Jenson Button : Brawn GP - MercedesSEPANG, Malaysia : April 05, 2009 - Jenson Button (Brawn-Mercedes) won a chaotic Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday for a second straight victory after the race was abandoned when a ferocious storm lashed the Sepang circuit.
Race director Charlie Whiting red-flagged the race after a torrential thunderstorm rendered the race too dangerous to continue.
Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello (Mercedes-Mercedes) had taken the lead at half distance in a repeat of their Australian GP finishing positions before numerous pit stops for tyre changes scrambled the top order, but Button was secure in first place.
Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber was declared the second finisher in a result determined by the scorers, with the lat podium place being taken by Timo Glock (Toyota).
Jarno Trulli (Toyota) was fourth, followed by Rubens Barrichello (Brawn-Mercedes), with Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) and reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton next.
For the second race in a row, neither Ferrari driver scored a point.
Nico Rosberg (Williams-Toyota) made a storming start at the start of the race at Sepang take the lead from pole man Button.
Button had to run wide in the first tight right-hander in order not to tangle with Rosberg under braking, and this allowed Jarno Trulli (Toyota) to sneak past into second. He was followed by Fernando Alonso (Renault) who forced Button down to fourth.
Heikki Kovalainen made an unforced error and ran off the track, beaching his McLaren-Mercedes in the gravel as thunderclouds gathered overhead.
Button got up the inside of Alonso to regain third place, while team mate Rubens Barrichello moved up close behind the former world champion.
At the end of the first lap, the running order was Rosberg, Trulli, Button, Alonso, Barrichello, Kimi Ra"ikko"nen (Ferrari), Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault), Timo Glock (Toyota), Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) and reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes).
Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) crossed the line with his engine sounding off song. All the cars at Malaysia had elected to start with new engines, except for McLaren whose Mercedes engines were on their second race after Australia.
On the next lap, Kubica parked the car as its BMW engine expired.
Sebastien Buemi returned to the pits for a new front wing on his Toro Rosso-Ferrari, while Barrichello got past Alonso, but the Spaniard took the place back again. The Brazilian got into the slipstream down the long back straight and scythed up the inside at the hairpin to claim the place firmly, with Ra"ikko"nen closing up too.
Third-placed Button set a fastest lap of 1'38.217, but race leader Rosberg responded with a 1'38.041.
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault), running a light fuel load, got past Hamilton for eleventh place and then Heidfeld ran wide and both Vettel and Hamilton got past him before he could recover.
As fuel loads dropped, so did the fastest lap as all the front runners took turns to claim the top time: Trulli posted a 1'37.887 and Rosberg responded with a 1'37.660 and Button went better with a 1'37.579.
Ra"ikko"nen got past Alonso into fifth with Webber and Vettel very close behind as Button closed down the 3.3 sec gap to Trulli with a 1'37.555.
Lap 10 Positions:
1 Rosberg, Nico Williams-Toyota
2 Trulli, Jarno Toyota +3.2
3 Button, Jenson Brawn-Mercedes +6.1
4 Barrichello, Rubens Brawn-Mercedes +7.8
5 Ra"ikko"nen, Kimi Ferrari +28.0
6 Webber, Mark Red Bull-Renault +31.3
7 Alonso, Fernando Renault +37.1
8 Hamilton, Lewis McLaren-Mercedes +39.7
9 Glock, Timo Toyota +41.3
10 Heidfeld, Nick BMW Sauber +43.6
11 Massa, Felipe Ferrari +44.5
12 Piquet, Nelson Renault +47.3
13 Nakajima, Kazuki Williams-Toyota +48.5
14 Bourdais, Se'bastien Toro Rosso-Ferrari +49.3
15 Fisichella, Giancarlo Force India-Mercedes +51.5
16 Sutil, Adrian Force India-Mercedes +65.6
17 Vettel, Sebastian Red Bull-Renault +66.4
18 Buemi, Sebastien Toro Rosso-Ferrari +91.4
The Brawns were coming into their own as their fuel loads burned off, with Barrichello and then Button setting fastest lap times, the latest being 1'36.641 from the Briton.
On lap 18, light rain began to fall as the cars began to make their first stops for fuel. Button took the lead and again punched in a fastest lap of 1'36.641 before making his pit stop. His stop was quick and efficient and he rejoined the race well in the lead with a 4.6 cushion over Rosberg.
