Brawn GP scored a stunning 1-2 victory on debut in the 2009 FORMULA 1™ ING Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne’s Albert Park.
Briton Jenson Button led home team-mate Rubens Barrichello of Brazil in a race that ended dramatically when podium candidates Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull and BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica collided with just three laps to go.
Australia’s Mark Webber fell victim to a first-lap accident and was the last man classified in the provisional results in 13th place.
Button had led all the way from lights out to race finish, and the late-race incident allowed Barrichello through ahead of third-placed Jarno Trulli in the Toyota.
The three men among them have no fewer than 623 race starts. World Champion Lewis Hamilton steered his McLaren-Mercedes from the back of the grid to what once seemed an unlikely fourth place ahead of the second Toyota driven by Timo Glock.
For Toyota, too, it was an astonishing effort after both cars started from pit lane following their exclusion from the official qualifying results.
Two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso brought his Renault home in sixth place ahead of Nico Rosberg, whose Williams went backwards on the supersoft tyres in the closing stages.
To complete a fairytale F1 day, the only rookie in the field, Swiss 20-year-old Sebastien Buemi, scored a point on debut for Toro Rosso in eighth place.
Source: AGPC Media Team