2009 Australian F1 Grand Prix Race Report & Results

Event: Australian Grand Prix
Track: Albert Park Circuit

Weather: dry, warm, sunny

Jenson BUTTON won his 2nd F1 World Championship race at the 2009 Australian F1 GP, the fairytale start to the Brawn GP season after Ross Brawn had bought Honda F1 for a symbolic £1 during the 2008-2009 winter and turned it into F1s pre-season pace-setter. The Brawn GP driver started from pole and won at Albert Park by 0.807 seconds from teammate Rubens Barrichello for a Brawn GP 1-2 on the teams F1 debut. It was Brawn GPs 1st F1 win.

Brawn GP debut, pole and front-row lockout

Melbourne on 29 March 2009 opened the season with an F1 revolution. Honda had withdrawn from F1 in December 2008, and Ross Brawn bought the team for a token £1, keeping most of the staff. The BGP001 car featured a controversial "double diffuser" and was pace-setting from the opening test. Jenson Button took pole with a 1:26.202 lap for Brawn GP, Rubens Barrichello second for a Brawn GP front-row lockout. Vettel third for Red Bull, Kubica fourth for BMW Sauber. Ferrari and McLaren, unable to legally introduce the double diffuser mid-season, were nowhere.

Race day: Button leads all 58 laps, Brawn GP 1-2 on debut

Jenson Button led every one of the 58 laps at Albert Park in a lights-to-flag victory. Barrichello second at 0.807 seconds for a Brawn GP 1-2, one of the greatest debut days in F1 history. Trulli third for Toyota (originally 4th after Hamiltons disqualification). Hamilton was excluded post-race for misleading the stewards during the race. Glock fourth for Toyota (later fifth after DSQs), Alonso fifth for Renault, Rosberg sixth for Williams. Rosberg set the fastest lap on lap 48 with a 1:27.706.

Championship: Button 10, Barrichello 8

Brawn GP led both championships after one race. The 2009 season would prove to be a Brawn GP fairytale.

Classification 2009 Australian F1 GP

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Car & Engine	Grid	Laps	Led	Time	Pts
1	22	JensonButton	Brawn	Brawn BGP001Mercedes FO 108	1	58	58	1:34:15.784	10
2	23	RubensBarrichello	Brawn	Brawn BGP001Mercedes FO 108	2	58		1:34:16.591+0.807s	8
3	9	JarnoTrulli	Toyota	Toyota TF109Toyota RVX-09	20	58		1:34:17.388+1.604s	6
4	10	TimoGlock	Toyota	Toyota TF109Toyota RVX-09	19	58		1:34:20.219+4.435s	5
5	7	FernandoAlonso	Renault	Renault R29Renault RS27	10	58		1:34:20.663+4.879s	4
6	16	NicoRosberg	Williams	Williams FW31Toyota RVX-09	5	58		1:34:21.506+5.722s	3
7	12	SébastienBuemi	Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso STR4Ferrari 056	13	58		1:34:21.788+6.004s	2
8	11	SébastienBourdais	Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso STR4Ferrari 056	17	58		1:34:22.082+6.298s	1
9	20	AdrianSutil	Force India	Force India VJM02Mercedes FO 108	16	58		1:34:22.119+6.335s
10	6	NickHeidfeld	BMW Sauber	BMW Sauber F1.09BMW P86	9	58		1:34:22.869+7.085s
11	21	GiancarloFisichella	Force India	Force India VJM02Mercedes FO 108	15	58		1:34:23.158+7.374s
12	14	MarkWebber	Red Bull	Red Bull RB5Renault RS27	8	57		+1 lap
13	15	SebastianVettel	Red Bull	Red Bull RB5Renault RS27	3	56		Collision
14	5	RobertKubica	BMW Sauber	BMW Sauber F1.09BMW P86	4	55		Collision
15	4	KimiRäikkönen	Ferrari	Ferrari F60Ferrari 056	7	55		Differential
DNF	3	FelipeMassa	Ferrari	Ferrari F60Ferrari 056	6	45		Suspension
DNF	8	NelsonPiquet Jr.	Renault	Renault R29Renault RS27	14	24		Spun off
DNF	17	KazukiNakajima	Williams	Williams FW31Toyota RVX-09	11	17		Accident
DNF	2	HeikkiKovalainen	McLaren	McLaren MP4/24Mercedes FO 108	12	0		Collision
DSQ	1	LewisHamilton	McLaren	McLaren MP4/24Mercedes FO 108	18	58		Disqualified

Fastest lap: 1:27.706 min. by Nico Rosberg

About the author

Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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