Renault - Australian GP - Race

It was a mixed afternoon for the Renault team as Fernando Alonso finished in sixth position, while teammate Nelson Piquet retired from the race in the early stages. Alonso was later promoted to fifth position following Jarno Trulli's time penalty.

In a race punctuated by a safety car period, Alonso steadily made up for ground that he had lost on the first lap. He enjoyed a combative race to emerge in the points during his final stint and benefited from the late race incidents.

Team-mate Nelson Piquet ran well in his R29 before locking his rear brakes and spinning out of the season-opening Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso
“Sixth place is not the best result, but in a way we have to be happy because we started the race in a difficult position and I was pushed wide at turn 1 onto the grass and so I dropped to the back of the pack. After that, it was difficult and so it’s great to score points. With what happened during the race, the incidents and the safety car, we managed to finish 6th. In terms of the overall results and looking at our competitors, we have to be happy with the result. With the KERS I didn’t feel a big difference and I was a little bit disappointed at how it worked. We also need to work on the tyres a bit more at the next race.”

Nelson Piquet
“I was really happy because we were lucky at the beginning of the race to gain some positions. The car was good and I was having a consistent drive. But when the safety car came out I started to have some problems with the brakes. I had a good restart and overtook Nico Rosberg, but when I touched the brakes again they were gone. I spun out and I was lucky I ended up in the gravel, so there was no damage to myself or the car. The car was not as competitive as we wanted it to be in the race but we were still running in the top 8. The Malaysian circuit should suit us better and I’m sure that we can get a good result there next week.”

Flavio Briatore, Managing Director
“The three points scored by Fernando are not a great consolation for what has been a disappointing weekend for us. We were just not competitive enough and our qualifying performance penalised us for the race. Fernando lost several positions at the start because of the first corner incident which he could not avoid. That said, our two drivers were consistent and tried to make the most of the situation."

"Nelson made a good start and his race was very promising, but a technical problem unfortunately brought his race to an end. It’s only the first Grand Prix and our intention is to work hard to fight back quickly, starting at the next Grand Prix in Malaysia."

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
“Nelson’s accident appears to have been caused by a problem with the brake system, although as yet we don’t know what that might be. It’s a shame because he was in a reasonable position. We are clearly not as competitive as we need to be and there is a lot of work to be done to get to the front.”

Remi Taffin, Head of Engine Operations
“A mixed result this afternoon with the retirement of Nelson and we will need to look into why he couldn’t finish. We would have been able to do something good with Nelson who had a great start to the race. I think he could have been on the podium, so it’s a shame. We finished 6th with Fernando and when you consider the level of competitiveness that we have shown this weekend, it’s not a bad result. We know that we have to do better and so we will take these points and work hard to try and get a strong result at the next race.”

McLaren Mercedes - Australian GP - Race

A storming race from defending champion Lewis Hamilton saw the McLaren Mercedes driver to charge from 18th on the grid to third at the finish of the Australian Grand Prix.

Always on the attack, Hamilton profited from the opening-lap melee and an aggressive first stint on low fuel and option tyres to slot into the top ten by lap five. He made his first stop on lap 11 (12.0s), where he was long-fuelled and switched to primes. A relentless middle stint saw him surge to fifth: evidence of his push was evident, with several opposite-locking moments clearly visible on successive laps out of turn nine.

A second stop (7.8s) on lap 43 and an adjustment to the front-wing settings dropped him to tenth, allowing him to remain ahead of Sebastien Buemi. Pitting cars pushed him back to seventh, after which he really got his head down, catching and passing Nico Rosberg for sixth. The Vettel-Kubica shunt elevated him to fourth and a mistake by Trulli, when behind the Safety Car, vaulted him into the top three.

Heikki Kovalainen got a good start but was an innocent victim in the first-corner accident, touching wheels with a spinning Mark Webber – contact that punctured his left-front tyre and damaged his suspension.

Lewis Hamilton
“We scored way more points than we could have realistically expected. I was looking to try and get one point, so to get six is a great achievement. We’ve definitely not forgotten how to win: our strategy was perfect and the team did a fantastic job. Considering the package we’ve got, I wrung every last ounce of pace out of the car, drove one of my best ever races and absolutely raced my heart out – I’m so satisfied.
Also, my heartfelt congratulations to Jenson – he’s driven brilliantly all weekend and both he and his team really deserve this success.”

