Formula One news
Button takes second pole for Brawn
04 April 2009 / Results / PhotosJenson Button has cruised to his second pole in a week at Sepang. With expected rain failing to fall, the English driver made the most of the Brawn car's performance to update his 100% qualifying sucess record for 2009 so far. An unusual grid follows, with both McLarens eliminated in the second phase of qualifying, and Felipe Massa's Ferrari sixteenth on the grid.
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| Rain threatened at Sepang, but did no more than that |
Button's fastest time of 1.35.181 in the final phase of the session put him ahead of Jarno Trulli's Toyota by less than a tenth of a second; the pair are looking to continue their duel after a spirited battle for victory in the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix. Joining them in the post-session press conference was Sebastian Vettel, although the Red Bull driver will be dropped by ten places on the grid for his part in the race-ending accident with Robert Kubica in Melbourne. Rubens Barrichello confirmed the fakery of the second row by finishing the day fourth - the Brazilian takes a drop of five places for changing a gearbox yesterday.
Timo Glock will therefore make it two Toyotas in the top three, with the Williams-Toyota of Nico Rosberg lining up in fourth position. Mark Webber is next up for Red Bull Racing, and could have been in more contention had he not locked up and run slightly wide at the final corner. Robert Kubica's BMW is due to start the Grand Prix in sixth position having qualified eighth, also due to the penalties. Kimi Räikkönen was the leading Ferrari in seventh with Fernando Alonso - still with an ear infection - being the last man to benefit from the Barrichello penalty, moving into eighth. Barrichello, having almost stalled in Australia, will once again be given the challenge of fighting through the field from ninth as Nick Heidfeld rounds out the top ten; as the German did not make it into the final part of qualifying (but starts tenth due to Vettel's penalty), he could find himself with a useful advantage as he will be able to refuel his car if he wishes to before the start of the race.
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| The leading Ferrari of Räikkönen starts in seventh place |
Kazuki Nakajima's Williams begins the Grand Prix in eleventh position, and could also be one to watch in the race as the FW31 has been quick in practice. Lewis Hamilton, on a difficult weekend for McLaren, missed the cut for the final part of the session but is promoted to twelfth as Vettel drops from third to thirteenth. The second McLaren of Kovalainen is in fourteenth position, with Sébastien Bourdais - who stressed to the team over the radio that he would 'try his best' - fifteenth.
Eliminated in only the first segment of qualifying, Felipe Massa and Ferrari appeared to have felt comfortable with their lap time before finding themselves out. Nelson Piquet's Renault will start on the ninth row ahead of the first Force India of Fisichella. Team-mate Adrian Sutil is nineteenth on the grid ahead of rookie Sébastien Buemi who, looking to easily qualify for round two in the Toro Rosso, went off the track at Turn 11.
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| Button was delighted with his fifth Formula One pole position |
With the rain still yet to make an appearance this weekend, starting tomorrow's Grand Prix at 5pm local time (GMT+8) still means there is a high chance. Visibility is also likely to deteriorate throughout the race as the sun sets in Malaysia at 7:20pm, meaning any delays to the race could see the drivers struggling to hit apexes in the final third of the Grand Prix.
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