Formula One 2010

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Hamilton reigns in the rain at Silverstone

Lewis Hamilton joined Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa at the top of the formula one drivers' championship after a stunning drive in the wet gave him victory in the British grand prix.

Hamilton, under pressure after failing to score a point in his previous two races, was one of the few drivers to cope with the damp conditions in Northamptonshire. A superb start thrust the British driver from fourth on the grid into second position and he passed his team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, who started on pole, to take the lead as early as lap four.

As havoc ruled around him, Hamilton kept his cool and, despite early pressure from Raikkonen and a scare going across the grass on lap 37, took the chequered flag over a minute ahead of BMW's Nick Heidfeld in second.

"It is by far the best victory I've ever had," said Hamilton. "The conditions were bad and as I was driving I thought, 'If I win this, it will be the best race I've ever done'."

"On my last lap, I could see the crowd starting to rise to their feet, and I was just praying, praying, praying I could get the car round. I want to dedicate this to my family because we all know I've had some troubles of late, so this is for them."

Rubens Barrichello took advantage of Honda's intelligent tyre strategy to take third - his first podium finish in three years - while Raikkonen and Kovalainen picked up points in fourth and fifth. Fernando Alonso, Jarno Trulli and Kazuki Nakajima were also in the points.

"It's fantastic," said Barrichello. "I've never lost the belief I have in me. I've this great feeling. It's like I'm young, I just love the sport. It was obviously a lucky day with the weather, but I love the wet weather conditions. It was a perfect race."

Hamilton joins a list of illustrious British names to win his home race, including Sterling Moss, Jackie Stewart, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill and David Coulthard, the last to triumph in 2000, who failed to complete a lap today.

Hamilton now shares the lead in the drivers' championship, with Massa, who after an eventful race finished out of the points, and Raikkonen all on 48 points. Robert Kubica is two points behind in fourth.

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Team by team analysis of German Grand Prix

HOCKENHEIM, Germany, July 20 (Reuters) - Team by team analysis of Sunday's German Formula One Grand Prix (listed in current championship order):
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FERRARI (Felipe Massa 3, Kimi Raikkonen 6) Ferrari stayed top of the championship but were well off McLaren's pace. Massa slipped to second overall, Raikkonen to third after finishing where he started on the grid.
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BMW-SAUBER (Nick Heidfeld 4, Robert Kubica 7)
Heidfeld led the race and set the fastest lap. He narrowly missed a podium after starting 12th and running a long first stint. The safety car period helped him. Kubica fell further behind in the championship, still fourth overall, after complaining of poor grip from the tyres.
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McLAREN (Lewis Hamilton 1, Heikki Kovalainen 5) Hamilton forged four points clear with his second win in a row, fourth of the season and eighth of his 27-race F1 career. The Briton also started on pole. Kovalainen obligingly let Hamilton go past after the Briton stayed out when others pitted during the safety car period and fell to fifth from first.
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TOYOTA (Jarno Trulli 9, Timo Glock retired) Glock brought out the safety car when he slammed into the wall just after the half distance. He was unhurt but kept in hospital overnight. Trulli started fourth but struggled with balance after the second stop. He lost eighth place to Vettel in the closing laps.
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RED BULL (David Coulthard 13, Mark Webber retired) Webber suffered his first mechanical retirement of the season, his car collecting some debris which damaged the oil cooler and caused engine oil loss. Coulthard collided with Honda's Barrichello.
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RENAULT (Nelson Piquet 2, Fernando Alonso 11) Piquet went from 17th to second, helped by a one-stop strategy and the safety car. It was his first podium in a difficult season. Alonso started fifth but made a bad start and lost several positions.
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WILLIAMS (Nico Rosberg 10, Kazuki Nakajima 15) Rosberg lost a place at the start with a technical problem. Nakajima picked up some debris in the final stint and struggled with understeer.
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HONDA (Jenson Button 17, Rubens Barrichello retired) Barrichello's race ended on lap 50 when he and Coulthard collided. Button lost performance with his second set of tyres.
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TORO ROSSO (Sebastian Vettel 8, Sebastien Bourdais 12) Vettel gained a point in frint of his home crowd, passing Trulli when the Italian made an error. Team boss Franz Tost hailed it as the driver's best race yet. Bourdais was closing on Alonso at the finish.
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FORCE INDIA (Giancarlo Fisichella 14, Adrian Sutil 16) Both cars reached the finish. Fisichella picked up a 25 second penalty for an infringement after entering the pit lane under the safety car.
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Drivers' world championship leader Lewis Hamilton was full of confidence as he sought to complete a hat-trick of victories in Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.

