert Kubica lunged down the side of the Red Bull at Turn Three on the Albert Park Track.
The result was not a happy ending for either driver, as there was not enough room for both cars in the corner and therefore the Red Bull car tagged the BMW and sent them both into a spin. A racing accident it has to be said.
Both drivers tried to go on but later crashed (in separate incidents) further around the lap, Vettel drove on with three wheels but later had to pull off the track as his car was too badly damaged to finish the race.
A disappointed Robert Kubica said, "What a disappointment! I had a chance to win this race because Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel were on soft tyres and struggling, while I was on the harder compound and was able to drive much quicker. Sebastian went wide in corner one and then he braked early. I was already in front, but he didn’t want to let me by. Then he had a lot of understeer and touched me. My front wing was under the car, therefore I crashed in corner 5. I think Sebastian was a bit too optimistic. Had this been the last corner okay, but there were still three laps to go and he really had no realistic chance to defend his position because I was so much quicker. We both had a great weekend up to this point and we leave Melbourne with nothing. That’s a real shame! My car was very good, particularly in the second stint when I set the best lap times. That’s racing!”
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director) said, "As quite often happened in the past we had another race in Melbourne with a lot of drama. Nick’s hopes had already gone in the first corner. After a collision, which wasn't his fault, he was not only a long way behind, but also his aerodynamics were ruined, which made it impossible for him to catch up. Robert drove an excellent race and got himself up with the leaders in the final laps of the race. He was on the harder tyre compound, and had every chance to catch the two cars in front of him to win the race. The collision three laps before the flag ended the race for him and also for Sebastian Vettel, so both drivers lost a podium and points. On the positive side, I can say that today we were very fast on the harder tyres.”
Toyota's Jarno Trulli who finished third on track was later penalised with a 25-second penalty after the stewards claimed that the Italian driver had passed Lewis Hamilton under yellow flag conditions.
Panasonic Toyota Racing has filed an appeal within the proscribed time period to try and reinstate Jarno Trulli into third place.
Jarno Trulli said, "I can't say how disappointed I am to finish third but have the result questioned. When the safety car came out towards the end of the race Lewis Hamilton passed me but soon after he suddenly slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road. I thought he had a problem so I overtook him as there was nothing else I could do. I would still like to say thank you to the team who have made a huge effort. The fact we were able to fight for the podium despite starting from the pit lane is down to them."
While team-mate Timo Glock had mixed emotions, "I am happy to finish fourth but obviously it is really disappointing for Jarno. For us to be fighting at the front like that after we started from the pit lane really shows the strong performance we have. This is proof that our car has real pace. It was a good race for me and I have to say thanks to the team for their hard work in achieving this. The race was pretty exciting but I was stuck behind the Renault of Alonso for quite a while and it was difficult to overtake. My car felt good but I couldn't find a way past, however when I was in clear air I was able to go about a second faster so the performance is definitely there. I said before the weekend that we looked strong judging by our winter performance and it's great to show that in race conditions."
While Tadashi Yamashina - Team Principal added, "This is an extremely frustrating way to finish a challenging weekend. Already we were disappointed to be starting from the pit lane after we were informed yesterday about the problem with our rear wing. We responded to that in a fantastic way and we showed that our car has genuine performance. I would like to thank everyone who is part of our team, not just the guys at the track but also everyone at the factory, our partners and our fans. It's sad that this result has been questioned but we have filed an appeal to give us more time to study the data and the situation."
This decision promoted McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton to an unexpected third place.
No points were taken by Ferrari at the end of the Australian Grand Prix, as Kimi Raikkonen was classified sixteenth, after retiring on lap 55 with a differential problem and Felipe Massa stopped in the pits on lap 45, with a broken left front nose support.
Ferrari's Stefano Domenicali said, “This was definitely not a start worthy of Ferrari, from any point of view. We were lacking on the reliability front, with two cars forced to retire. Our performance was not up to the potential we had expected after our winter testing: we struggled to manage the tyres. Furthermore, our strategy choices did not work out, especially in the case of Felipe. To sum up, it was a day to forget from the result point of view, but to remember well so as to try and analyse everything we failed in, in order to improve immediately. From that point of view, it’s good we have a race coming up immediately next week in Malaysia. It will give us the opportunity to react as long as we draw the right conclusions, calmly but also decisively. Australia does not seem to have been a happy hunting ground for us these last few years: the circuit is a bit untypical where it could be that the pecking order is not so clear. It will be more evident in Sepang, but we are well aware that, apart from one team that was untouchable today, there are numerous other strong competitors.”
Ferrari driver Felipe Massa said, “We knew the Brawn GP cars would be unbeatable today, but all the same, we thought we could have a good race. The start was great, but after five or six laps, we ran into trouble with the soft tyres, to such an extent that we had to pit early. We then switched to a very aggressive strategy, which with hindsight turned out to be the wrong one, as shortly after the pit stop, the safety car came out on track. I found myself third, but after the restart, I had less than ten laps to try and make up ground on those who were behind me, but with more fuel. At the second stop, we filled it for the finish, but then I was very slow and finally, I had the problem which forced me to retire. In my opinion, apart from the Brawns, we are competitive, but we have to work perfectly to get to the front. Here, it is very difficult to get the tyres to work, partly because the track surface does not provide much grip. The solution for Malaysia? Work and work hard.”
Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was disappointed with his performance, “When I ended up in the wall it was my mistake. A shame as, given what happened later, I could have finished second. We lost valuable points but we will try and make up for it starting right away in Malaysia. There, we will get a clearer picture of the situation because this circuit is not very indicative of performance. The KERS worked well at the start, but there was not much room to go anywhere. If we did not think it gave an advantage, we would not use it. Definitely the main problem was in managing the tyres, but we also need to improve our overall performance.”
