BOTH EX-HONDA TEAM CARS TIMED IN FIRST FOUR

+ Click to Enlarge FAST FUELLING: Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in the pits during final practice for Sunday's 2009 Malaysian Formula 1 GP. Ferrari had a horrible qualifying session with Felipe Massa not getting past the first session on Saturday. Image: AFP

April 4, 2009

New team on the block Brawn once again showed its muscle today to put Jenson Button on pole for the 2009 Malaysian Formula 1 GP in Sepang. Team mate Rubens Barrichello timed fourth but will start ninth.

The times below reflect grid positions after penalties were applied and true qualifying times - so you can really see who did what and how they might perform in tomorrow's race.

Toyota's Jarno Trulli was second and Sebastian Vettel was third-fastest.

It was Briton Button's second and consecutive pole for the new Brawn GP team this season; fellow Brit McLaren's World champion Lewis Hamilton could qualify only 12th.

The 29-year-old Button, who won the season-opener in Australia last weekend, will have Toyota's Italian Jarno Trulli alongside him on the front row. It will be his fifth career pole start.

Toyota's Timo Glock and fellow-German Nico Rosberg in a Williams will fill the second row. Germany's Sebastian Vettel was third-fastest and Button's Brazilian team mate Rubens Barrichello fourth in qualifying but each had a penalty to pay.

Red Bull's Vettel was handed a 10-place penalty for a collision in Australia and Barrichello five places for a precautionary gearbox change after Friday's practice. Hamilton qualified 13th but will start one place up the grid thanks to Vettel's penalty.

2008 champion team Ferrari had a nightmare afternoon with Brazilian Felipe Massa qualifying 16th after what looked like a team blunder in assuming wrongly that he had done enough to reach the second session.

Team mate Kimi Raikkonen, winner in Malaysia in 2008, qualified ninth.

The race, round two of the championship, will start later than ever on Sunday at 5pm local time (live on Supersport 5 in South Africa from 10.30am) and rainstorms have been predicted. – Reuters, AFP, IOL Motoring

Malaysian Formula 1 GP grid AFTER penalties
1st row
Jenson Button (GBR/Brawn)
Jarno Trulli (ITA/Toyota)
2nd row
Timo Glock (GER/Toyota)
Nico Rosberg (GER/Williams)
3rd row
Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull)
Robert Kubica (POL/BMW)
4th row
Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari)
Fernando Alonso (ESP/Renault)
5th row
Rubens Barrichello (BRA/Brawn)
Nick Heidfeld (GER/BMW Sauber)
6th row
Kazuki Nakajima (JPN/Williams)
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren)
7th row
Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull)
Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/McLaren)
8th row
Sebastien Bourdais (FRA/Toro Rosso)
Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari)
9th row
Nelson Piquet Jr (BRA/Renault)
Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA/Force India)
10th row
Adrian Sutil (GER/Force India)
Sebastien Buemi (SUI/Toro Rosso)

Malaysian Formula 1 GP qualifying times at Sepang on Saturday

Final qualifying (BEFORE grid penalties)
1 Jenson Button (GBR) Brawn - 1min35.181
2 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota - 1min35.273
3 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull - 1min35.518
4 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Brawn - 1min35.651
5 Timo Glock (GER) Toyota - 1min35.690
6 Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams - 1min35.750
7 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull - 1min35.797
8 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW - 1min36.106
9 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari - 1min36.170
10 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault - 1min37.659

Second qualifying
1 Jenson Button (GBR) Brawn - 1min33.784 (Q)
2 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota - 1min33.990 (Q)
3 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull - 1min34.222 (Q)
4 Timo Glock (GER) Toyota - 1min34.258 (Q)
5 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull - 1min34.276 (Q)
6 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Brawn - 1min34.387 (Q)
7 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari - 1min34.456 (Q)
8 Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams - 1min34.547 (Q)
9 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW - 1min34.562 (Q)
10 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault - 1min34.706 (Q)

11 Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW - 1min34.769
12 Kazuki Nakajima (JPN) Williams - 1min34.788
13 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren - 1min34.905
14 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren - 1min34.924
15 Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) Toro Rosso - 1min35.431


First qualifying
1 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Brawn - 1min34.681 (Q)
2 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Toyota - 1min34.745 (Q)
3 Timo Glock (GER) Toyota - 1min34.907 (Q)
4 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull - 1min34.935 (Q)
5 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren - 1min35.023 (Q)
6 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull - 1min35.027 (Q)
7 Jenson Button (GBR) Brawn - 1min35.058 (Q)
8 Nico Rosberg (GER) Williams - 1min35.083 (Q)
9 Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW - 1min35.110 (Q)
10 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW - 1min35.166 (Q)
11 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault - 1min35.260 (Q)
12 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren - 1min35.280 (Q)
13 Kazuki Nakajima (JPN) Williams - 1min35.341 (Q)
14 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari - 1min35.476 (Q)
15 Sebastien Bourdais (FRA) Toro Rosso - 1min35.507 (Q)

16 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari - 1min35.642
17 Nelson Piquet (BRA) Renault - 1min35.708
18 Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India - 1min35.908
19 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India - 1min35.951
20 Sebastien Buemi (SUI) Toro Rosso - 1min36.107