The 23-year-old Englishman secured his second successive pole, his fourth of the season and the 10th of his career in Saturday's qualifying session and planned to make a little history in the race at the tight Hungaroring circuit.

"I am just focussed on the job and not the record book or even the championship at this stage," he said. "It is all about getting it right on the day and then I can see what we did and enjoy it."

If he wins Sunday's race, he will be the first driver to complete a Formula One 'hat-trick' of three wins in a row since the great German Michael Schumacher, who won seven drivers' titles, did so in the European summer of 2006 with wins at the United States, French and German Grands Prix.

"I grew up following him and his career, so I have great respect for him," said Hamilton. "To equal or beat any of his records would be phenomenal, but it is not what I am out to do. I believe I have enough ability to achieve my goals if I work at it and I am not going to worry about what he did or didn't do.

"It is just for me to go out there and deliver the good for my team."

The only current driver to have achieved a hat-trick of wins is Hamilton's erstwhile McLaren Mercedes team-mate two-times champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso when he was with Renault and on the way to his second title in 1996, just prior to Schumacher's treble.

Alonso reeled off wins in Spain, Monaco, Britain and Canada, completing a quadruple - but he was unable to match that level of success and consitency during his single year at McLaren where he suffered as partner to Hamilton in his rookie season last year.

In the build-up to Sunday's race, Alonso referred to his misery at McLaren and suggested that if he had stayed there he might not have done any better this year than he has done during a transitional season back at Renault.

"Last year, again, it is true that I had a possibility to fight for the championship and it was okay," he said. "I knew that this year it was not possible any more, but if I was racing for McLaren now, at this moment, maybe I would be in the same position -- without the possibility to win."

This comment prompted a sharp riposte on Sunday from McLaren team boss Ron Dennis who said: "The proof of the pudding is in the eating. You can go back through the entire history of McLaren, you can talk to any driver that has driven for McLaren and you will not find anyone - save for one - who will not verify that this team always runs on the basis of equality -- and always will."

Dennis said that Finn Heikki Kovalainen, who replaced Alonso this year, would support the claim that McLaren are committed to equality for the drivers.

He said: "What I would say is you can't see any strings leading to Heikki's shoulders and he's an honest guy. He will more than convince anyone who talks to him that this is a team committed to equality."

As this latest spat swirled around the paddock, the future of the sport went under discussion again following a denial by CVC Capital Partners, the company led by Bernie Ecclestone that has a long-term contract to hold and control the commercial rights to Formula One, that it was prepared to sell up.

This followed comments made by Briton Max Mosley, the president of the sport's ruling body, the International Motoring Federation (FIA), suggesting that CVC may consider selling to "a sovereign wealth fund".

Mosley hinted also that Ecclestone, 78, may soon be due to retire or be replaced as the sport's ringmaster.

In a statement, CVC said: "We have no plans to sell our stake in Formula One. We see our investment as long term and we are pleased with its performance to date. The Formula One Group continues to be led by Bernie Ecclestone. There are no plans to replace him and we are delighted with the results of the business under his management."

Mosley's private life - notably his involvement in a notorious sex orgy with prostitutes earlier this year - was also back in the news after one of the female participants denied his claims that he had been 'set up'.

The infamous 'woman E' - as reported during the recent court case to hear Mosley's privacy action against the News of the World - said she and her husband had acted entirely alone in filming the orgy and selling it, according to the Mail on Sunday.

"Nobody from any organisation, including MI5, spoke to either my husband or myself before or after he contacted the newspaper," said the woman, who is named in the newspaper as Michelle.

