From GMM
The newly Virgin-branded Brawn's winter testing victory translated on Saturday into locking out the front row of the grid for the 2009 season opener. After Williams' Nico Rosberg captured the fastest times in all three pre-qualifying practice sessions, Jenson Button shifted into a higher gear to capture pole in Australia. His teammate Rubens Barrichello was three tenths slower but still a comfortable second, as Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel joined the white-overalled drivers from Brackley in the post-session press conference. Lewis Hamilton's first weekend as reigning world champion went from bad to worse in qualifying: yet again slower than his McLaren teammate, and forced to sit out 'Q2' with what he disconsolately told reporters was a broken component in the rear of his MP4-24. A year after winning at Albert Park, he is fifteenth on the grid, one place behind the sister McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen, who on Saturday was quicker only than the slow Toro Rossos, Force Indias and Nelson Piquet. Elsewhere, the field is incredibly closely matched and equally hard to read: BMW's Nick Heidfeld is seven places behind his teammate, Rosberg eight places ahead of Kazuki Nakajima, and local driver Mark Webber seven places behind Vettel. The struggling Ferraris are just seventh and ninth on the grid, while neither Renault graduated into the top-ten runout. QUALIFYING RESULTS: (Driver, Car, Team, Time, Car Weight) 1. Row Jenson Button (Brawn BGP001-Mercedes) - 1'26"202; 664.5kg Rubens Barrichello (Brawn BGP001-Mercedes) - 1'26"505; 666.5kg 2. Row Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB5-Renault) - 1'26"830; 657kg Robert Kubica (BMW F1.09) - 1'26"914; 650kg 3. Row Nico Rosberg (Williams FW31-Toyota) - 1'26"973; 657kg Timo Glock (Toyota TF109) - 1'26"975; 670kg 4. Row Felipe Massa (Ferrari F60) - 1'27"033; 654kg Jarno Trulli (Toyota TF109) - 1'27"127; 660kg 5. Row Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F60) - 1'27"163; 655.5kg Mark Webber (Red Bull RB5-Renault) - 1'27"246; 662kg 6. Row Nick Heidfeld (BMW F1.09) - 1'25"504; 691.5kg Fernando Alonso (Renault R29) - 1'25"605; 680.7kg 7. Row Kazuki Nakajima (Williams FW31-Toyota) - 1'25"607; 685.3kg Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren MP4/24-Mercedes) - 1'25"726; 690.6kg 8. Row Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/24-Mercedes) - no time; 655kg Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso STR4-Ferrari) - 1'26"503; 675.5kg 9. Row Nelson Piquet (Renault R29) - 1'26"598; 694.1kg Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India VJM02-Mercedes) - 1'26"677; 689kg 10. Row Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM02-Mercedes) - 1'26"742; 684.5kg Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso STR4-Ferrari) - 1'26"964; 662.5kg **Unofficial Timing**
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