Ferrari was not the only team not to fulfil its potential, the AT&T Williams team didn’t manage to fulfil its potential in a typically incident-packed opening race in Melbourne either. It had to content itself with a handful of points and a fastest race lap to take to next weekend’s Malaysian GP. With the cars running in the top five and both drivers showing some committed overtaking manoeuvres, the team’s march was interrupted by a problem in Nico’s first pitstop on lap 16. Shortly afterwards, Kazuki had a high-speed spin, hitting the wall and retiring. From here Nico fought to recover lost ground, in the process setting the fastest lap of the race and collected two points for a seventh place finish.
Nico Rosberg said, It was a challenging race and we suffered with a few glitches here and there, firstly from my side when on lap one I left the door open at turn three and I lost some positions, and then we had a problem on my first pit stop. The restart after the first safety car on cold tyres was very difficult, I had no grip at all and again in the last part of the race, I had taken everything out of my tyres and they were dropping out, so it was impossible to keep anyone behind me. All said, I think two points is a good outcome because I believe we are faster than a couple of the cars who finished ahead of us today, so from a championship perspective, it’s looks okay. It was an exciting race today thanks to the new rules.
While Kazuki Nakajima added, "I had a quite a big accident on lap 17 when I ran wide at turn four and I hit the kerb, which unsettled the car and then I lost the rear. It was quite a fast impact, but I had a precautionary check in the medical centre, everything is fine and physically I am okay, but of course the outcome - my retirement - hurts! The race was really enjoyable, we had a good pace, good fuel and good tyres, so I have to keep all the positives in mind and take these forward to Malaysia next weekend."
The Force India Formula One Team today achieved its early season objective of a double race finish, securing two top 12 finishes in the Australian Grand Prix. After a thrilling and unpredictable race Adrian Sutil finished in 9th position with Giancarlo Fisichella 11th, marking the team's best result since its 2008 debut.
Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and team principal stated, "I am absolutely delighted with the result we have achieved here today. Considering the relatively late debut of the VJM02 and the changes we have implemented over the winter, getting two cars to the finish is a fantastic achievement. Both drivers had overall excellent races and showed that we have made improvements to both the pace and the balance of the car this year. Given our objective was just to finish this race, to do so with both cars in the top 12 is well beyond our expectations. It's a good foundation for this year."
2009 Australian Grand Prix Results
| 1 Jenson Button | Brawn-Mercedes | 1h34m15.784s |
| 2 Rubens Barricello | Brawn-Mercedes | 1h34m16.591s |
| 3 Lewis Hamilton | McLaren- Mercedes | 1h34m18.698s |
| 4 Timo Glock | Toyota | 1h34m20.219s |
| 5 Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1h34m20.663s |
| 6 Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 1h34m21.506 |
| 7 Sebastien Buemi | Torro-Rosso-Ferrari | 1h34m21.788s |
| 8 Sebastien Bourdais | Torro-Rosso-Ferrari | 1h34m22.082s |
| 9 Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1h34m22.119s |
| 10 Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 1h34m22.869s |
| 11 Giancarlo Fischella | Force India-Mercedes | 1h34m23.158s |
| 12 Jarno Trulli* | Toyota | 1h34m42.388s |
| 13 Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | Lapped |
| DNF Sebastien Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | Retired, 56 laps |
| DNF Robert Kubica | BMW-Sauber | Crash, 55 laps |
| DNF Kimi Raikonnen | Ferrari | Retired, 55 laps |
| DNF Felipe Massa | Ferrari | Retired, 45 laps |
| DNF Nelson Piquet Jr | Renault | Crash, 24 laps |
| DNF Kazuki Nakajima | Williams-Toyota | Crash, 17 laps |
| DNF Heikke Kovalainen | McLaren-Mercedes | Crash, 0 laps |
2009 FIA Formula One Driver's World Championship
| 1 Jenson Button | 10 |
| 2 Rubens Barricello | 8 |
| 3 Lewis Hamilton | 6 |
| 4 Timo Glock | 5 |
| 5 Fernando Alonso | 4 |
| 6 Nico Rosberg | 3 |
| 7 Sebastien Buemi | 2 |
| 8 Sebastien Bourdais | 1 |
| 9 Adrian Sutil | 0 |
| 10 Nick Heidfeld | 0 |
| 11 Giancarlo Fischella | 0 |
| 12 Jarno Trulli* | 0 |
| 13 Mark Webber | 0 |
| DNF Sebastien Vettel | 0 |
| DNF Robert Kubica | 0 |
| DNF Kimi Raikonnen | 0 |
| DNF Felipe Massa | 0 |
| DNF Nelson Piquet Jr | 0 |
| DNF Kazuki Nakajima | 0 |
| DNF Heikke Kovalainen | 0 |
2009 FIA Formula One Constructor's World Championship
| Brawn-Mercedes | 18 |
| McLaren Mercedes | 6 |
| Toyota | 5 |
| Renault | 4 |
| Torro-Rosso Ferrari | 3 |
| Williams-Toyota | 3 |
| BMW-Sauber | 0 |
| Ferrari | 0 |
| Force India | 0 |
| Red Bull Renault | 0 |
* = Stewards penalised the Toyota car of Jarno Trulli with a 25 second time penalty, which meant Trulli dropped from third to 12th place.
All results subject to FIA confirmation
Simon McBride
Thanks to Brawn GP, Toyota, Force India, Williams, Ferrari and BMW F1 teams for suppling the images.