"It was entirely our decision and the result of a moment of madness. We were in financial difficulties and saw it as a way of clearing our debt in one go..."

Hamilton will hardly care one way or the other as he starts Sunday's race with McLaren team-mate Kovalainen alongside him on the grid. If he wins, he knows he will enlarge his four-points lead ahead of Brazilian Felipe Massa of Ferrari in the title race.

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For Ferrari's Felipe Massa, victory in yesterday's Grand Prix of Europe in the streets of Valencia brought comfort. It numbed the pain of Hungary three Sundays ago when certain victory evaporated in a cloud of engine smoke.

For runner-up Lewis Hamilton, the chequered flag would have signalled relief no matter where he had finished. McLaren had kept the matter quiet, but Hamilton's participation had been a doubt on Saturday morning when he woke up with a serious headache – the result of a neck spasm. The team's reserve driver, Pedro de la Rosa, was on standby but Hamilton was declared fit and continues to lead the world championship by six points with Massa now his closest threat.

Massa made a clean start from pole and was only headed, briefly, during the routine pit-stop cycles. "I have made some great starts this season," Massa said, "and this was another. I braked a little bit early for Turn Two, perhaps, because I was keeping an eye on the cars fighting behind, but everything felt fine. I knew Lewis was there, but I was pulling away by a couple of tenths every lap. The first stint was nothing special, really, but in the second stint the car felt perfect. That won us the race."

Suffering from feverish symptoms before he arrived, Hamilton attributed his neck spasm to sleeping at an awkward angle. He woke at 5am on Saturday and was given an intensive pain-killing course.

"We initially decided to reduce his workload," McLaren team principal Ron Dennis said, "but after a couple of laps he felt OK and so resumed his normal programme. Racing drivers have phenomenal neck muscles, so a spasm isn't like it would be for you or I – it puts real pressure on one side of the spine."

Hamilton's pace masked his discomfort, but he was never fast enough to offer more than a token challenge to Massa. A wheel nut fumble cost the Englishman a little time during his first stop – a sign of growing tension in the F1 title fight. "This was definitely a pressure race," Dennis said, "and I think it got to both teams." Hamilton's incident cost him perhaps half a second, but it was a trifling matter compared to events in the Ferrari pit.

Stewards launched an investigation after Massa's second stop because it was felt the Brazilian had rejoined the race "in an unsafe manner". Massa all but collided with the lapped Force India of Adrian Sutil, which was leaving the pits just ahead. "We've seen these things happen many times," Massa said, "with two cars going side-by-side down the pit lane, so I would be really surprised to get a penalty because it's just racing."

Officials begged to differ, reprimanding Ferrari with a fine of €10,000 (£7,985), but that was less costly than the 25 seconds he could have been docked. "We wouldn't have wanted to win the race that way," Dennis said.

Six laps later Massa's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen made his second stop and attempted to rejoin with the fuel hose still attached. Refueller Pietro Timpini was sent sprawling. He suffered no serious injury but was taken to hospital for a check-up. The incident bumped Raikkonen from fifth to sixth before his engine expired with a smoky flourish, much as Massa's had in Budapest.

Hamilton admitted he felt "sore" at the end of a race during which his neck had been exposed to G-forces of about 3g – approximately three times that of his bodyweight – but still well short of the 4.5g a grand prix car can generate. "Given that I could barely stand up on Saturday, I feel pretty good," he said.

The partisan audience booed Hamilton loudly before the start – a consequence of his 2007 spats with former team-mate and Spanish national treasure Fernando Alonso.

The pro-Alonso cheers were soon muted as the Renault driver retired at the end of the opening lap, the rear end of his car seriously skewed by a punt from Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima.

BMW Sauber driver Robert Kubica overcame an opening-lap scare when a plastic bag jammed beneath his car and deprived him of any control over the steering for a couple of corners, to take third place ahead of Hamilton's team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, Toyota's Jarno Trulli and the impressive Toro Rosso driver, German Sebastian Vettel.