Heikki Kovalainen
“Obviously, my race was very short. Webber had a moment at the first corner and his front wheel hit my left-front. It was a racing accident – these things unfortunately happen.”

Martin Whitmarsh, Team Principal
“Today was one of those days on which Lewis demonstrated very clearly just what a fantastic racing driver he is. Throughout the race he showed great speed and tenacity, tempered when necessary by commendable patience. The car we supplied him wasn’t as competitive as we’d have liked it to be – we’ve made no secret of that – but we’re working flat-out, night and day, to improve it. The points Lewis scored today are of course very welcome – and, as and when we regain our form, we hope they’ll take on a greater significance still. As for Heikki, he started with a heavy fuel-load and could also have scored points today – but, sadly, and blamelessly on his part, his race was ended early on when he happened upon an incident involving two other cars. Lastly, well done to all at Brawn GP – and of course also to Mercedes-Benz, whose superb engines powered the first three cars.”

Norbert Haug, Mercedes VP
“Lewis finally in third place and the best car with KERS – this is more than we had expected after starting 18th. He drove an excellent race under very difficult circumstances and proved his world-champion class. During the second Safety Car period, Trulli had an off and Lewis overtook him for third place, but he let Trulli past again. But the stewards’ decision after the race gave him back third place. It’s a shame for Heikki; without the first-corner multiple-car collision which was not his fault, he also could have scored a solid result in this turbulent race. Congratulations to Brawn GP, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello on their one-two victory – three times Mercedes-powered cars in the top three makes us happy. Our customer team did a great job and we helped to ‘Keep the Customer Satisfied’!”

BMW Sauber - Australian GP - Race

The BMW Sauber team had a disappointing start to the 2009 season with both cars involved in accidents. Nick Heidfeld’s race was already hopeless after he was hit in the first corner and then brought the damaged car home in 11th.

For team mate, Robert Kubica, the Australian Grand Prix was a lot more dramatic. With only three laps to go the Pole was fighting for second place with Sebastian Vettel. The Red Bull driver had made an error and lost momentum allowing Kubica to challenge for the position. After a great race the two racers made contact as Vettel overcooked it into turn three and both retired from the race.

Robert Kubica
"What a disappointment! I had a chance to win this race because Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel were on soft tyres and struggling, while I was on the harder compound and was able to drive much quicker. Sebastian went wide in corner one and then he braked early. I was already in front, but he didn’t want to let me by. Then he had a lot of understeer and touched me. My front wing was under the car, therefore I crashed in corner five. I think Sebastian was a bit too optimistic."

"Had this been the last corner okay, but there were still three laps to go and he really had no realistic chance to defend his position because I was so much quicker. We both had a great weekend up to this point and we leave Melbourne with nothing. That’s a real shame! My car was very good, particularly in the second stint when I set the best lap times. That’s racing."

Nick Heidfeld
"Today’s outcome to the race is extremely disappointing for me. I had such a good start and was able to make up positions straight away.
My strategy was promising too. Then in the braking zone for the first corner I felt safe because when I looked there was no car next to me. I was in the middle of the track but suddenly I got a big bang. I had to pit for new tyres and a front wing, but the damage to the car was a lot more than that and driving with it was hopeless. I think at least the KERS helped me to defend my position with such a slow car. But in the end it didn’t matter much because who cares if you finish 11th or 13th."

Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director
"As quite often happened in the past we had another race in Melbourne with a lot of drama. Nick’s hopes had already gone in the first corner. After a collision, which wasn’t his fault, he was not only a long way behind, but also his aerodynamics were ruined, which made it impossible for him to catch up. Robert drove an excellent race and got himself up with the leaders in the final laps of the race. He was on the harder tyre compound, and had every chance to catch the two cars in front of him to win the race. The collision three laps before the flag ended the race for him and also for Sebastian Vettel, so both drivers lost a podium and points. On the positive side, I can say that today we were very fast on the harder tyres."

Red Bull Renault - Australian GP - Race

Following a superb qualifying effort Sebastian Vettel started the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in third position, quickly moving into second behind race leader Jenson Button. The race ran its course until the final stages when the Red Bull Renault driver found himself under pressure from the charging Robert Kubica.

