March 28, 2009

British driver Jenson Button amazed with pole position for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix but the rear of the grid is almost as interesting after penalties to world champion Lewis Hamilton and both Toyota drivers.

Hamilton had the 15th fastest time in Saturday qualifying but was penalised five spots because a broken gearbox caused him to miss the middle session.

That meant last grid position until a slight reprieve to 18th on Saturday night when the Toyotas of Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock were banished to the back.

Their cars were found to have rear wings that were too flexible - Glock dropped from sixth position and Trulli from eighth.

That was good news for Mark Webber, the Australian improving two places to eighth grid position in his Red Bull.

Button is joined on the front row by Brawn team-mate Rubens Barrichello followed by Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel and BMW's Robert Kubica.

Nico Rosberg's Williams moved to the fourth row with Felipe Massa's Ferrari then his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen alongside Webber.

Just a few months ago Button and Barrichello looked likely to be out of a job as Honda quit racing due to the global economic crisis.

But they earned a last minute reprieve when technical guru Ross Brawn line-up finance to run the team under his name.

Throughout pre-season testing the Brawn cars set the pace as hope began to rise from the ashes of the Japanese car maker's outfit.

"The last five or six months for both of us have been so tough because from going from not having a drive or any future in racing to putting it on pole here is just amazing," Button said.

"This is where we deserve to be I think after the tough times I've had.

"It's been a long time since we've had a car that's been competitive. It was 2006 when I put it on pole here so it's been very tough.

"There are a lot of people who stand by you, which is fantastic, but there are obviously a few people who don't, and they forget and they don't believe.

"But the important thing is the people in the team believe and that's all we care about - and they've proven it with this car.

"I think we've done a good job this weekend so far considering the amount of mileage we've had in the car.

"This is a great moment but obviously not the most important moment of the weekend," Button said.

Brawn, whose white cars arrived in Melbourne without sponsors, lured last minute backing from Virgin.

Company boss Sir Richard Branson paraded down pit lane to announce his support on Saturday and the cars emerged for qualifying sporting his red logo.

Barrichello said the new money was critical if Brawn were to maintain their position at the head of the field throughout the season.

"I was very glad to see Virgin signing us this morning because it now means we have the attitude on the team to carry on," Barrichello said.

"That could have been the problem during the year. I think this car will be very, very good for the first four races but definitely we need to have things coming in to keep on going."

Vettel was delighted after a dismal practice session on Friday when he encountered a mechanical problem in the first session then made a mistake and spun out in the second.

"This is for sure a good starting point but (for) points tomorrow we will have to work hard," he said.

Vettel echoed several drivers who were concerned about visibility in the setting sun during a twilight race.

"It was tricky, for instance you go down the main straight, the sun is very low, you cannot see the white line for instance when you exit the pits so you just keep right and hope you are far enough to the right.

"The same if you go to turn three with the trees, it's quite tricky as you have a lot of shadows there," he said.

Starting Grid
1st row
Jenson Button (GBR/Brawn-Mercedes)
Rubens Barrichello (BRA/Brawn-Mercedes)

2nd row
Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull-Renault)
Robert Kubica (POL/BMW Sauber)

3rd row
Nico Rosberg (GER/Williams-Toyota)
Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari)

4th row
Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari)
Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull-Renault)

5th row
Nick Heidfeld (GER/BMW Sauber)
Fernando Alonso (ESP/Renault)

6th row
Kazuki Nakajima (JPN/Williams-Toyota)
Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/McLaren-Mercedes)

7th row
Sebastien Buemi (SUI/Toro Rosso-Ferrari)
Nelson Piquet Jr (BRA/Renault)

8th row
Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA/Force India-Ferrari)
Adrian Sutil (GER/Force India-Ferrari)

9th row
Sebastien Bourdais (FRA/Toro Rosso-Ferrari)
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes)

10th row
Timo Glock (GER/Toyota)
Jarno Trulli (ITA/Toyota)