The first F1 race in Valencia was expected to be a riot of safety car interruptions, but it turned out to be a relatively quiet afternoon that showcased Massa's title credentials.

It took until lap 42 of the race for one of the drivers, Sutil, to make solid contact with a wall. The only other impact of note happened in practice, when Renault's Nelson Piquet clipped a seagull.

Ferrari find 5mph bonus
The decisive factor in Felipe Massa’s victory over Lewis Hamilton of McLaren was the Ferrari’s straight-line speed. The cars proved evenly matched in terms of acceleration and braking, but at the end of the longest straight the Ferrari was up to 5mph faster. Why? Data from the track suggests that Ferrari have much more efficient aerodynamics at high speed.

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Felipe Massa came second with Nick Heidfeld in the BWM Sauber third.

Hamilton now leads the drivers championship by eight points from Massa who Ferrari now must promote as their leading driver after reigning champion Raikkonen failed to score points.

The Finn is now 23 points adrift and seemingly with little chance of successfully defending his crown.

Raikkonen had led for much of the race until championship leader Hamilton reeled him in on with just a single lap to spare.

Managing the surface water much better than his opponent, Hamilton cut a tight corner to go ahead before Raikkonen immediately wrestled back his lead.

However, moments later Hamilton took advantage of a slight loss of control from the Ferrari and established a lead he was not to relinquish.

Raikkonen's crash was greeted with delight from the McLaren team as it confirmed Hamilton's fifth win of the championship and strengthened his claim on the drivers title in only his second year in Formula One.

"The heavens opened and I saw Kimi begin to back off earlier than he had done," Hamilton said.

"It was incredibly tough. It was an experience and a half.

"After the second pit stop he was so far ahead, so I pushed and pushed to close up. I was just praying for rain. I wanted it to come because I knew it would help.

"You probably saw when I went into turn 12, I went wide and nearly crashed into (Nico) Rosberg.

"I went over the grass, then Kimi spun, went into the wall, and from then it was pretty straightforward.

"I'm stoked to have won one of the most exciting races of my career. It was great.

"We will now keep on pushing for the next few races, but also keep out feet on the ground."

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The 'Don't Cha' singers - who are set to go on the road to showcase their new album 'Doll Domination' - would love the Formula 1 driver, who is currently dating Nicole Scherzinger, to join them.

Melody Thornton said: "There is always room for him on the tour bus. He is a very sweet and good person."

Nicole, who began romancing Lewis after the pair met at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Germany in February, revealed she is smitten with the 23-year-old driver but admits it is difficult to date a fellow celebrity.

She told Britain's Daily Mail newspaper: "The attention we get isn't important to me. As long as my boyfriend and I are happy that is all I care about. And we are truly happy."

"It is hard to have a relationship in this industry, so we are taking things one step at a time and living moment to moment. As long as the other girls are OK about it, I hope he will come on tour with us."

Earlier this month, 30-year-old Nicole confessed her boyfriend's fast driving "terrifies" her.

She said: "I'm actually terrified when he takes me on a drive. Especially through the canyons in Los Angeles. Wow! He's at one with his car - let's just say that!"

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Renault's Fernando Alonso wins first F1 night race

Two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso of Renault won the Singapore Grand Prix, the first night race in F1.

The Spaniard started 15th on the grid Sunday and posted his 20th Grand Prix victory. He finished ahead of Williams' Nico Rosberg and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton extended his championship lead to seven points.

Felipe Massa of Ferrari started from the pole and was undone by a pit stop in which he drove away with the gasoline hose attached to his car.

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Disaster for Ferrari as Fernando Alonso Secures Surprise Win in Singapore

Fernando Alonso secured his first win in Formula One in exactly a year today as he beat Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg over the line to win in Singapore.

Formula One's first night race took place this weekend, and not without incident. A strong Ferrari team qualified P1 and P3, and Felipe Massa looked to have a strong lead until Nelson Piquet's Renault crashed on the pit straight forcing the Safety Car to be deployed.

Several drivers were forced to pit after the pit lane was closed because of very low fuel loads, and as a result, these cars were penalised with a 10-second stop-and-go penalty.

