Britain's Jenson Button led Brawn GP to a one-two at the season-opening Formula One Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on Sunday.
The one-two finish for Brawn GP, with Brazilian Rubens Barrichello following Button across the line, was the most successful debut by a team in 55 years. The last to secure the top two places first time out was Mercedes, Brawn's current engine suppliers, in 1954.
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Britain's Jenson Button (R)celebrates?with his teammate Brazilian Rubens Barrichello after they finished one-two at the season opening Formula One Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on Sunday. |
Button led from pole to chequered flag, despite two safety car periods, clocking 1 hour 34 minutes 15.784 seconds.
Barrichello started and finished second, but only after Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica drove each other off the track while fighting for the runner-up position with three laps to go.
The safety car came out and led the field until the final corner of the race.
McLaren's world champion Lewis Hamilton, starting last on the grid after a gearbox failure in qualifying, clawed his way back to third place while the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen failed to finish.
Italian Jarno Trulli, who had started 19th and in the pit lane for Toyota, finished third but was demoted to 12th after stewards ruled he had overtaken Hamilton illegally.
Germany's Timo Glock, who started behind Trulli in the pit lane after Toyota were disqualified from qualifying for using an illegal rear wing, was elevated to fourth ahead of Renault's Fernando Alonso and Williams' Nico Rosberg.
The first safety car came out on the 20th lap after Williams' Japanese driver Kazuki Nakajima crashed into the wall.
Red Bull were fined 50,000 U.S. dollars and Vettel demoted 10 places on the starting grid for the next race in Malaysia for causing the incident with Kubica.
(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2009)