Ferrari chose to put wet tyres onto Ra"ikko"nen's car but it was a tactical error as he was lapping 19 seconds slower than Button, dropping from fifth to 19th!
As the rain began to fall, Alonso went off, but managed to keep the car going and get out of the gravel trap.
Lap 20 Positions:
1 Button, Jenson Brawn-Mercedes
2 Rosberg, Nico Williams-Toyota
3 Trulli, Jarno Toyota
4 Barrichello, Rubens Brawn-Mercedes
5 Alonso, Fernando Renault
6 Hamilton, Lewis McLaren-Mercedes
7 Heidfeld, Nick BMW Sauber
8 Massa, Felipe Ferrari
9 Piquet, Nelson Renault
10 Webber, Mark Red Bull-Renault
11 Nakajima, Kazuki Williams-Toyota
12 Glock, Timo Toyota
13 Vettel, Sebastian Red Bull-Renault
14 Ra"ikko"nen, Kimi Ferrari
14 Buemi, Sebastien Toro Rosso-Ferrari
16 Bourdais, Se'bastien Toro Rosso-Ferrari
17 Fisichella, Giancarlo Force India-Mercedes
18 Sutil, Adrian Force India-Mercedes
On lap 22, all the cars streamed into the pits to change to wet-weather tyres.
There was a great dice between Hamilton and Webber for sixth place, with the position changing twice each lap, but eventually being decided in favour of the Australian. Webber then closed on Heidfeld down the back straight and as they got to the hairpin, Heidfeld moved to close the inside of the corner, and Webber then drove around the German on the outside to take fifth place. Webber's Red Bull-Renault team mate Vettel was also having a good stint, taking Kazuki Nakajima (Williams-Toyota) for 13th place.
Meanwhile back at the front, Barrichello joined battle with Trulli and took the place to place Brawn into first and second place.
On Lap 28, the rain increased and many drivers went into the pits for a change from full wets to intermediates.
Glock had been having a good run and briefly took the lead as Button pitted. He elected to go onto full wets.
Vettel spun off the track as lightning crashed all around the circuit. The Red Bull was stuck in the gravel and Vettel would have no points from this race either after failing to finish in Australia.
With conditions worsening, the safety car was deployed. Before the cars could form up behind the safety car, Race Director Charlie Whiting red-flagged the race and the cars returned to the grid to wait for a possible restart.
Lap 32 Positions - On the Grid
1 Button, Jenson Brawn-Mercedes
2 Glock, Timo Toyota
3 Heidfeld, Nick BMW Sauber
4 Trulli, Jarno Toyota
5 Barrichello, Rubens Brawn-Mercedes
6 Hamilton, Lewis McLaren-Mercedes
7 Rosberg, Nico Williams-Toyota
8 Webber, Mark Red Bull-Renault
9 Massa, Felipe Ferrari
10 Bourdais, Se'bastien Toro Rosso-Ferrari
11 Piquet, Nelson Renault
12 Alonso, Fernando Renault
13 Nakajima, Kazuki Williams-Toyota
14 Ra"ikko"nen, Kimi Ferrari
15 Sutil, Adrian Force India-Mercedes
16 Vettel, Sebastian Red Bull-Renault
17 Buemi, Sebastien Toro Rosso-Ferrari
18 Fisichella, Giancarlo Force India-Mercedes
As everyone waited for a change in the conditions, the light began to fail and with the Malaysian race taking place in the evening, even if the rain did clear, there were fears that it may be too dark to race safely. The sporting regulations for Formula One also state that there is a two-hour cut-off for any grand prix, so as the clock ticked on, the end of the race approached whether the cars were going to restart or not. With less than 75% of the race completed, half points would be awarded to the top eight cars.
Ra"ikko"nen was the only driver to be in the pits instead of on the grid. His Ferrari was parked in the garage and while the other drivers were all still in their racing overalls and some wearing helmets, Ra"ikko"nen was in T-shirt and slip-slops, strolling around the garage eating an ice cream.
With the rain lessening significantly, activity resumed on the grid again as some drivers got back into their cars again. Organisers had indicated that all the cars except the leading trio (Button, Glock and Heidfeld) would set off behind the safety car in order to unlap themselves and rejoin on the same lap behind the leaders.