Massa and Lewis Hamilton were the first drivers to pit after the pit-lane was re-opened, only for disaster to strike at Ferrari when Massa pulled away after the green light had been given too soon.

Massa found himself dragging the fuel hose down the pit-lane and having to pull over before the hose was reclaimed about 45 seconds later, seeing him at the back of the pack.

Later on, it was discovered that he had also been released dangerously, and therefore faced a drive-through penalty, costing him another 25-30 seconds.

When things settled down after the Safety Car resumed its usual pit-lane position, Hamilton was behind a very strong Fernando Alonso as well as David Coulthard and Rosberg.

Alonso had a very short first stint on soft tires and pitted five laps before the first of two safety car incidents. After the correct penalties and corresponding pit-stops were made, the race was all but over, with Alonso leading Rosberg, Coulthard, Hamilton and Raikkonen.

Hamilton was struggling to keep the race-pace behind the slower Red Bull of Coulthard, but, after a superb piece of driving skill, Lewis was able to pass DC in turn seven of this new circuit.

Lewis said, at the post-race press conference, "We had great pace, it was just a bit unfortunate I got stuck behind DC. He was a good second slower than me, but also a second slower than everyone in front of us, it was so difficult to get close to him to overtake, but he drove a fantastic race."

Fernando Alonso also drove stunningly, right from the word "go." After a technical error which saw his high-velocity fuel pump cut out in yesterday's qualifying, he started out on the grid in 15th position.

He looked to be out of the fight, but the Spaniard just went out and did what he does best: drive a clean race. Hamilton's ex team-mate took his ING Williams home and secured his first podium of the season and indeed his first Grand Prix win in exactly a year.

More heartache for Ferrari saw reigning World Champion Kimi Raikkonen side-slam a wall and crash out just nine laps from the end.

By this point, the points were decided and Lewis Hamilton had secured a seven-point advantage over Massa in the driver's standings, and had assisted in setting McLaren ahead of Ferrari in the constructor's championship.

David Coulthard secured two points in his Red Bull car, after driving his favourite sort of track. DC is renowned for taking advantage on street circuits. Sadly, he is retiring at the end of this season. However, there are strong rumors that he will be sitting behind a microphone and commentating on British BBC from next year.

Fernando, who was obviously very happy with his win, couldn't believe it and said, at the post-race press conference, "It's a fantastic first podium of the season and first win, I'm extremely happy and can't believe it right now. I think I need a couple of days to realise that we won a race this year which seemed impossible all season to be that close to the top guys."

When asked about his strategy, he simply said, "We chose to do a very aggressive first stint because we knew starting 15th, you can't overtake and we thought about one stop but had concerned about the brakes. So we tried something very different with a short first stint, try to make as many places and see from there."

Lewis Hamilton was very happy to be able to extend his lead in the driver's championship and said, "It is good to be up here though, we got good points."

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The final standings of the SingTel Singapore Grand-Prix 2008 look like this:

1. ALONSO Renault

2. ROSBERG Williams +2.9s

3. HAMILTON McLaren +5.9s

4. GLOCK Toyota +8.1s

5. VETTEL Toro Rosso +10.2

6. HEIDFELD BMW +11.1s

7. COULTHARD Red Bull +16.3s

8. NAKAJIMA Williams +18.4s

9. BUTTON Honda +19.8s

10. KOVALAINEN McLaren +26.9s

11. KUBICA BMW +27.9s

12. BOURDAIS Toro Rosso +29.4s

13. MASSA Ferrari +35.1s

14. FISICHELLA Force India +43.5s

15. RAIKKONEN Ferrari +4 laps

R. TRULLI Toyota +10 laps

R. SUTIL Force India +11 laps

R. WEBBER Red Bull +31 laps

R. BARRICHELLO Honda +46 laps

R. PIQUET Renault +47 laps

*R Signifies Retired

After the SingTel Singapore Grand-Prix 2008 the Drivers Championship:

