Button takes Australian pole as Hamilton struggles disqualifications

Mar 28, 2009, 12:54 GMT

Melbourne - Jenson Button held off a challenge from Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello Saturday to take pole position for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, while world champion Lewis Hamilton struggled and Toyota were disqualified.

The Briton posted a time of one minute 26.202 seconds for the 5.303-kilometre lap on the Albert Park circuit to register the fourth pole of his career with Barrichello clocking 1:26.505.

Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull took third place in his first race for the Austrian team in a time of 1:26.830.

Button's success with the successor team to Honda is the first time a team has taken pole position on its F1 debut since Jackie Stewart in a Tyrrell-Ford at the 1970 Canadian Grand Prix.

'The last five or six months for both of us has been so tough going from having no drive or no future in F1 racing to this is just amazing,' said Button.

'This is where we deserve to be after the tough times we have had.'

Barrichello echoed Button's comments, saying it had been a critical three or four months waiting for news from the time Honda announced it was pulling out of the sport last December.

'It has been a great day, I was hoping i could put my car on pole,' said the Brazilian. 'I think the first row for both of us is a credit and we must be happy.'

Vettel, meanwhile, admitted he had settled in well with Red Bull following his move from Toro Rosso.

'I'm surprised how close the feeling in the car is,' said the 21-year-old German. 'This is for sure a good starting point but points we get tomorrow so it is only a good start.'

Robert Kubica claimed fourth in his BMW-Sauber, followed by Nico Rosberg of Williams and Toyota's Timo Glock.

However Glock and team-mate Jarno Trulli, who initially qualified eighth, were subsequently disqualified by race commissioners for using a too-flexible rear wing and will start at the back of the grid after having their qualifying times annulled.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa could only manage seventh place ahead of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen but both moved up one place following the disqualification of the Toyotas.

Hamilton, who last year won the race for McLaren-Mercedes, struggled badly and will start from 18th place on the grid in Sunday's race.

The 24-year-old Briton initially qualified in 15th spot after failing to register a time in the second round of qualifying due to a technical problem.

But His McLaren team subsequently had to replace the gearbox on his car, meaning he incurred a five-place penalty, which was mitigated by Trulli and Glock's disqualifications.

'There was something on the car so I couldn't continue,' said Hamilton. 'I just lost all drive so I'm sure they'll fix it.'

Team-mate Heikki Kovalainen will start from 12th while two-time world champion Fernando Alonso of Renault qualified down in 10th spot.