From GMM
The 2009 championship opener on Sunday lived up to its pre-season hype, with Jenson Button leading an eventful Brawn one-two at Albert Park.
The Briton, after two awful seasons for the Brackley team's previous guise Honda, crossed the line less than a second ahead of his teammate Rubens Barrichello, after a one-corner sprint to the finish following a safety car.
The safety car was required after Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica, fighting hard for second place, tangled mere laps from the chequered flag.
Their clash gifted the second step on the podium to Barrichello, who had a race of incidents, including nearly stalling at the start, triggering a first-corner crash, and later shedding some more front wing by tagging the rear of a Ferrari.
Jarno Trulli completed the podium despite starting from the pitlane following the 'flexi wing' disqualification of Saturday, ahead of a surprised world champion Lewis Hamilton.
2009's only rookie, Sebastien Buemi, attracted some criticism this weekend for being promoted by Red Bull ahead of arguably more qualified GP2 drivers, but performed strongly to finish ahead of his teammate Sebastien Bourdais for a debut point.
Local driver Mark Webber was bitterly disappointed to finish a lap down and last. "It wasn't really embarrassing," said the Australian, who nursed a damaged car through 57 laps after early contact with Barrichello, "but a real shame as I wanted to do something for the fans here."
Ferrari kicked off its 2009 campaign with a disastrous nil points: Kimi Raikkonen spinning into a concrete wall and later retiring, while Felipe Massa also ended up in the garage with a failed F60.
Results of the first Grand Prix of the 2009 Season - Australia:
1 - Jenson Button (Brawn BGP001-Mercedes) - 58 laps 1.34'15"784
2 - Rubens Barrichello (Brawn BGP001-Mercedes) - 0"807
3 - Jarno Trulli (Toyota TF109) - 1"604
4 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/24-Mercedes) - 2"914
5 - Timo Glock (Toyota TF109) - 4"435
6 - Fernando Alonso (Renault R29) - 4"879
7 - Nico Rosberg (Williams FW31-Toyota) - 5"722
8 - Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso STR4-Ferrari) - 6"004
9 - Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso STR4-Ferrari) - 6"298
10 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM02-Mercedes) - 6"335
11 - Nick Heidfeld (BMW F1.09) - 7"085
12 - Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India VJM02-Mercedes) - 7"374
13 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB5-Renault) - 1 lap
Best Lap: Nico Rosberg 1'27"706
Retired
0 lap - Heikki Kovalainen
17° lap - Kazuki Nakajima
24° lap - Nelson Piquet
45° lap - Felipe Massa
55° lap - Kimi Raikkonen
55° lap - Robert Kubica
56° lap - Sebastian Vettel
Drivers Championship
1.Button 10; 2.Barrichello 8; 3.Trulli 6; 4.Hamilton 5; 5.Glock 4; 6.Alonso 3; 7.Rosberg 2; 8.Buemi 1.
Manufacturers Championship
1.Brawn-Mercedes 18; 2.Toyota 10; 3.McLaren-Mercedes 5; 4.Renault 3; 5.Williams-Toyota 2; 6.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1.
**Unofficial Results**
The 2009 championship opener on Sunday lived up to its pre-season hype, with Jenson Button leading an eventful Brawn one-two at Albert Park.
The Briton, after two awful seasons for the Brackley team's previous guise Honda, crossed the line less than a second ahead of his teammate Rubens Barrichello, after a one-corner sprint to the finish following a safety car.
The safety car was required after Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica, fighting hard for second place, tangled mere laps from the chequered flag.
Their clash gifted the second step on the podium to Barrichello, who had a race of incidents, including nearly stalling at the start, triggering a first-corner crash, and later shedding some more front wing by tagging the rear of a Ferrari.
Jarno Trulli completed the podium despite starting from the pitlane following the 'flexi wing' disqualification of Saturday, ahead of a surprised world champion Lewis Hamilton.
2009's only rookie, Sebastien Buemi, attracted some criticism this weekend for being promoted by Red Bull ahead of arguably more qualified GP2 drivers, but performed strongly to finish ahead of his teammate Sebastien Bourdais for a debut point.
Local driver Mark Webber was bitterly disappointed to finish a lap down and last. "It wasn't really embarrassing," said the Australian, who nursed a damaged car through 57 laps after early contact with Barrichello, "but a real shame as I wanted to do something for the fans here."
Ferrari kicked off its 2009 campaign with a disastrous nil points: Kimi Raikkonen spinning into a concrete wall and later retiring, while Felipe Massa also ended up in the garage with a failed F60.
Results of the first Grand Prix of the 2009 Season - Australia:
1 - Jenson Button (Brawn BGP001-Mercedes) - 58 laps 1.34'15"784
2 - Rubens Barrichello (Brawn BGP001-Mercedes) - 0"807
3 - Jarno Trulli (Toyota TF109) - 1"604
4 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/24-Mercedes) - 2"914
5 - Timo Glock (Toyota TF109) - 4"435
6 - Fernando Alonso (Renault R29) - 4"879
7 - Nico Rosberg (Williams FW31-Toyota) - 5"722
8 - Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso STR4-Ferrari) - 6"004
9 - Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso STR4-Ferrari) - 6"298
10 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM02-Mercedes) - 6"335
11 - Nick Heidfeld (BMW F1.09) - 7"085
12 - Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India VJM02-Mercedes) - 7"374
13 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB5-Renault) - 1 lap
Best Lap: Nico Rosberg 1'27"706
Retired
0 lap - Heikki Kovalainen
17° lap - Kazuki Nakajima
24° lap - Nelson Piquet
45° lap - Felipe Massa
55° lap - Kimi Raikkonen
55° lap - Robert Kubica
56° lap - Sebastian Vettel
Drivers Championship
1.Button 10; 2.Barrichello 8; 3.Trulli 6; 4.Hamilton 5; 5.Glock 4; 6.Alonso 3; 7.Rosberg 2; 8.Buemi 1.
Manufacturers Championship
1.Brawn-Mercedes 18; 2.Toyota 10; 3.McLaren-Mercedes 5; 4.Renault 3; 5.Williams-Toyota 2; 6.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1.
**Unofficial Results**