Jenson Button wins Australian GP 2009

Hey, aren’t you surprised? Jenson Button, languishing somewhere in the middle of the grid last season, has taken a surprise win for the Bran GP F1 team at Melbourne, at the Australian GP.

Great news for the fledgling Brawn GP team, and great news for Jenson Button too. Just a couple of months back, Jenson did not even know if he was going to get a drive in the 2009 F1 season. And then Ross Brawn decided to take over the erstwhile Honda F1 team, and gave him a lifeline.

Jenson Button ruled the Australian GP from the start at melbourne, and never once looked back. His Brawn GP teammate had a disastrous start, the car not starting off cleanly, and had to see other cars overtaking him. Towards the end, a safety car period saw Rubens Barrichello catching up to him to take the second place.

The Brawn GP team had shown their potential during practice and the qualifying yesterday at Melbourne, proving that the comparatively poor performance of the Ferraris and the Mclarens was no flash in the pan, and that Jenson and Barrichello had a real chance at the Australian GP 2009. Today’s race confirmed that.

So its a 1-2 for the Brawn GP at Melbourne, a first for any team in their debut season.

The Brawn GP cars did not have KERS, so they could not count on that additional boost which Ferraris, McLarens and Renaults had – however, none of them could make a challenge at the top, even though Massa really tried.

Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello were of course helped by the controversial design of their rear diffuser. The stewards had ruled the diffuser legal, and several other teams including Ferrari had appealed. So there is still the chance that the appeal may go through and Jenson Button and Barrichello may get their Australian GP 1-2 wins taken away from them.

That is considered unlikely though. The appeal hearing is in April, and if Brawn GP, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello continue their domination of the 2009 F1 season, the FIA would find it extremely complicated to take their points and wins away. So it looks the only way out for the other teams (other than the ‘diffuse three’) is to develop their own versions of the controversial design.

But by the time they get around to doing that, Jenson Button and Barrichello would have built up a considerable lead if things go the way they did at Melbourne just now. If that is the case, dont be surprised if Jenson Button or Rubens Barrichello end up as the winners of the 2009 F1 season!

So now its back to the drawing board for the McLarens and the Ferraris.