The battle for second position ended in tears a few laps from home when Vettel ran too deep into turn three and made contact with the BMW Sauber driver who was making the pass. Credit to Vettel, he owned up to the error, but it has cost the Milton Keynes-based squad at least six championship points.

Team-mate Mark Webber got together with fellow veteran Rubens Barrichello at the first turn and was forced to pit for repairs. The Australian went on to finish his home event 13th.

Sebastian Vettel
“We were in second and a strong position, but then, a couple of laps from the end, I had a stupid racing accident with Robert (Kubica). At the time I turned in I was ahead, but I couldn’t keep up speed in the corner and Robert was on a harder tyre, so was much quicker. At the time we collided he was in front, but I had nowhere to go, I couldn’t stop the car, or turn to the right and my tyres were gone."

"It’s a shame as it meant the end of the race for both of us. Should I have let him go? You always want to fight. Maybe I should have said let him go and bring third back home, but that’s life.
I tried to defend and, up to the mid-corner, I had reason, but then I had no grip to avoid a collision. I’m sorry to the team and also to Robert, as it didn’t just mean the end of my race, but also his."

"The team did a good job, we were working very hard over the winter and the car seems to be very good. We had good pace today, so overall we have a reason to smile.”

Mark Webber
“That was frustrating at my home race. I was so disappointed to drive round with a damaged car. I wanted a good result for the fans today, but we’ll do our best to recover from the next race on – it would have been nice to have got a good result here. My start wasn’t too bad. I got to Turn one and was making sure I got through there clean, but then Rubens (Barrichello) came in to the side of me pretty hard and that was it really. I lost a huge amount of down force; we had a lot of damage and I wasn’t going to be a threat to anyone after that. It was a tough day for the team but we’ll be back, I’m happy that Malaysia is in only a weeks’ time.”

Christian Horner
“A totally gutting finish to what had been a superb race for Sebastian. He had good pace throughout and was trying to take the fight to Button. He drove an immaculate race, but I guess a racing accident with Kubica at the end on the soft tyre was always going to be marginal and we came within two laps of a great finish. Looking on the positive side, the pace of the car was very good. It backed up our qualifying performance and we can take confidence into the next race in Malaysia in only a week’s time."

"Mark was unfortunately involved in an incident on the first lap which effectively destroyed his home race. We elected to keep him running in order to put more mileage on the car. It was a great shame after such strong team work here and in Milton Keynes, the team didn’t deserve the finish we had today, but we’ll fight back next weekend.”

Fabrice Lom
“What a disappointment - we had been so quick! Mark had a shunt at the first corner and lost his race there. Sebastian did a fantastic race and was nearly as quick as the winner, but we had to take the soft tyre on the last stint and a shunt ended his race. So, a shame, but I have such hope for the season with this pace. We are down, but ready to bounce back.”

Williams Toyota - Australian GP - Race

The Williams team didn’t manage to fulfil its potential in a typically incident-packed opening race in Melbourne today, and had to content itself with a handful of points and a fastest race lap to take to next weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

With the cars running in the top five and both drivers showing some committed overtaking manoeuvres, the team’s march was interrupted by a problem in Nico Rosberg’s first pitstop on lap 16. Shortly afterwards, Kazuki Nakajima had a high-speed spin, hitting the wall and retiring.

From here Rosberg fought to recover lost ground, in the process setting the fastest lap of the race and collected two points for a seventh place finish.

Nico Rosberg
"It was a challenging race and we suffered with a few glitches here and there, firstly from my side when on lap one I left the door open at turn three and I lost some positions, and then we had a problem on my first pit stop. The restart after the first safety car on cold tyres was very difficult, I had no grip at all and again in the last part of the race, I had taken everything out of my tyres and they were dropping out, so it was impossible to keep anyone behind me. All said, I think two points is a good outcome because I believe we are faster than a couple of the cars who finished ahead of us today, so from a championship perspective, it’s looks okay. It was an exciting race today thanks to the new rules."

