Jenson Button stormed to his second pole position of the season in Sepang as Brawn GP continue to lead the way in Formula One.

The British driver set a searing pace in the closing stages of qualifying for Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix, seeing off pressure from Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel to take the top spot with a lap of 1m 35.181.

“This one is more special than Melbourne,” enthused an elated Button after the session. “It’s not easy to get pole, but to get two on the trot - I’ve never achieved that in my Formula One career. It’s a great feeling.”

“The car clearly works well on different types of circuit. I expected the competition to be tough here but qualifying showed the car was ok.”

Jarno Trulli, the man at the centre of the Hamilton-McLaren Australian GP row, planted his Toyota on the front row the grid in an impressive showing for the Cologne-based outfit. His teammate Timo Glock also progressed into the top ten shoot-out and lines up in fifth place.

Sebastian Vettel was third for Red Bull Racing but will drop ten places after he was held responsible for the incident with Robert Kubica at the end of last week’s Australian Grand Prix. The German driver admitted he was frustrated about the affair.

“I have the penalty and there is nothing I can do,” he rued after qualifying. I just have to focus on what we are here for. It’s a shame because the car’s performance was good throughout qualifying which was good to see. But it’s a shame to start tenth tomorrow. It will be a tough race. Personally I am hoping for rain!”

Button’s teammate Rubens Barrichello, who qualified fourth, will also take a grid penalty tomorrow after making a precautionary gearbox change.

Timo Glock affirmed Toyota’s pace around the Sepang circuit lining up in fifth place ahead of Nico Rosberg, Mark Webber (Red Bull) and Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber).

Kimi Raikkonen was lucky to take part in the top ten shoot-out at all after Ferrari, seemingly happy that their drivers had done enough to progress, elected not to send Raikkonen and Massa out on final runs in Q1. But a flurry of activity in the closing stages of the session - in which Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and the BMW Sauber’s of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld lifted themselves out of the drop-out zone with late flyers - saw Massa demoted to sixteenth, while Raikkonen just scraped through.

The Finn went on to post the ninth fastest time ahead of Renault’s Fernando Alonso.

Meanwhile, McLaren’s nightmare weekend continued and translated onto the track. Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen were both knocked out of the second qualifying session and will line up for Sunday’s race in thirteenth and fourteenth place respectively.

Pos Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3
1. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:35.058 1:33.784 1:35.181
2. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:34.745 1:33.990 1:35.273
3. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:34.935 1:34.276 1:35.518
4. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:34.681 1:34.387 1:35.651
5. Glock Toyota (B) 1:34.907 1:34.258 1:35.690
6. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:35.083 1:34.547 1:35.750
7. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:35.027 1:34.222 1:35.797
8. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:35.166 1:34.562 1:36.106
9. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:35.476 1:34.456 1:36.170
10. Alonso Renault (B) 1:35.260 1:34.706 1:37.659
11. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:35.110 1:34.769
12. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:35.341 1:34.788
13. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:35.280 1:34.905
14. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:35.023 1:34.924
15. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:35.507 1:35.431
16. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:35.642
17. Piquet Renault (B) 1:35.708
18. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:35.908
19. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:35.951
20. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:36.107

By Chrish

Jenson Button was delighted with his second consecutive pole of the season in Sepang describing it as being even more significant than his P1 slot in Melbourne.

The British driver clocked an impressive 1m 35.181 around the Sepang International Circuit, re-affirming the pace of the new Brawn GP team, and putting him comfortably clear of Jarno Trulli and Sebastian Vettel for Toyota and Red Bull.

“This one is more special than Melbourne,” Button said. “It’s not easy to get pole, but to get two on the trot - I’ve never achieved that in my Formula One career. It’s a great feeling.”

“The car clearly works well on different types of circuit. I expected the competition to be tough here but qualifying showed the car was ok.

“Yesterday I was really struggling with the balance of the car. We changed the setup overnight and its improved a lot. I’m feeling pretty comfortable and excited for tomorrow.”

By Chrish

Nico Rosberg topped the timesheets in the final practice session ahead of what could be a wet qualifying session for the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang.

With much of the attention this weekend focussed on Lewis Hamilton and McLaren for their disqualification in last week’s Australian Grand Prix, it was over to Rosberg and Red Bull’s Mark Webber to remind fans of the new pecking order shaping the sport, while Ferrari also showed improvement.

