Race – The 2009 F1 season starts well: Brawn GP double in Australia

We had been waiting for it for five months, the start of the 2009 season has finally begun with the Australian Grand Prix. A new generation Formula 1 takes off at 8 a.m. (GMT+2) under the Melbourne sun.

At the start, Button, on pole, takes off correctly. His teammate at Brawn GP completely misses his start and loses several positions. Massa and Vettel take advantage. Alonso also misses his start unlike Piquet. At the first corner, a bottleneck inevitably forms, and Barrichello pushes everyone outside. He hits Webber, who spins in the middle of the group. Webber loses his wing, as does Sutil. Heidfeld ends up with a punctured front right tire, while Kovalainen breaks his front right suspension. Both men return to the pits, but Kovalainen will not continue. The Toyotas started from the pits and thus avoid the problems.

Button escapes after a few laps he already has a 4-second lead. Behind, the Ferraris got off to a good start and are keeping pace. On the 8th lap, Button leads ahead of Vettel, Massa, Kubica, Räikkönen, Rosberg, Barrichello, Nakajima, Hamilton, Piquet, and Buemi.

In Lap 10, Rosberg passes Räikkönen’s Ferrari with a very good overtaking move. The Finn is unsettled, and Barrichello takes advantage. The drivers touch, Barrichello loses a piece of his front wing, and Räikkönen risks a puncture and returns to the pits.

In front, the Massa/Kubica duo is joined by a very light Rosberg who puts on the pressure and infiltrates the battle. Barrichello without Räikkönen quickly climbs back into the battle; without Massa. The two Ferraris, quite light on fuel at the start, refueled very early. Massa is imitated by Kubica the following lap: The soft tires being much less effective than the hard tires after about ten laps.

Hamilton also returns to the pit. At the front, Vettel follows the Brawn GP of Button by 4 seconds. The gap is stable, and the Brawn GP seems less competitive than in qualifying; however, Vettel pits on the 16th lap, giving Button some breathing room. The German is mirrored by Rosberg, who remains stopped for more than 19 seconds due to a problem…

The ranking is also stabilizing as the first wave of refueling has been completed.

Lap 18: First major crash of the year: Nakajima spins and hits the wall violently. The Safety Car is deployed (belatedly) for the first time this season, and Button makes a very poor move as he hasn’t refueled yet.

The regulation is not up to scratch and the intervention of the Safety Car is very poorly organized. It completes a lap without the leader or with those waiting behind who have to overtake it to reach the real leader of the Grand Prix.

In the end, after three laps behind the safety car, and a track that has been clean for a long time, Button is still ahead of Vettel. They are followed by Massa, Kubica, Räikkönen, Rosberg, Piquet, Trulli, Buemi, and Barrichello in 10th place. Glock is ahead of Hamilton and Alonso. Bourdais is 15th.

The race resumes after 9 minutes of slowing down. There are 35 laps left to go. Many drivers are caught off guard, not realizing the Safety Car was returning to the pit. Button is closely followed by Vettel, who can’t catch the slipstream. Further back, Rosberg overtakes Piquet, the Brazilian loses control of the Renault with cooled tires and narrowly avoids a major collision. He ends up stuck in the gravel trap. Meanwhile, his teammate is battling with Hamilton and Glock. The reigning world champion overtakes the Toyota, as does Alonso two corners later.

There are 27 laps remaining and Massa enters the pits. He comes out in 14th, ahead of Bourdais, Heidfeld, and Webber.

Vettel (2nd) seems to be gradually losing ground to Button, and behind him, Kubica – third – is setting qualifying laps and threatening the Red Bull. The Pole is preparing to enter the pits and improves the fastest lap in the race twice. He exits the pits behind Hamilton and ahead of Alonso. The latter can’t shake off Glock and his Toyota… until the German spins while attempting an overtake on the Renault. In the end, Glock loses a place by being overtaken by Räikkönen.

There are 16 laps remaining before the conclusion of this first Grand Prix of 2009. Button is still in the lead and is heading towards Brawn GP’s first victory. He is 4.8 seconds ahead of Vettel and Kubica. Rosberg leads Barrichello in the second Brawn GP, followed by Hamilton, Kubica, and Alonso. Bourdais remains in 15th position.

On the 44th lap, Räikkönen makes a big mistake and his rear end slips, sending the Finn straight into the wall, but he manages to avoid a violent impact. The Ferrari driver returns to his pit and immediately goes back out. Two laps later it’s a KO for Ferrari: Massa encounters a problem with the F60. He returns to his pit. It’s a hydraulic issue, the same one that failed Räikkönen during Free Practice.

There are 6 laps remaining and the top five men are within 4 seconds. Barrichello manages to overtake Rosberg for 4th place. The Williams seems to be experiencing a problem. Rosberg is three seconds slower and is overtaken by 6 cars.

Three laps remain and Kubica attempts a last-chance overtaking move on Vettel, who is also slower due to worn tires. Vettel holds his ground, and Kubica enters the turn, touching the Red Bull. Both drivers continue without their front wings but go off two turns later. Lacking downforce, they run wide at the same corner and hit the same wall. The BMW is wrecked, and the track is covered with debris and tire rubber. The Safety Car has to be deployed while Vettel continues on track for two laps. He will stop 10 turns before the finish.

In the end, the race finishes under the safety car. The final standings are not as they appear and Brawn GP takes advantage of the last-minute crash to secure a historic one-two for a new team!

Trulli also benefits from the accident and climbs onto an unexpected podium after starting from the last row. He is ahead of Hamilton, who also started very far back on the grid. Glock is 5th, in front of Alonso’s Renault. Rosberg is 7th, despite his tire issue, and finishes ahead of Sébastien Buemi. The Toro Rosso driver scores a point for his first Formula 1 Grand Prix, like a certain Alain Prost or even Sébastien Bourdais. The driver from Le Mans is just behind his teammate in ninth place, ahead of Adrian Sutil’s Force India. Heidfeld, Fisichella, and Webber close the race as only 13 cars remain on the track.

Caution

Since the writing of this article, Hamilton has been disqualified from the Grand Prix for overtaking under Safety Car conditions on Jarno Trulli.

Results Race – Australian Grand Prix – Sunday, March 29, 2009: