| 16.32 | If you have not followed the weekend to date or the pre-season build up, the cars this year are running slick tyres and feature a very different aero package aimed at making the cars harder to drive and easier to make overtaking manoeuvres. Four teams also have KERS, a boost system that provides an extra 80 or so horse power on demand after the energy is recovered and stored under braking. |
| 16.34 | BMW Sauber has KERS on just Nick Heidfeld’s F1.09 while Ferrari, McLaren and Renault have it on both cars. The advantage is the added boost at the press of a button but the downside is the system is relatively heavy and therefore ballast cannot be positions as the team would like to meet the 605kg minimum weight. |
| 16.36 | Honda announced in December that was to pull out of the sport after a dismal few years. Ross Brawn has taken over the newly renamed Brawn GP team and armed with Mercedes engines, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello stunned in qualifying to claim the front row of the grid. |
| 16.38 | Brawn ran well in pre-season testing but this weekend they have proved the class of field lapping three and five tenths of a second clear of the field. Underling the pace of the BGP 001 package, Button and Barrichello had ten drivers in qualifying running lighter than they were, seven of which are in the top ten. |
| 16.40 | Sebastian Vettel starts third in his first race for Red Bull Renault with team-mate Mark Webber eighth in the sister RB5. Vettel may not have the pace to challenge the Brawn duo, but the first race of the year is usually one of attrition and a win for the 2008 Monza winner remains a possibility. |
| 16.42 | Robert Kubica didn’t show a great deal of pace in practice, but did a great job to qualify his BMW Sauber in fourth position. The post-qualifying car weights show that the Pole is lightly loaded with fuel and is therefore likely to be one of the first to pit for fresh rubber and fuel. Team-mate Nick Heidfeld admitted to an error on his best lap in qualifying and starts ninth. |
| 16.44 | Williams Toyota have run well all weekend and starting from fifth position Nico Rosberg could be one to look out for. Rosberg led the way in all three practice sessions and will be looking to replicate his podium position secured at this circuit a year ago. Team-mate Kazuki Nakajima starts 11th. |
| 16.46 | Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen start sixth and seventh courtesy of the problems that Toyota encountered in scrutineering yesterday. The F60 package has looked fast on occasion and could well challenge for a podium position, but in terms of pure pace, they have no answer to the Brawn Mercedes. |
| 16.48 | Fernando Alonso had hoped to qualify his Renault in the top six, but a mistake in qualifying sees the former champion lining up in tenth position with team-mate Nelson Piquet 14th. The R29 has looked skittish all weekend on this circuit and it will be interesting to see if Alonso can make progress through the field. |
| 16.50 | McLaren Mercedes are in all sorts of difficulties with their new MP4-24 package. Off the pace in testing and practice is of no surprise to see Heikki Kovalainen lining up 12th in the leading car while Lewis Hamilton, last year’s race winner, could have lined up 13th were it not for a gearbox change penalty that drops him to 18th. Either way, points will be hard to come by for the time being at McLaren. |
| 16.52 | The only rookie in the field, for the time being, is Sebastien Buemi. He graduated to Toro Rosso Ferrari after a so-so season in GP2. The Swiss driver did a good job in qualifying though and starts 13th with Sebastien Bourdais disappointing in 17th. |
| 16.54 | Force India has Mercedes engines this year and had hoped for better in qualifying after good pace in practice. Italian veteran Giancarlo Fisichella starts 15th ahead of team-mate Adrian Sutil (who went off on his way to the grid), Bourdais and Hamilton. |
| 16.56 | Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli were disappointed to record the sixth and eighth fastest times in qualifying with the impressive new Toyota but their day would soon get worse. Both were excluded from the session when it was found that the rear wing was flexing too much and therefore deemed an adjustable aerodynamic device. They will start from the pit lane with it all to do. |
| 16.58 | So we have an all Brawn Mercedes front row as the new team try to duplicate the exploits of the Walter Wolf team from 1977 and win their very first Grand Prix. Mechanical issues aside, Button and Barrichello have a very good chance of repeating Jody Scheckter’s feat from over three decades ago. Absolutely no team orders Barrichello vows! |
| 16.59 | The drivers are all on the grid and the engines are being fired up. |
| 17.00 | The parade lap is now underway and most have opted for the harder ‘medium’ prime tyre to start the race with. The KERS runners should in theory have an advantage off the line in a few minutes time. We shall see... |
| 17.00 | Ferrari on the option tyre as is Kubica and some towards the back of the field, like McLaren. |
| 17.01 | So Ferrari going agressive with the tyres... |
| 17.02 | Button lines his BGP 001 up on the pole position with Barrichello, Vettel, Kubica, Rosberg, Massa, Raikkonen, Webber, Heidfeld, Alonso and the rest taking up position. |
| Lap 1 | The Australian Grand Prix and the 2009 season is go! |
| Lap 1 | Slow start from Barrichello, Button leads. |
| Lap 1 | Button streaks away, Vettel second ahead of Massa, Kubica, Raikkonen, Rosberg and Barrichello. |
| Lap 2 | Button leads by four seconds! |
| Lap 2 | Heidfeld pits with a right rear puncture. |
| Lap 2 | Kovalainen has left front damage and is cruising. Webber pits for a front wing. |
| Lap 2 | Webber turned in on Barrichello at the first turn and they ran into Heidfeld. |
| Lap 3 | Kovalainen pits and will be retiring. |
| Lap 3 | Hamilton has already worked his way up tp 11th. |
| Lap 4 | Vettel, second has pegged the gap to Button at just over four seconds. Barrichello (7th) is lining up Rosberg. |
| Lap 4 | Barrichello has damage to the front right wing. |
| Lap 5 | Alonso lost ground at the start and runs 15th. |
| Lap 6 | Hamilton all over Piquet for ninth. |
| Lap 6 | Hamilton passes Piquet for ninth. |
| Lap 8 | Button and Vettel are trading best laps at the front of the field. Massa is now dropping away in third with Kubica a couple of seconds behind. Raikkonen is next and under pressure now from Rosberg. |
| Lap 8 | Raikkonen, Rosberg and Barrichello run nose to tail. |
| Lap 9 | Those on the option tyre like Massa, Kubica and Raikkonen now struggling. |
| Lap 9 | We know Button has more fuel on board than Vettel. |
| Lap 10 | A great move from Rosberg on Raikkonen into turn one. Now Barrichello passed around the outside of Raikkonen! |
| Lap 10 | Bourdais pits his STR and heads back out. |
| Lap 11 | Raikkonen pits... |
| Lap 11 | Trulli pits and now Massa has Kubica and Rosberg all over him. |
| Lap 12 | Massa, third, pits his Ferrari. |
| Lap 12 | Hamilton also pitting. |
| Lap 12 | Ferrari have pitted and now Kubica is defending his third position from Barrichello. |
| Lap 13 | Kubica now pits. A bad decision for the option tyre. |
| Lap 13 | So those who made an error on tyres have now pitted. Rosberg runs third and is half a minute behind Vettel showing how much time he has lost behind the slower option runners. |
| Lap 14 | Button in control at the front with the gap the same as the end of lap one at four seconds. |
| Lap 14 | With the front wing damage, Barrichello is now dropping time to Rosberg who has picked up the pace. |
| Lap 15 | Ferrari really made an error in opting for the super-soft tyres. They are now in traffic with Massa 11th and Raikkonen 13th. Kubica is now 12th. |
| Lap 16 | Rosberg, third, will be hoping for a safety car as he has the pace but is almost half a minute behind Vettel. |
| Lap 17 | Vettel pits from second position. |
| Lap 17 | Rosberg pits from third position. |
| Lap 17 | Rosbergs stop was just over 20 seconds. The left front a problem as he exits just ahead of Raikkonen. |
| Lap 18 | Raikkonen passes Rosberg as he hets back up to speed into turn 3. |
| Lap 18 | Fisichella is keeping former team-mate Alonso behind. A good drive from the Italian. |
| Lap 18 | Nakajima off with front and rear damage. |
| Lap 19 | Barrichello pits and takes a new front wing. |
| Lap 19 | Nakajima just lost the Williams exiting turn four and nosed into the wall. |
| Lap 19 | Race leader Button pits. Buemi and Glock also pit. |
| Lap 20 | The safety car (s/c) heads out a little late! |
| Lap 20 | Fisichella pits and misses his pit box. Slow stop. |
| Lap 20 | Piquet and Alonso have pitted. |
| Lap 21 | The s/c has yet to pick up Button. Bit of a commedy of errors as usual. |
| Lap 21 | For the race, a shame the s/c did not come a few laps sooner ahead of the stops. |
| Lap 22 | The s/c has finally picked up Button. |
| Lap 22 | Barrichello now runs in tenth position. He has the work all to do again. |
| Lap 22 | Bourdais pits again as they circulate behind the s/c. |
| Lap 22 | Button leads Vettel, Massa, Kubica, Raikkonen, Rosberg, Piquet, Trulli, Buemi and Barrichello. |
| Lap 22 | The s/c has helped Massa for sure. |
| Lap 23 | The s/c remains on track. |
| Lap 23 | Sutil pits his Force India. |
| Lap 24 | The s/c remains on track. Slow onto the track and slow of it! The drivers will be losing all tyre pressure. |
| Lap 25 | The race is finally back underway. |
| Lap 25 | Rosberg and Piquet collide ahead of turn one. Piquet is off into the gravel. Shame for him. |