Kazuki Nakajima
"I had a quite a big accident on lap 17 when I ran wide at turn four and I hit the kerb, which unsettled the car and then I lost the rear. It was quite a fast impact, but I had a precautionary check in the medical centre, everything is fine and physically I am okay, but of course the outcome - my retirement - hurts! The race was really enjoyable, we had a good pace, good fuel and good tyres, so I have to keep all the positives in mind and take these forward to Malaysia next weekend."

Sam Michael, Technical Director
"We showed encouraging pace in today’s race and when the car was in clear traffic, we were as quick as anyone and Nico recorded the fastest lap of the race and did a good job. But we made too many mistakes as a team today and we will be looking to make a better job of what the car offers at the next race in Malaysia. Congratulations to Ross Brawn, Jenson and their team for an impressive result, we will try our best not to let them make a habit of it!"

Willy Rampf, Head of Engineering
"This was a turbulent start to the season, particularly for our team. Nick lost his chances in the race immediately after the start following a crash, which was not his fault. Robert was even unluckier. First he was catching the leading cars. And then, just a few laps from the end, he was able to attack the frontrunners. Because of our tyre choice, Robert was on the harder compound on the last stint, unlike his competitors on the soft. At this stage our car was much quicker than the two leading ones. When Robert overtook Sebastian Vettel he was already in front when Sebastian touched him. This cost us second place or even the victory."

Toro Rosso Ferrari - Australian GP - Race

As the only rookie in the field this year, there was a lot of pressure on Sebastien Buemi ahead of his first Grand Prix start this afternoon in Melbourne. The Swiss racer put in a great performance over the 58-lap to finish in eighth position and take home a well deserved championship point. Team-mate Sebastien Bourdais had a harder time of things but still took the chequered flag in ninth position in the second STR4.

Because Jarno Trulli received a penalty after the race Buemi and Bourdais each move up one place to seventh and eighth respectively, which means Toro Rosso's points tally from this race is three points.

Sebastien Buemi
“First race first point, so I’m very happy. Maybe we had a bit of luck with the accidents, but even without that we were not too bad and our strategy worked well and I am very happy with the way my race went. I made a mistake when I was alongside Massa, hitting the limiter button, but when he put the KERS on you could really see the advantage it brings. I am pleased with what happened today because to get a point in the bag at the first race takes some pressure off. The team did a fantastic job considering that we have not had much testing time with the car before coming here. It’s a dream really and not the result I expected on Friday. It shows we have a good potential.”

Sebastien Bourdais
“I had a very tough first part, as after just three laps, the Option tyres were graining.
Several cars passed me so the team called me in and the second stint was not too bad. When the Safety Car came out, it was clear we had to fuel to finish. A few more Safety Cars would therefore have helped as I did a final stint of 36 laps and in the early part the car felt a bit like a caravan with all that fuel weight on board. I had a very big moment where I was lucky not to crash and then I had a seat belt come loose and I had to find a way of locking myself into position in the car. I think we should be a bit stronger in Malaysia next weekend.”

Franz Tost
“Buemi, first race one point: it’s the start of a good career, as scoring a point on one’s debut shows the driver is talented and it’s thanks to Red Bull that he is in our driver pool. He qualified well and with a bit of luck he might have made it to Q2, so we’ll be aiming for that in Malaysia. He was up to tenth after one lap and raced without making mistakes, defending his position, having an interesting fight with Rosberg. He is on the right path and I think we have a really good driver in our line up.”

Force India Mercedes - Australian GP - Race

Force India Mercedes achieved its early season objective of a double race finish, securing two top 12 finishes in the Australian Grand Prix.

After a thrilling and unpredictable race Adrian Sutil finished in 10th position with Giancarlo Fisichella 12th, marking the team's best result since its 2008 debut.

For the second consecutive year Albert Park's first corner yielded a chaotic start, this time to the misfortune of Sutil, who lost part of his front wing and was forced to pit. Dropped to the rear of the field, he nevertheless drove a measured, consistent race and kept clear of the numerous accidents to claim his best result in over a year.

Fisichella meanwhile demonstrated the much improved pace of the VJM02 and by lap 12 was in a points-scoring position. When the first safety car was deployed the Italian veteran had graduated to fourth position, however a mistake on entering the pitlane cost him crucial seconds and he rejoined in 14th position.

