Jenson Button wins Australian Grand Prix!
IF you’d have told Anorak a month or two ago that a British driver would win the 2009 Aussie GP, we’d have said “Yes, Lewis Hamilton has a great chance, dummy.”
If you’d have told us, “No, we mean Jenson Button!” Anorak would have laughed until our sides split.
But in what must rank as perhaps the most extraordinary opening race to an F1 season ever, Button did indeed make good on his pole position with a race win. It’s a remarkable turnaround – at the tail end of 2008, it looked like he’d have to leave F1 altogether, as Honda announced it was quitting the sport.
But master tactician Ross Brawn snapped up the team and in no time Brawn F1 has turned out a car that so far – in winter testing and in yesterday’s race in Melbourne – has left the opposition for dust.
If this Aussie GP is anything to go by, we’re in for an even better season than 2008. There was overtaking galore, shunts aplenty and the Safety Car too. High drama but Button kept his head to cap a brilliant weekend for Brawn and co. (which now includes Richard Branson’s Virgin as sponsors); Rubens Barrichello, Brawn’s No.2 driver, finished in second, with Jarno Trulli third for Toyota.
As for Lewis Hamilton, he drove splendidly to snatch an unlikely fourth place, having started 18th on the grid. The new rules will benefit the better drivers, so Hamilton could yet defend his title, even though his McLaren is currently a bit crap.
BBC Sport has highlights of the race
Posted: 29th, March 2009 | In: Sports Comments (2) | TrackBack | Permalink