| Lap 25 | Hamilton passes Glock mid-lap. |
| Lap 26 | Actually Rosberg did not make contact with Piquet who lost his 6/7 position under braking. |
| Lap 26 | Button pulls a second on Vettel. Barrichello is up to seventh and Rosberg down to ninth. |
| Lap 28 | Buemi runs eighth and has Rosberg behind him. Buemi is having a great debut. |
| Lap 28 | The pace has dropped by almost a second at the moment through the field. |
| Lap 29 | Buemi is lapping two seconds quicker than team-mate Bourdais who is in clear air down in 15th. |
| Lap 30 | Fisichella and Sutil trade places twice in the battle 13th. |
| Lap 30 | Button is now picking up the pace again at the front and dropping Vettel. |
| Lap 31 | Sutil has now passed Fisichella in the Force India battle. |
| Lap 31 | Alonso has done very little in this race. He runs 11th and is making no progress. |
| Lap 32 | Massa pits from third position. |
| Lap 32 | A very long final stint for Massa then. |
| Lap 33 | Massa now runs in 14th but probably won't stop again. |
| Lap 33 | Trulli pits his Toyota. |
| Lap 34 | Kubica picks up the pace in third and is just two seconds behind Vettel. |
| Lap 35 | Sutil pits his Force India. |
| Lap 35 | Massa (13th now) took four seconds out of Trulli on the last lap. |
| Lap 36 | Glock, tenth, is now putting the pressure on Alonso as Webber pits from the back. |
| Lap 37 | Button, Vettel, Barrichello will have to take the option tyre in the final stop. I imagine Barrichello will be running a long middle stint. |
| Lap 40 | Kubica pits from third position. |
| Lap 40 | Raikkonen follows the BMW racer into the pits. |
| Lap 40 | Raikkonen exits behind the battling Alonso-Glock duo, so not in clear air. |
| Lap 41 | Buemi is still holding off Rosberg. Very impressive. |
| Lap 41 | Glock has had a quick spin allowing Alonso and Raikkonen through. |
| Lap 42 | The gap remains static at the front. Buemi pits from fourth position. |
| Lap 43 | The question is how fast will Ferrari be on the prime tyre as the front runners take the option for the final stint. We saw early in the race the option tyre quickly went off and dropped four seconds a lap. This may not be over yet. |
| Lap 44 | Hamilton pits his McLaren. |
| Lap 44 | Raikkonen pits for a third time! |
| Lap 44 | Hamilton exits ahead of Massa.... |
| Lap 45 | Rosberg pits for the final time from fourth position. |
| Lap 45 | Raikkonen spun and hence his third pitstop. Vettel pits from second. |
| Lap 46 | Vettel exits just ahead of Barrichello. |
| Lap 47 | Massa slow on track. |
| Lap 47 | Massa is coming in to retire the F60. |
| Lap 47 | Button slowed by Massa as they pit. |
| Lap 47 | A slow stop for Button as Massa retires. |
| Lap 48 | Button exits ahead of Vettel, but the gap should have come down. |
| Lap 48 | Barrichello, Alonso and Glock need to pit again. |
| Lap 49 | Rosberg is pushing hard as he sets the fastest lap of the race. |
| Lap 49 | Button leads Vettel by 1.5s with Barrichello close behind in third. |
| Lap 50 | Hamilton is trying to find a way ahead of Trulli who knows how to make the Toyota wide. Fisichella pits. |
| Lap 51 | Glock pits his Toyota. |
| Lap 51 | Glock passes Buemi. |
| Lap 52 | Barrichello makes his final stop. |
| Lap 52 | Barrichello exits behind Rosberg as Alonso makes his second stop. |
| Lap 52 | Kubica is pushing hard and is on the prime tyre and closing with six laps to go! |
| Lap 53 | Glock holds off Alonso in a nice battle for position. |
| Lap 53 | Barrichello passes Rosberg for fourth position. |
| Lap 54 | Rosberg has lost a lot of pace as Trulli passes the Williams driver too. |
| Lap 54 | Now Hamilton passes Rosberg who had looked set for P4. |
| Lap 55 | The battle seems to be for second between Vettel and Kubica. |
| Lap 55 | Kubica is now right with Vettel! |
| Lap 56 | Kubica and Vettel make contactinto turn three. Both continue and then crash out! |
| Lap 56 | Vettel ran wide at turn one and Kubica had the run. Vettel ran into Kubica and blew it. |
| Lap 56 | So the safety car is out and the race is over. |
| Lap 57 | So amazingly Button will be second ahead of Hamilton! |
| Lap 57 | Vettel has lots of front right damage and continues on track. His error and he runs seventh. He should pull off. |
| Lap 57 | Vettel should be getting the black flag. |
| Lap 58 | Vettel has finally stopped and drops out of the points. |
| Lap 58 | Somehow Trulli is now ahead of Hamilton... in third. Something strange going on. Hamilton must have had to yield the position. |
| Lap 58 | A short restart and Button takes his second Grand Prix victory after a flawless drive! |
| Lap 58 | Barrichello is second in the second Brawn ahead of Trulli, Hamilton, Glock, Alonso, Rosberg and Buemi who scores a point on his debut. |
| Lap 58 | Bourdais is ninth ahead of Sutil, Heidfeld, Fisichella and Webber. |