Undeterred, Fisichella pushed until the end and, like his team-mate, recorded very competitive lap times right to the finish of the race.

The team was later awarded ninth and 11th positions following the Stewards of the Meeting's decision to hand Jarno Trulli a 25-second penalty for overtaking under the final safety car period of the race. The decision demoted Trulli to 12th position, thereby moving Adrian Sutil to 9th and Giancarlo Fisichella to 11th overall.

Adrian Sutil
"As expected we got a very exciting race! I had a good start, but in the first corner I think Webber slowed down and there was nowhere I could go. I damaged my front wing and had to get the car back to the pits. I lost some time behind Heidfeld's BMW: I was faster but there was no way I could get through. After the first safety car everything was fine - we had a good strategy with a short stint on the soft tyres in the middle. On the restart I could get past a few cars and then on the hard tyre it went really well. I could finish in 10th position - I think we can be happy with this."

Giancarlo Fisichella
"I'm very disappointed with the mistake I made in the pit stop. I was just confused with last year as we were always in the last slot in the pitlane, so I just overshot and had to be pulled back into the pits. I'm really sad about this as I think we could have got a good result. We can take some positives away from this race though - we were able to fight with the others and the car felt good over the race. I'm really looking forward to Malaysia now."

Dr Vijay Mallya, Chairman and Team Principal
"I am absolutely delighted with the result we have achieved here today. The decision makes today's result even better - Force India's best result to date! I hope that we can repeat, or better, this in Malaysia. Considering the relatively late debut of the VJM02 and the changes we have implemented over the winter, getting two cars to the finish is a fantastic achievement. Both drivers had overall excellent races and showed that we have made improvements to both the pace and the balance of the car this year. Given our objective was just to finish this race, to do so with both cars in the top 12 is well beyond our expectations. It's a good foundation for this year."

Brawn GP wins dramatic 1-2 victory

After the excitement and drama of qualifying, the 58-lap Australian Grand Prix lived up to all expectations as Jenson Button recorded his second career victory and the first for the brand new Brawn Mercedes team.

Out of the ashes of the Honda team, Brawn GP stunned its rivals as soon as they took to the tests tracks in Spain for pre-season testing. The form continued into practice and the team aced the front row in qualifying in Melbourne. Race day saw Button make a perfect start to lead the first lap by five seconds as Rubens Barrichello slipped down the field as his anti-stall device kicked in.

As the drama played out in the closing stages, Rubens Barrichello inherited second position to make it a famous Brawn GP one-two result.

While Button was rarely troubled at the front of the field, the battle for second position looked set to go down to the wire a Sebastian Vettel defended his position from the charging Robert Kubica. A small error from the Red Bull Renault driver at the first turn saw the German racer lose momentum allowing Kubica’s BMW Sauber alongside heading into turn three.

Vettel, obviously keen to retain the position was not going to give in without a fight but then went in too deep eliminating himself and Kubica within sight of the chequered flag. This allowed the recovering Barrichello through into second position for a dream Brawn Mercedes result and cost Red Bull Renault at least six valuable championship points.

Following the disappointment post-qualifying yesterday, Jarno Trulli put in a great drive from the pit lane to finish third in his Toyota, while team-mate Glock took the chequered flag in fifth position after a long battle with double world champion Fernando Alonso. The TF109 has proven rapid all weekend and the points haul is a fitting reward for a team that has made so much progress.

Lewis Hamilton started the 58-lap race from 18th position following his gearbox issues in qualifying and made great progress on the option tyre in the opening laps. As Ferrari, Vettel and Kubica slipped up the 2008 race winner and defending champion found himself in a sensational fourth position at the flag.

McLaren Mercedes may not have a great package as yet with the MP4-24, but Hamilton today proved himself yet again with an impressive drive on a day few thought a top ten let alone points could be possible.

Fernando Alonso finished in sixth position after a quiet day by his very high standards. Indeed it was Nelson Piquet who led the way for the Renault team for much of the race before locking his brakes and spinning into retirement following the first safety car period, a real shame for the under pressure Brazilian racer.
Nico Rosberg could well have finished in second position in his Williams Toyota but a slow pitstop and then a mechanical problem with the FW31 in the closing stages saw him drop down to seventh position at the chequered flag. Team-mate Kazuki Nakajima ran well in the points in the early stages before clipping the kerbs exiting turn four and spinning his Williams into the left hand side retaining wall.