Finally race control announced that the race would not be restarted and Jenson Button had scored an amazing second win in a row in Brawn's first two races.
The race results were calculated back to the positions in which the cars had crossed the line after lap 31.
2009 F1 : Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix Race result
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Time | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 22 | Button, Jenson | Brawn-Mercedes | Winner | 10 |
2 | 6 | Heidfeld, Nick | BMW Sauber | +0.8 | +22.7 |
3 | 10 | Glock, Timo | Toyota | +1.6 | +23.5 |
4 | 9 | Trulli, Jarno | Toyota | +2.9 | +46.1 |
5 | 23 | Barrichello, Rubens | Brawn-Mercedes | +4.4 | +47.3 |
6 | 14 | Webber, Mark | Red Bull-Renault | +4.8 | +52.3 |
7 | 1 | Hamilton, Lewis | McLaren-Mercedes | +5.7 | +60.7 |
8 | 16 | Rosberg, Nico | Williams-Toyota | +6.0 | +71.5 |
9 | 3 | Massa, Felipe | Ferrari | +6.2 | +76.9 |
10 | 11 | Bourdais, Sébastien | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | +6.3 | - |
11 | 7 | Alonso, Fernando | Renault | +7.0 | - |
12 | 17 | Nakajima, Kazuki | Williams-Toyota | +7.3 | - |
13 | 8 | Piquet, Nelson | Renault | +1 Lap | - |
14 | 4 | Räikkönen, Kimi | Ferrari | +2 Laps | - |
15 | 15 | Vettel, Sebastian | Red Bull-Renault | +3 Laps | +1 lap |
16 | 12 | Buemi, Sebastien | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | +3 Laps | +1 lap |
Ret | 20 | Sutil, Adrian | Force India-Mercedes | +13Laps | +1 lap |
Ret | 21 | Fisichella, Giancarlo | Force India-Mercedes | +34Laps | +2 laps |
Ret | 5 | Kubica, Robert | BMW Sauber | +41Laps | DNF |
Ret | 2 | Kovalainen, Heikki | McLaren-Mercedes | +58Laps | DNF |
Driver Championship Standings :
Pos | Driver | Nationality | Team | Points |
| 1 | Jenson Button | British | Brawn-Mercedes | 15 |
| 2 | Rubens Barrichello | Brazilian | Brawn-Mercedes | 10 |
| 3 | Jarno Trulli | Italian | Toyota | 8.5 |
| 4 | Timo Glock | German | Toyota | 8 |
| 5 | Nick Heidfeld | German | BMW Sauber | 4 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | Spanish | Renault | 4 |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | German | Williams-Toyota | 3.5 |
| 8 | Sebastien Buemi | Swiss | STR-Ferrari | 2 |
| 9 | Mark Webber | Australian | RBR-Renault | 1.5 |
| 10 | Lewis Hamilton | British | McLaren-Mercedes | 1 |
| 11 | Sebastien Bourdais | French | STR-Ferrari | 1 |
| 12 | Adrian Sutil | German | Force India-Mercedes | 0 |
| 13 | Felipe Massa | Brazilian | Ferrari | 0 |
| 14 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Italian | Force India-Mercedes | 0 |
| 15 | Kazuki Nakajima | Japanese | Williams-Toyota | 0 |
| 16 | Sebastian Vettel | German | RBR-Renault | 0 |
| 17 | Nelsinho Piquet | Brazilian | Renault | 0 |
| 18 | Kimi Räikkönen | Finnish | Ferrari | 0 |
| 19 | Robert Kubica | Polish | BMW Sauber | 0 |
| 20 | Heikki Kovalainen | Finnish | McLaren-Mercedes | 0 |
Constructor Championship Standings :
Pos | Team | Points |
| 1 | Brawn-Mercedes | 25 |
| 2 | Toyota | 16.5 |
| 3 | BMW Sauber | 4 |
| 4 | Renault | 4 |
| 5 | Williams-Toyota | 3.5 |
| 6 | STR-Ferrari | 3 |
| 7 | RBR-Renault | 1.5 |
| 8 | McLaren-Mercedes | 1 |
| 9 | Force India-Mercedes | 0 |
| 10 | Ferrari | 0 |
* Half points were scored in the Malaysian GP.
[Source : SuperWheels, Brawn GP]
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