Button leads Brawn GP one-two

F1 Grand Prix, GP Australia, Albert Park

The Australian Grand Prix of 2009 has again become an unexpected spectacle during which Button proved the most consistent and fastest. Rubens Barrichello finished second thanks to late crashes from Vettel and Kubica, while Trulli finishes 3th after starting from last place.

Ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, Toyota have decided that their cars will start from the pitlane after being put back on the grid on a technicality.

At the start of the race, Button flies away without competition and is already 4 seconds ahead after one lap. Barrichello had a less fortunate start and ends up in 7th place. At the same time he hit Mark Webber who immediately entered the pitlane for some repairs. He continues his race one lap later.

In the middle of the pack, Sutil lost his front wing in an incident, pushing Alonso outside in the gravel trap. The Spaniard was 14th after one lap, while his teammate Piquet moved up to 9th.

5 laps later, Kovalainen has also abandoned while Barrichello's front wing is visibly damaged from his first corner incident. Hamilton's McLaren meanwhile appears to work better in race conditions. The world champion is moving up the over, passing Piquet on the back straight with a was probably a push on the KERS button.

On lap 10 the first cars enter the pitlane. Raikkonen and Trulli are quickest, followed one lap later by Massa - who didn't change tyres - and Hamilton.

Rosberg is meanwhile challenging Kubica and clearly shows it is now easier to follow a leading car into a corner. A passing is however not needed as Kubica enters the pitlane in lap 12. Fortunatly maybe because it has already become obvious that overtaking is still very hard when you don't have KERS.

By lap 15, Button has pulled away and Vettel appears to be the only one who is able to follow. The young German is 4 seconds behind the leader. Behind him is a gap of 27 seconds to Nico Rosberg.

Lap 16 marks the first stop for Sebastian Vettel. He takes on new hard tyres and rejoins the track in second place. One lap later Nakajima hits the kerbs and consequently the wall on the other side of the track. The Japanese was running a strong race in 4th place.

Two laps later, after both Brawns made their stops, the safety car eventually enters the track to allow the stewards to clear the race line. Alonso meanwhile makes his stop during the safety car while Fisichella lost considerable time by not stopping at the right location in the pitlane. He ran 10m too far, requiring his crew to push him back.

Once all cars are behind the SC, Barrichello is in 10th place and told he now has a good car again. Rightly so, he was running with a damaged front wing up until his pitstop. In the queue, Button is first, ahead of Vettel, Massa, Kubica, Raikkonen and Rosberg. Trulli is the first Toyota in 8th place, while Hamilton is 12th. Alonso is just behind him in 13th place.

After lap 23, the safety car dives into the pitlane. Piquet falls victim of the restart after spinning under braking. He ends up in the gravel and abandons the race. At the front nothing changes, but Hamilton and Alonso are able to pass Glock thanks to their KERS equipped cars.

Massa enters the pitlane in lap 31 and rejoins the track in 14th place, just ahead of Bourdais. He gets fitted with the softer option tyre.

12 laps after the safety car left the track, Glock is stuck after Alonso. The Spaniard passed him with KERS and can use the extra power to stay ahead of the Toyota, despite being slower over a complete lap. Both fight for 9th and 10th place.

On lap 39, Kubica and Raikkonen are in the pitlane. Kubica rejoins just behind Hamilton while Raikkonen gets back on track behind Alonso and Glock. It is at this moment really stunning how much faster Hamilton's McLaren is compared to Alonso's Renault.

Just moments later, Glock brakes too late and spins his car, almost taking out Alonso in the event. He is able to rejoin without trouble but had to let Raikkonen pass.

In lap 44 Hamilton makes his final stop and rejoins just ahead of Massa. Surprisingly, Raikkonen is also in the pitlane again for what looks to be an emergency stop after damaging his car in a spin. He is however able to continue without trouble but falls back to 16th.

One lap later Vettel also pits and is able to continue just ahead of Barrichello.

In lap 47 is the end for Massa. The Brazilian slowed down and just rolls into the pitlane, unable to continue any more. Button made his final stop at the same time but stays first, although not far ahead of Vettel.

On lap 52, Barrichello is in and gets back on track behind Rosberg, he is now 5th. Alonso also pitted and is back on track in 9th place after a close fight with Glock.

Rosberg on the other hand is in trouble and gets passed by Barrichello, Hamilton, Glock and Alonso. There must be a technical problem on Rosbergs' Williams.

Just 4 laps from the end, Kubica fires an attack on Vettel. Neither of both want to give in and a collision was unavoidable. Both men's front wings were damaged and consequently they both hit the wall in the next corner.

The safety car comes on track to finish the race and leaves just ahead of the finish line. It's an excellent one two finish for Brawn thanks to a bit of luck and errors from the competition.