1 Lewis Hamilton British 84
2 Felipe Massa Brazilian 77
3 Robert Kubica Polish 64
4 Kimi Räikkönen Finnish 57
5 Nick Heidfeld German 56
6 Heikki Kovalainen Finnish 51
7 Fernando Alonso Spanish 38
8 Sebastian Vettel German 27
9 Jarno Trulli Italian 26
10 Timo Glock German 20
11 Mark Webber Australian 20
12 Nico Rosberg German 17
13 Nelsinho Piquet Brazilian 13
14 Rubens Barrichello Brazilian 11
15 Kazuki Nakajima Japanese 9
16 David Coulthard British 8
17 Sebastien Bourdais French 4
18 Jenson Button British 3
19 Giancarlo Fisichella Italian 0
20 Adrian Sutil German 0
21 Takuma Sato Japanese 0
22 Anthony Davidson British 0



After the SingTel Singapore Grand-Prix 2008 the Constructor's Championship:


1 McLaren-Mercedes 135
2 Ferrari 134
3 BMW Sauber 120
4 Renault 51
5 Toyota 46
6 STR-Ferrari 31
7 Red Bull-Renault 28
8 Williams-Toyota 26
9 Honda 14
10 Force India-Ferrari 0
11 Super Aguri-Honda 0

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/feedarticle/8329459

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Stick-in-the-muds worked themselves into a lather over Formula One's planned reforms -- proof, if nothing else, that even in the fast lane, tradition can still be a drag.
And finally, in a stark display of the power that F1 teams wield, they got the sport's bosses to back off.

The score: teams 1, bosses 0. It's a result that could bode ill for those -- led by Max Mosley, head of F1's governing body -- who want shock therapy to wean the sport off its high-spending habits so that it survives the global credit crunch.

Mosley's governing body, the FIA, said Friday it would freeze plans to shake up how F1's championship winner is chosen, retreating in the face of a chorus of disapproval and even hints of a boycott from teams and drivers.

The FIA said it would merely defer the planned rule-change until 2010. But after losing such face in this, the latest battle over F1's future, the feasibility of resurrecting the reform next year seems far from certain.
Under the FIA's plan, this season's champion would have been the driver with the most Grand Prix wins -- which, for a sport all about reaching the checkered flag first, had a clean logic to it.

Only if drivers finished level on wins would the previous points system -- 10 for a win, 8 for second place, etc. -- have been deployed to separate them at season's end.

The theory, championed by F1 commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone and approved this week by the FIA, was that drivers forced to get all-important wins would take more risks on the track, meaning more audacious overtaking maneuvers and racing strategies. More thrills and spills -- who could fault that?

Well, as it turned out, just about everybody.

The 10 F1 teams, united in their Formula One Teams' Association, on Friday declared the change invalid, saying it was sprung on them too close to next weekend's start to the season without "the unanimous agreement of all the competitors."

The FIA's somewhat tepid response came in a statement shortly after: "If, for any reason, the Formula One teams do not now agree with the new system, its implementation will be deferred until 2010."

The apparent death of the reform, at least for now, is a shame, because it could have made racing better.

Admittedly, the 2008 championship -- which was decided on points -- was a nail-biter, decided on the last corner of the last lap of the last Grand Prix.

But that hasn't always been the case. Too often, fans have been tortured by the sorry sight of multimillion dollar cars parading around circuits with the dull regularity of London buses, nursed home for the second-best of points, not going all-out for the win. It can make one rue wasted hours in front of the TV.

The reform held out the hope of changing that, and providing more spectacle to keep eyes glued to screens, which is vital for a sport that needs television revenue and continued sponsorship in these tough times.

Critics expressed a range of fears about the reform. One was that a driver could secure the title by winning the first nine of the 17 races and then rest on his laurels, draining the suspense from the season's second half. But dominance to that degree would be a suspense-killer under the points system, too, as those who yawned at Michael Schumacher's supremacy will tell you.

Now retired, Schumacher joined those critical of the change, saying: "I cannot see how it makes sense to eventually have a world champion who has less points than the driver coming in second." Fernando Alonso, surprisingly given his racing talents, was also opposed.

