Jenson Button Snatched Pole With Brawn F1 Car

Briton Jenson Button snatched pole position and his Brawn teammate Rubens Barrichello took second as the F1 newcomers seized starting grid control in Australian GP in Melbourne on Saturday. Button, backed by just three days' testing with a Brawn team hastily put together in the wake of a management buy-out of the Honda team, claimed his fourth career pole.

The 29-year-old, with just one victory in 153 GPs over nine seasons, has a marvelous chance for only his second GP triumph in Sunday's Melbourne race. It is the first time since 1970 that a new team has captured the pole in its first F1 race.

Button swept around the Albert Street circuit in one minute 26.202 seconds, ahead of Barrichello's best of 1:26.505.

Rising German star Sebastian Vettel was third quickest in his Red Bull in 1:26.830 in an eventful hour-long qualifying with world champion Lewis Hamilton forced to start off the back row of Sunday's grid after gearbox problems.

The British star failed to come out of the McLaren team garage for the second section of qualifying and was credited with 15th position, but he incurred a mandatory five-place grid penalty and was relegated to 20th.

On a day of drama, Toyota's Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli were also stripped of their grid positions after qualifying sixth and eighth respectively. It followed technical inspections by the sport's governing body, the FIA, which found a flexible wing infringement.

World constructors champions Ferrari were also left behind in the slipstream of the two Brawns with Felipe Massa to come off the third row and Kimi Raikkonen one row behind.

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pic 1: Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso Australian GP, Melbourne
pic 2: Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso Australian GP, Melbourne

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pic 1: Robert Kubica BMW Sauber Australian GP, Melbourne 2009
pic 2: Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber Australian GP, Melbourne 2009

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pic 1: Nico Rosberg Williams Australian GP, Melbourne 2009
pic 2: Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber Australian GP, Melbourne 2009

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pic 1: Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Australian GP, Melbourne 2009
pic 2: Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Australian GP, Melbourne 2009

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pic 1: Jenson Button Brawn Racing Australian GP, Melbourne 2009
pic 2: Jenson Button Brawn Racing Australian GP, Melbourne 2009

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pic 1: Jarno Trulli Toyota Australian GP, Melbourne 2009
pic 2: Jarno Trulli Toyota Australian GP, Melbourne 2009

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pic 1: Jarno Trulli Toyota Australian GP, Melbourne 2009
pic 2: Heikki Kovalainen McLaren Mercedes Australian GP

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pic 1: Giancarlo Fisichella Force India Australian GP, Melbourne 2009
pic 2: Adrian Sutil Force India Australian GP, Melbourne 2009