What a turn up for the books! Tomorrow’s F1 season opener, the Australian Grand Prix, will see boy wonder Lewis Hamilton having to battle it out from the back of the grid, whilst Jenson Button will make a blast from the past as he begins tomorrow’s race from pole position.
Jenson Button, heralded as the new poster boy for British racing some years back, was slightly eclipsed by formidable newcomer Lewis Hamilton. But Jenson’s obviously something of a comeback kid, and aced it, racing quickest in qualifying for this year’s Australian Grand Prix.
Jenson beat teammate Rubens Barrichello by three tenths of a second, giving team Brawn the top two positions on the grid at Albert Park. Brawn GP has become the first Formula One team in 39 years to take pole position in its debut race.
Reigning champion Lewis Hamilton will start from 18th. The Brit was initially relegated to the back of the grid because the gearbox on his McLaren had to be replaced at the end of the session.
But he was elevated two positions after Toyota duo Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock had their qualifying times scrapped, due to authorities raising questions over the teams’ illegal flexi wings.
Last year’s champion Lewis Hamilton remains positive despite his poor qualifying result. “I still feel we’re going to come back strong”, said the 24 year old. He has good reason to remain hopeful, after a season of lapping competitors and crawling from the towards the back of the grid to a podium finish on more than one occasion.
“We still have the team and opportunity to win this championship, regardless if others are a bit ahead of us at the moment.”
The Times reported this evening that ‘Brawn GP made headlines off the track when British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson announced that his Virgin Group has agreed a sponsorship deal with the team. Branson said he would not have considered Formula One without recent measures to reduce costs and make the sport affordable for new entrants. He told a news conference that a Virgin-backed company had developed a clean fuel that could change Formula One’s dirty image.’