But the Spaniard's argument that such reforms "only confuse fans even more" didn't really make sense. The principle of winner-take-all isn't rocket science. And F1 fans expect innovation, which is woven into the sport's DNA. Surely, if they are capable of grasping such technical complexities as why slick tires offer better grip than grooved ones, they could have understood that the guy who came first most was the champion?

Anyhow, after the FIA's retreat, this cause seems lost.

The fight over the points system is merely a warm-up for a bigger fight ahead over FIA plans for optional budget caps in 2010.

There's strong opposition. When Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo described the package of reforms as "absurd, severe and dangerous" it became clear that the FIA was heading for trouble.

Considering its U-turn on points, the chances of FIA now getting teams to swallow the bitter pill of budget caps look suddenly less rosy.

[Rasputin]

Brawn GP became the first Formula One team in 39 years to take the pole position in its debut race when Jenson Button secured the spot for Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Button's time of 1 minute, 26.202 seconds Saturday edged teammate Rubens Barrichello by three tenths of a second, giving the F1 newcomers both positions on the front row.

It was the fourth pole of Button's career and completed a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for the England-based team, which was threatened with extinction when former owner Honda pulled out of the sport after the 2008 season.

Before former Ferrari strategist and Honda team principal Ross Brawn took over the team from the Japanese automaker, Button and Barrichello faced the prospect of looking for new jobs and watching this weekend's action on television.

"Going from not having a drive and no future in racing to putting it on pole here is just amazing," Button said. "This is a great moment, not the most important of the weekend, but a great start."

"This is where we deserve to be, after the difficult times we have had," the 29-year-old British driver added. "Roll on the season, I am so excited about this year."

The Brawn performance may be a welcome taste of novelty for F1 fans, but rival teams were less enthusiastic. The team is racing under appeal, with a protest over the design of its rear diffuser to be heard by the sport's governing body FIA after the Malaysian Grand Prix, jeopardizing any points gained in the season's first two GP races. Williams and Toyota are also subject to the appeal.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel will start from third on the grid at Melbourne's Albert Park circuit, ahead of BMW's Robert Kubica and Williams' Nico Rosberg. Toyota pair Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli qualified sixth and eighth respectively, but were sent to the back of the grid after stewards ruled the rear wings on their cars were too flexible.

None of the top six drivers are using the KERS power-boost system this year, illustrating how problematical the technology is proving for teams as they balance its power boost against its additional weight and effect on car design.

The highest of the KERS runners is Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who will start from sixth, one place ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who had a hydraulic failure in pre-qualifying practice. Australia's Mark Webber will start from eighth in his Red Bull.

Brawn's achievement in taking the pole marked the first time a team debuted there since Jackie Stewart's effort for Tyrell at the 1970 Canadian GP.

It had other teams fearing that Brawn may run away with the championship this season, unless its rear diffuser is deemed illegal.

"If they carry on like that, they will win the championship by the middle of the year," Massa said.

"Its hard to believe a month ago they were sitting at home, now they are ready to fight for the world championship," Renault's Fernando Alonso said after qualifying 10th.

Another disappointment was reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton, who will start from 18th. The McLaren driver only scraped into second qualifying by five hundredths of a second and then elected to change his gearbox and not take part in the second session. The automatic penalty for the gearbox change means he will start from the back, with only the penalized Toyotas behind him.

In 2006, when he had the pole, Button eventually finished 10th, blowing his engine within sight of the finish.

"Hopefully it will go better than 2006, I'm sure it will," he said.

It was the first time that one team had claimed both front-row positions for the Australian GP since Barrichello and his then Ferrari teammate Michael Schumacher in 2004.

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Last year’s Formula One season ended with one of the most unpredictable drivers’ title decisions ever, in a passing move by Lewis Hamilton on the last corner of the last lap of the last race. The season starting at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on Sunday begins as one of the least predictable ever, after one of the biggest overhauls of technical regulations in the sport’s history.

Most of the changes were designed to cut costs and improve the spectacle, and they were envisioned long before the financial crisis began last autumn. Thanks to the crisis, the series ushered in a further raft of changes over the winter.

