Translated material
Rookie's double
Brown won the Australian Grand Prix
The first race of the 60th Formula 1 World Championship, held on Sunday in Melbourne, Australia, ended with a fantastic victory double for the Brown team. Jenson Button, starting from pole, finished first, and Rubens Barrichello, despite the problems that arose at the start, finished second. The fate of third place was decided by the judges, who fined Toyota's Jarno Trulli after the finish for incorrectly overtaking Lewis Hamilton's McLaren. As a result, the world champion ended up in the top three.Can this result be called sensational? Only partly. Although formally “Brown” is a new team, in reality we must not forget that this is a former “Honda” with all that it implies. Those who followed the last tests before heading to Australia were prepared for the most unexpected results of the first start of the season. The Brown pilots overwhelmed absolutely all their opponents with their speed. Such suspicious agility from the team, which missed almost the entire off-season and only at the beginning of March took their cars out for serious sea trials for the first time, aroused skepticism. There is a strong belief that racers are testing lightweight chassis options as a ploy to attract the attention of potential sponsors. Even though Ross Brawn, the new owner of the team, stated that he does not lack funds, money is never superfluous. It is difficult to say whether these results helped the team quickly find a financial partner, but in Australia the first sponsorship sticker appeared on the sides of cars. The extravagant British billionaire Sir Richard Branson, owner of the mega-concern Virgin Group, decided to collaborate with the mystery team. And I must admit, he was right.
Such diversity in the shapes and technical equipment of cars in the Royal Races has not been observed for a long time. In recent years, engineers have become accustomed to adhering to a certain scheme when designing cars - reliable and tested. Experiments, like the “walrus” nose at Williams 2004, ended unsuccessfully and only once again proved the old truth “they don’t seek good from good.” Before this season, the radically updated technical regulations forced the designers to work hard in search of their own ways to solve the problems. And, by the way, the brainchild of Ross Brawn turned out to be the most original and unlike other cars. Unlike the rest of the Brown chassis, it has more sleek features of the nose cone, which, like a tongue, reaches out to the asphalt. Most of this year's cars have upturned and needle-shaped noses.
You can also give an example of a different approach when creating diffusers, which have already become the subject of disagreement between teams. Let me remind you that the designs of this aerodynamic element, applied by Brown, Toyota and Williams (and completely independently of each other), caused protest from Ferrari, Red Bull and Renault. And, apparently, the competitors were right to be afraid. After qualifying, five of the six team pilots who used the “wrong” diffusers were in the top ten. But most importantly, the time set by the two Browns was better than last year's qualifying time for the pole holder. And this is despite all the efforts made by the FIA in developing the new regulations and aimed at reducing the speed of the cars. So, most likely, with each new success of this three teams, the dispute around diffusers will only flare up.
The introduction of an energy recovery system (KERS) also raises many questions. This year, teams can use it if they wish. Only three and a half teams decided to come to Melbourne with the new product. Ferrari, McLaren and Renault installed the system on all their cars, but BMW-Sauber only installed it on Nick Heidfeld. In the car of the tall and heavy Robert Kubica, placing an additional 40 kg of cargo (that’s how much this part weighs) turned out to be problematic. According to most racers, using KERS in its current form creates more problems than it brings benefits: the system has not been tested, its installation disrupts the weight distribution of the car, and it gives an insignificant increase - 2-3 tenths per lap. In addition, energy accumulation occurs during braking, which complicates the adjustment of the braking balance.
Perhaps all these problems caused such an unsuccessful start to the season for last year's leaders. The Ferrari pilots were in the middle of the top ten. Representatives of McLaren were unable to get into the last part of qualifying, and world champion Lewis Hamilton actually started the race from last place due to problems with the gearbox, which had to be urgently changed. But the stewards sent the well-qualified Toyota to start from the pit lane altogether, thus punishing the team for the “excessive flexibility” of the upper element of the rear wing, discovered during a technical check. Immediately after the start, Barrichello almost found himself in this sad company, as he could not get into first gear. And when, having mastered his own technique, the Brazilian began to make up for lost ground, he was almost let down by someone else’s technique. Three cars of Barrichello, Webber and Heidfeld collided in a mini-damage, but the fourth, Heikki Kovalainen's McLaren, was damaged.
Racing at Albert Park is rarely without incident. This one was no exception. The starting collision served only as a prologue to subsequent events. Safety cars appeared on the track twice. The first time after Kazuki Nakajima’s Williams accident, which did not in any way affect the final distribution of places, and therefore does not deserve special attention. But the collision three laps before the finish between Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel, who were fighting for second place, will go down in the historical chronicles of Formula 1. Kubica's BMW-Sauber turned out to be noticeably faster in the last segment of the race than Vettel's Red Bull and even the Brown, which had previously been in the lead without much strain from Button. But at the last pit stop, the Pole’s car was changed to hard slicks, and the rivals chose soft tires, which, as it turned out, wear out quickly.
Kubica picked up good speed, and if he had managed to get past Vettel, he would probably have had enough time to catch up with the leader. However, the German decided not to give in without a fight and tried to hold back his opponent, as a result of which both cars received various damages. The BMW lost its front wing and flew into the barrier at the first turn. Red Bull also met a wall and lost a wheel, but Vettel continued to stubbornly roll towards the finish line with a limping car for a whole lap. Only when it became clear that during this time most of his rivals had managed to overtake him, he stopped. Thus, Barrichello ended up in second place, and this accident gave the rookie team a historic winning double. In the history of Grand Prizes, not counting the first championship, debutants managed to achieve such a result only once: in 1954, Juan Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling took the first two places at the French Grand Prix, driving for Mercedes.
The fight for third place unfolded no less dramatically. The judges decided his fate after the finish, fining Toyota's Jarno Trulli for incorrectly overtaking Lewis Hamilton's McLaren under yellow flags. As a result, the world champion ended up in the top three, at least somehow supporting the reputation of the top teams, since Ferrari did not reach the finish line in its entirety.
Results. "Formula 1". 1st stage. Australian Grand Prix. Melbourne. 1. Button (Brown) - 1:34.15.7. 2. Barrichello (Brown) - gap 0.8. 3. Hamilton (McLaren) - 2.9. 4. Glock (Toyota) - 4.4. 5. Alonso (Renault) - 4.8. 6. Rosberg (Williams) - 5.7. 7. Buemi (Toro Rosso) - 6.0. 8. Bourdais (Toro Rosso) - 6.2.