The newly-founded Brawn GP F1 team – raised from the ashes of Honda – was taken by Button and Barrichello to first and second places in the Melbourne circuit. Button led the race from the off, and drove the new car well and without incident to the finish. He wasn’t severly challenged at any point – given a combination of tactics, car and expert driving – until the last few laps of the race, when Kubica and Vettel were closing fast thanks to good tyre choice on their part. So then – luckily or unluckily depending on your perspective – those two crashed and took each other out, leaving the Brawn pair to drive out the race under the safety car.
So a fairly eventful start to the season really. Hamilton, who started last on the grid, eventually came in 3rd after Trulli was hit with a time penalty for overtaking under the safety car.