“It is definitely the biggest change I have seen in Formula One,” Mario Theissen, the director of the BMW Sauber team, said Thursday in Melbourne.

“But what we have seen so far is that apparently everybody got it almost right,” he added, referring to the designs of the new cars by each of the 10 teams. “The competitors are close, the aerodynamic and tire regulations should help overtaking — so that’s a good reason to watch the races.”

Still, many questions remain, not the least of which is an interpretation of the aerodynamic regulations by three teams — Toyota, Brawn and Williams — that has led to the season’s first controversy.

Several teams protested Thursday against the design of the rear diffuser on those teams’ cars, saying it was illegal. A diffuser controls the airflow exiting the rear of the car and can provide a speed advantage, depending on the design.

Race stewards ruled late Thursday that the diffusers are legal. But several teams served notice of intention to appeal the decision, and the race results of the three teams will not be official until the appeal is heard.

It will take several races to see whether the new regulations truly affect the hierarchy of the teams and the quality of the show. In the past, the richest, largest teams adapted more quickly to technical change, so the winners were generally the same from one season to the next. This year, however, the magnitude and nature of the regulations changes means that smaller-budget teams are likely to have a better chance. Ingenuity in the initial car design will pay off.

The changes cover four main areas: an overhaul of aerodynamics, a return to using slick tires, a doubling of engine life and the introduction of an energy-saving device called Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems, or KERS.

Aerodynamically, the cars have been stripped of all the small appendages that helped make them fast in corners, and the front and rear wings have been radically redesigned. Drivers may adjust the wings while driving, which was never allowed in the past. “The drivers now have more work to do inside the cockpit,” said Fernando Alonso, the double world champion with the Renault team.

Slick tires have not been used since 1997; tires with grooves were implemented the following year as a safety measure to slow the cars. The change to slicks will affect the balance and setup of the cars, and may benefit some drivers more than others. “As soon as I drove them, I found a benefit that suits my style a bit more, so I am happy with that change,” said Jenson Button of Brawn.

The energy-saving device is also likely to help some drivers more than others. KERS stores energy from braking to be used later for power bursts, and is part of the sport’s effort to become more environmentally responsible. But it will also contribute to the spectacle by helping in overtaking maneuvers.

At first it was compulsory, but with the financial crisis, the expensive system became optional. Whether or not a team will use it depends on many factors, however, and Theissen said his team would decide from race to race whether to use the system.

In Melbourne, he said, Nick Heidfeld will use KERS, while the other driver, Robert Kubica, will not. Kubica is taller and heavier than Heidfeld, and is therefore at a greater disadvantage when using the system.

A cost-saving measure to cut out all car testing during the race season, called for over the winter, may also help the smaller teams that have succeeded in their initial car design. Teams used to spend millions of dollars testing the cars at tracks between races, which allowed them to develop the car and correct technical failings.

Bigger-budget teams could test more often, and make changes more quickly, developing more new parts than smaller teams. Now, teams will only run their cars on race weekends, so initial design flaws will take more time to rectify.

Teams like Brawn GP — formerly Honda — and Williams started developing the 2009 car early last year, sacrificing development of the 2008 car. Their results during winter testing were superior to those of teams like McLaren Mercedes and Ferrari, which won the drivers’ and constructors’ titles last year.

“We go into the start of the 2009 season fully aware that we do not yet have the technical package that will allow our drivers to fight at the front,” said Martin Whitmarsh, the McLaren team director.

The Brawn team came into existence only at the beginning of March, in a management buyout of the former Honda team. The Japanese car manufacturer pulled out of the series in December due to the financial crisis.

If Brawn is as good as it appears, then the leaders could take a long time to catch up. This led Bernie Ecclestone, the series’s promoter, to say last week that, thanks to the new rules, a Brawn driver like Button had a chance to win the drivers’ title.

Indeed, the Brawn, Williams and Toyota cars showed top form at the Friday practice sessions in Melbourne, as they finished in six of the top seven spots, led in both sessions by Nico Rosberg of Williams, while the Ferraris and McLarens struggled.

But whether that continues could depend on the outcome of the appeal over the cars’ rear diffuser.