What a nice suprise, Nico Rosberg fastest in BOTH sessions, the Brawn cars look quick but the McLaren's are well shit, Lewis Hamilton only managing 16th in the first session and 18th in the second, on this form, he'll be lucky to qualify in the top 15

MORNING SESSION
1. Nico Rosberg - Williams Toyota ................ 1:26.687
2. Kazuki Nakajima - Williams Toyota ................ + 0.049
3. Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari ................ + 0.063
4. Rubens Barrichello - Brawn Mercedes ................ + 0.539
5. Heikki Kovalainen - McLaren Mercedes ................ + 0.766
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6. Jenson Button - Brawn Mercedes ................ + 0.780
16. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren Mercedes ................ + 2.353

AFTERNOON SESSION
1. Nico Rosberg - Williams Toyota ................ 1:26.053
2. Rubens Barrichello - Brawn Mercedes ................ + 0.104
3. Jarno Trulli - Toyota ................ + 0.297
4. Mark Webber - Red Bull Renault ................ + 0.317
5. Jenson Button - Brawn Mercedes ................ + 0.321
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18. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren Mercedes ................ + 1.760

HIGHLIGHTS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport...one/7967239.stm

A fairytale front row lockout for Brawn, disappointment though for Lewis Hamilton demoted to 18th for a gearbox change and controversy as both Toyota cars were disqualified and will both start from the back for a rear wing infringement, there are also protests over the same matter hangign over Ferrari and Red Bull

GRID FOR AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

POLE ROW: 1. Jenson Button (Brawn), 2. Rubens Barrichello (Brawn)
ROW 2: 3. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 4. Robert Kubica (BMW)
ROW 3: 5. Nico Rosberg (Williams), 6. Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
ROW 4: 7. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), 8. Mark Webber (Red Bull)
ROW 5: 9. Nick Heidfeld (BMW), 10. Fernando Alonso (Renault)
ROW 6: 11. Kazuki Nakajima (Williams), 12. Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren)
ROW 7: 13. Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso), 14. Nelson Piquet Jr (Renault)
ROW 8: 15. Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India), 16. Adrian Sutil (Force India
ROW 9: 17. Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso), 18. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
ROW 10: 19. Jarno Trulli (Toyota), 20. Timo Glock (Toyota)

I haven't been following F1 much recently, why are the McLaren's shit and Brawn good, etc?

Its the new aerodynamic regulations, some teams have interpreted the new rules better than others, Brawn and Williams especially as they are the 2 teams that started work on this years cars long before anyone else.

As for McLaren, basically they look like they've got their aerodynamic interpretations totally wrong and as a result, built a pig of a car, its easy to see when you see both their drivers struggling to keep the car on the track. THye've got the resources to turn the situation around but by the time they do, it could be too late for Hamilton to mount a title challenge

So it's still a test of car, not driver?

I personally think Button is a good driver, just has always been on poor cars.

Well thats partially right, there is more power now to the driver with there being no traction control or other driving aids but it is a 50/50 split between driver and car, if you wanted to see the real difference between the cars, try putting Michael Schumacher in a Minardi for one race and see how he did.

As for Button, i've always rated him, apart from his debut year in 2000 and when he finished 3rd in 2004, he's had to put up with 2nd rate cars, at least this time Ross Brawn's overseen the development of this car so its had his full input, infact according to his interview for the BBC, he ordered work to begin on the 2009 car the minute he saw the drawings for Honda's 2008 car back in December 2007! He knew back then the 2008 Honda was a crap car.

Brawn are making progress too, after announcing a sponsorship package with none other than Sir Richard Branson

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport...one/7969435.stm

Some race that was, crashes, plenty of overtaking and overall great entertainment. It finished with a 1-2 finish for button and barrichello, fairytale stuff.
Late controversy though, the 3rd place man Trulli got a 25 second penalty for overtaking under the safety car, this promotes Hamilton to 3rd

My Race Review

http://dazzlamotorsport.blogspot.com/2009/...ale-ending.html