Button wins Australian Grand Prix for BrawnGP

Jenson Button has claimed a fairy tale victory for BrawnGP in their debut race at the 2009 Australian Grand Prix. Completing the dream start for F1’s newest team was a late race crash between Red Bull Racing’s Sebastien Vettel and BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica, gifting second place to Rubens Barichello. The one-two podium finish for the BrawnGP cars follows their front row qualifying positions and is an astonishing result for a team that is barely three weeks old.

Toyota’s Jarno Trulli claimed third place, another remarkable result after starting the race from pit lane. (See below!)

Barichello, though, could consider himself the luckiest driver on the podium after a poor start shortly before crashing into Australia’s Mark Webber. The local hero was able to continue, but his chances were dashed after suffering damage to his car’s body work courtesy of Barichello’s contact. Rubens wasn’t done yet, as he also made unncessary contact with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikonnen. Lady luck, then, was clearly shining on the BrawnGP team in Melbourne.

However, Button’s second Formula One race win remains under a cloud of controversy due to “diffuser-gate“. The race results will not be ratified until the outcome of an FIA hearing to be held on 14 April is announced. Read more on this story at the BBC website.

UPDATE: Jarno Trulli has been given a 25 second penalty for overtaking under Safety Car conditions. This puts Trulli back to 12th place and moves Lewis Hamilton up to third.
[Source: Formula1.com]