Your Formula 1 season has officially begun, Brawn GP in the lead
by Jonathon Ramsey on Mar 28th 2009 at 1:28PM 
It seems like F1 has been suffering the wrong kind of turmoil for the past few years: big and little teams failing; espionage; driver spats; owner-and-FIA spats; record penalties and fines; sex scandals; and regulations being changed like diapers - just to name a few things. The 2009 season has started off in a bit of turmoil as well, with six teams' car designs protested against.
But all of that has been overshadowed by the right kind of turmoil, which happened during qualifying for the Australian GP. Jensen Button and Rubens Barrichello fought it out for the front row, with Button taking pole position on the last possible lap of qualifying, Vettel in the Red Bull taking third. And Button didn't just get pole, he slapped a leash on it and took it home: Rubens is three tenths behind, Vettel more than a half second.
And the big boys? Massa and Raikkonen are 6th and 8th for Ferrari, Kovaleinen in 12th and Hamilton at the back of the grid because of a gearbox change, where he'll join both Toyota cars, which were disqualified for flexing rear wings. When the lights go out at 3 a.m. EST, we could see the beginning of a most thrilling season.
[Source: F1 Live]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
CJ 1:41PM (3/28/2009)
Smarter interpretation of the rules = better diffuser = better lap times.
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Carlo_Carrera 3:45PM (3/28/2009)
Where are all the naysayers who said times in winter testing meant nothing?
Even when the other big teams convert their diffusers to the Brawn, Toyota and Williams type, Brawn will still be a front runner.
Ross Brawn is a managerial genius and Honda executives are preparing to commit sepuku.
AZZO45b 4:31PM (3/28/2009)
Ross’ Brawn GP 001 has a helluva lot more than a superior defuser propelling it to 1st & 2nd on the Aussie GP grid!
Part of the reason the Earth Dream team had Global Nightmares in 2008 is because Brawn was busting his tail designing the 2009 car. He found something more than a defuser IMO... Good for him.
Honda must be reaching for the ceremonial samurai sword & screaming WTF did we bow out of the 2009 season??? UGH-HH!!!
Yaroukh 6:53PM (3/28/2009)
@Carlo_Carrera: It is like whan a man in a coma moves his eyes. It happens and it does not mean anything. If he wakes later on it still does not mean eyemovement means man will walk again.
So here I am and I stand by what I said earlier - you can't take test results as a proof for anything.
I'm glad for BrawnGP though. This season seems to have a good start even when F1 as a whole is heading to hell IMO.
naggs 8:39PM (3/28/2009)
i like what is happening in f1
i dont give two its about scandals, the regulations are mixing it up and forcing new tech into existence. for the first time since they banned vvt, f1 is relevant to road car tech again.
jjmcubed 9:57PM (3/28/2009)
Sorry, but if you've been following F1 for any length of time, you would know that testing times aren't something you can go by. I said it before, not to put Brawn down, but that is how testing is in F1. Personally I hope they do well this week and this really shows how 2008 might have been at least a little bit different if they didn't stop work on their 2008 car 1/4 of the way into the season. As someone that despises the rules, one thing it has done is shook up the grid, and that looks like it could be a great. I'm sooooo excited by the start of the season... been counting the days!
Carlo_Carrera 1:15PM (3/29/2009)
@Yaroukh and jjmcubed
You two are really thick headed. It is obvious that in a year like this one where major changes where made to the F1 car formula that winter test times where meaningful. The teams that where fast in winter testing where fast in Australia, end of story. To deny this is just foolish.
You can try rationalize your thinking based on past years, but in the end you were just plan wrong. You didn't see the forest for the trees while others did.
jjmcubed 6:02PM (3/29/2009)
You two are really thick headed.
Glad to see that people can still hide behind the internet...
How right you are. Guess with only watching the sport for 20 years and hearing every commenter and professional writer on the subject say you can not get much information on what the team are doing must all be wrong. Of course I was wrong about this test.
But it is a fact that you can't get much from F1 testing. Simple really. You don't know who is doing long distance fuel mileage tests and who is running light for Q speeds. Do you really need me to go on and on? If you have followed the sport for any length of time you would understand that. Sorry, that is just a fact my friend.
Honda did great! I'm not taking that away from them. Just look at facts and historical data before you call people names. Saying I was wrong? How so? If you took something from the test, more power to you. I for one didn't as I've seen many other teams sand bag in the past. I personally didn't take anything from it as I won't take anything from any Friday practice.
Dustin 1:45PM (3/28/2009)
Not to mention that the Brawn cars were the HEAVIEST (most fuel) of the top 8 positions.
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AZZO45b 4:28PM (3/28/2009)
1. Jenson Button - 664.5kg
2. Rubens Barrichello - 666.5kg
3. Sebastien Vettel - 657kg
4. Robert Kubica - 650kg
5. Nico Rosberg - 657kg
6. Felipe Massa - 654kg
7. Kimi Raikkonen - 655.5kg
8. Mark Webber - 662kg
9. Nick Heidfeld - 691.5kg
10. Fernando Alonso - 680.7kg
11. Kazuki Nakajima - 685.3kg
12. Heikki Kovalainen - 690.6kg
13. Sebastien Buemi - 675.5kg
14. Nelson Piquet - 694.1kg
15. Giancarlo Fisichella - 689kg
16. Adrian Sutil - 684.5kg
17. Sebastien Bourdais - 662.5kg
18. Lewis Hamilton - 655kg
19. Jarno Trulli* - 660kg
20. Timo Glock* - 670kg
AZZO45b 5:38PM (3/28/2009)
* = DQ'd & moved to back of grid
Yaroukh 6:55PM (3/28/2009)
Looks like ppl actually don't care about the truth.
Dustin 1:47PM (3/28/2009)
Also, doesn't the race start at 2am?
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Metar 2:23PM (3/28/2009)
5pm Australian time. How that works out in US time, no idea. Early morning for Europeans.
AZZO45b 4:34PM (3/28/2009)
2AM Eastern Standard Time. West coast enjoys an alternative to the 11PM Saturday news (if ya watch local crap...)
J.Crew 2:46PM (3/28/2009)
Nice one Toyota... let's cheat our way to the top. Classy.
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inteller 3:10PM (3/28/2009)
oh you mean like Ferrari's amazing expanding front spoiler (which BTW was captured regularly on race cam in the 2006 season.
AZZO45b 4:39PM (3/28/2009)
If you ain't "cheatin'... you ain't tryin'
Also in F1, I believe they call it looking for the unfair advantage or exploring the boundaries of the rules.
Why are you hating on Toyota? FIArrari & RedBull had questionable cars & the defuser protest is STILL happening. Appeal date is April 14...GP results tonight will not be final for a few weeks.
Nico Rosberg's Williams has a TOYOTA engine & he wasn't cheatin'
Jared 7:46PM (3/28/2009)
It's because this time the tables have turned against the big dogs, so all the band wagon riders are upset they arn't on the winning team anymore.
J.Crew 2:27PM (3/29/2009)
I am not for any team cheating and it is odd that somehow it is assumed I am a Ferrari fan. I hated all of the scandals recently and would love the return of class and honor in the sport. This is why I love watching Audi and its pursuit each year at 24 HEURES DU MANS. That to me is the best race in the world. I like F1, but it can be such a drama queen fest outside the race. Let's put the racing first instead of the ego and cheating. I also am enjoying the open wheel revival in the the USA with one series instead of two. I hope it can make it through these tough economic times.