Although many have complained (regarding the new regulations), the 2009 F1 Championship started this weekend. And it did with a huge bang, as a team that closed down last Christmas won the Australian GP. For Ross Brawn, his team and drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello the first race of the season in Melbourne was a dream start which has thrown the remainder of the 2009 season wide open. The big boys are scurrying around for answers, while there are many out there who believe that Ross Brawn has found a little secret to success that no one knows about.

1. J.BUTTON 10
2. R.BARRICHELLO 8
3. L.HAMILTON 6
4. T.GLOCK 5
5. F.ALONSO 4
6. N.ROSBERG 3
7. S.BUEMI 2
8. S.BOURDAIS 1

Looks likea  good year, isn’t it?

[via F1-Live]

Lewis Hamilton managed to lead from start to the end, in a race that only eight drivers managed to finish.  “Coming into a new season, turning over a new leaf, we really wanted to get off on the right foot” he said right after. The race was a catastrophe for Ferrari. Massa had an accident with Coulthard and retired during the 26th lap while Raikkonen suffered an engine failure, but still ranked 8th place and got 1 pt. Barrichello managed to get himself disqualified for exiting the pit lane while the red flag was waved.

Here are the official results of the 2008 Australian Grand Prix

1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1:34:50.616
2. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber +00:05.478
3. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams – Toyota 00:08.163
4. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 00:17.181
5. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) McLaren 00:18.014
6. Kazuki Nakajima (Japan) Williams – Toyota 1 lap
7r. Sebastien Bourdais (France) Toro Rosso – Ferrari 3 laps
8r. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 5 laps
r. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber 11 laps
r. Timo Glock (Germany) Toyota 15 laps
r. Takuma Sato (Japan) Super Aguri – Honda 26 laps
r. Nelsinho Piquet (Brazil) Renault 28 laps
r. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 29 laps
r. David Coulthard (Britain) RedBull – Renault 33 laps
r. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 39 laps
r. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India – Ferrari 50 laps
r. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull – Renault 56 laps
r. Jenson Button (Britain) Honda 57 laps
r. Anthony Davidson (Britain) Super Aguri – Honda 57 laps
r. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Toro Rosso – Ferrari 58 laps
r. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Force India – Ferrari 58 laps
DSQ Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Honda +00:52.453

note: r = retired, dsq = disqualified

photo by The_Eternity