Nakajima‘s moment played nicely into the hands of the Ferrari team as the safety car was deployed his accident. Staring fifth and sixth, Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen opted to complete the first stint on the super-soft option tyre.

Following early pitstops, the safety car closed up the field and it looked for a time that both Massa and Raikkonen were back in contention for a podium position. However it was not to be for the famous Italian team as Massa slowed with a mechanical problem late in the race and was forced to retire while Raikkonen dropped his F60 and made contact with the retaining wall. Following his third stop Raikkonen ran at the back until the final safety car and then parked the car.

While it was a tale of woes for Ferrari, rookie Toro Rosso driver Sebastien Buemi had a fantastic debut for the Ferrari-powered team. Buemi battled hard with Alonso for much of the race and didn’t put a wheel wrong as he defended his position. It is fitting that the Swiss racer earned a championship point with eighth position on his debut.

Sebastien Bourdais finished ninth in the second Toro Rosso ahead of Adrian Sutil in the leading Force India. Nick Heidfeld was forced to pit at the end of the first lap with a cut tyre courtesy of Mark Webber and Rubens Barrichello making contact at the very first turn.

The slow starting Barrichello slipped down the order on the run to the first turn only to find Webber’s Red Bull alongside. In something of a 50-50 incident, the Australian turned in on Barrichello and contact was made.

Heidfeld, running on the outside was caught in the incident and could never recover the lost ground as he finished in 11th position. Heikki Kovalainen was also caught up in the incident and was forced to retire his McLaren at the end of the first lap with front left wheel and suspension damage. Webber soldiered on in his RB5 to finish a lapped 13th behind Giancarlo Fisichella in the second VJM02.

There’s a new order in Formula One and now only a short pause in the action as the team’s head to Sepang for the Malaysian Grand Prix next weekend.

Overtaking still remains difficult

The jury is out as to whether overtaking will be in more abundant supply in 2009. Sweeping new regulations, affecting the bodywork, tyres and the introduction of power-boost Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems, are designed to make it easier for following cars to pass their rivals.

"I was behind some cars yesterday and I flew by them, something I have never experienced before in my F1 career," Nico Rosberg told the Age newspaper on Saturday.

"If it happens at Albert Park, it'll certainly happen at other tracks," the German said in Melbourne.

Front row sitter Rubens Barrichello believes Australia could be a fascinating race of overtaking, given that some cars are fitted with KERS, but most are not.

"Plus, the wings help. They don't fix the problem but (also) the moveable wings help, so that could help overtaking too," the Brawn Mercedes driver said.

Sebastian Vettel points out that, even with the new measures, formula one is not going to resemble MotoGP or NASCAR in terms of those series' abundance of overtaking moves.

"I think it still remains difficult," the German said. "It's already difficult to pass another car in Formula 3 because of the downforce. Well, in formula one I think the cars have a bit more downforce than that.”

"In testing, it wasn't the case that you follow another car and if you're faster you just pass. You still feel that you lose grip all around.”

"How tough (will overtaking be)? That needs to be answered in the next races," Vettel added.

Williams submitted protests against Ferrari and Red Bull

Hot on the heels of the news that Toyota had been excluded from the Australian Grand Prix qualifying session and moved to the back of the field for Sunday’s race, was news that Williams Toyota had filed a protest against both Red Bull Renault and Ferrari.

After hours of deliberation the team withdrew the protest ‘in the interests of the sport’ and the grid for the season-opening event is now finally set.

Williams had reportedly filed a protest against it rivals in relationship to the aerodynamics of the sidepods.

"The AT&T Williams team confirmed that following today’s qualifying session, it submitted protests against two competitor teams under the 2009 Technical Regulations," a statement from the Grove-based squad began.

"After further detailed consideration, Williams has withdrawn both protests in the interests of the sport. Williams recognises the possibility that in this area there could be more than one interpretation of the rules and therefore does not feel it appropriate to continue with the protests,” the team concluded.

After the drama of qualifying in which no less than six of the top ten runners could have been disqualified, the race proper gets underway late tomorrow afternoon in Melbourne.