Against the backdrop of overcast conditions - which risk developing into thundery showers for qualifying - Brawn GP quickly reasserted their dominance with Jenson Button leading teammate Rubens Barrichello at the top of the timesheets on a 1:38.601.

Button’s time was quickly beaten by Rosberg and Webber while Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen also briefly held the top spot for Ferrari showing improvement for the Scuderia.

BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld was the first driver on the softer compound tyres going quickest on a 1:37.026, but that was quickly beaten by Jenson Button, also on the soft tyres, before a flurry of activity in the last few minutes saw the times tumble at the top.

Nico Rosberg vaulted into P1 on a 1:35.940 with Mark Webber lapping to within a tenth of the German to go second quickest ahead of Felipe Massa and the Toyota’s of Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock.

Sebastian Vettel paced seventh quickest for Red Bull Racing ahead of Kimi Raikkonen who seemed altogether more comfortable with the handling of his Ferrari F60.

The Brawn pairing eventually wound up in ninth and tenth but have yet to show their true pace.
McLaren lived up to their prediction that they would struggle at the “aero”-favouring Sepang International Circuit. Lewis Hamilton languished at the bottom of the timesheets in the early stages before improving on the softer tyres. He would up twelfth quickest while the best teamamte Heikki Kovalainen could manage was thirteenth.

1. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:35.940 19

2. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:36.048 + 0.108 13

3. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:36.089 + 0.149 13

4. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:36.132 + 0.192 21

5. Glock Toyota (B) 1:36.189 + 0.249 22

6. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:36.194 + 0.254 14

7. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:36.322 + 0.382 14

8. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:36.325 + 0.385 18

9. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:36.519 + 0.579 19

10. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:36.541 + 0.601 17

11. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:36.563 + 0.623 18

12. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:36.657 + 0.717 15

13. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:36.742 + 0.802 13

14. Alonso Renault (B) 1:37.004 + 1.064 16

15. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:37.026 + 1.086 18

16. Piquet Renault (B) 1:37.032 + 1.092 18

17. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:37.118 + 1.178 18

18. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:37.282 + 1.342 17

19. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:37.322 + 1.382 16

20. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:37.398 + 1.458 19

By Chrish

McLaren in the docks again as furore over Hamilton’s disqualification reaches fever pitch in Sepang.

McLaren face being taken before the World Motorsport Council - where they could be hit with a range of sanctions - after the FIA deemed that they mislead stewards in the enquiry that followed the Australian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton was promoted to third place in Melbourne after the FIA demoted Jarno Trulli to twelfth place for overtaking the McLaren driver under safety car conditions.

But on Thursday Hamilton and his McLaren team were disqualified from the race in light of new evidence. Team radio communications revealed that Hamilton had been ordered by his team to slow down and let Trulli pass, something both he and McLaren denied in the post-race hearing.

Hamilton has since apologised for his actions, while McLaren’s sporting director Dave Ryan, who accompanied Hamilton, has been suspended by the team.

The FIA are continuing their investigation and have not ruled out referring the incident to the World Motorsport Council, where FIA President Max Mosley will be given a say on a range of possible sanctions - including throwing McLaren out of the championship, as he did in 2007 after the spy scandal.

“We recognise Lewis’ efforts to set the record straight. It would appear he was put in an impossible position,” an FIA spokesman said.

“We are now awaiting reports from the FIA observer and stewards before consideration can be given to further investigation of the team’s conduct. We cannot rule out the matter being referred to the World Motor Sport Council.”

It is not the first time that McLaren have been before the sport’s supreme governing body. In 2007 they were thrown out of the constructors championship and docked with a £50 million fine for their involvement in the spy scandal.

Fernando Alonso, who fell out with the team over the row, has fuelled the recent controversy further by claiming that it is not the first time the team have lied to the stewards.

“Of course it reminded me of 2007,” Alonso told the Spanish press, pointing to the Hungarian Grand Prix when he delayed Lewis Hamilton in the pitlane in qualifying.

“It’s not the first time they go to see the stewards. It’s not the first time they lie to the stewards and, sooner or later, they had to be punished. Of course there I lost the championship by a point and in Hungary they played a bad trick on me.”

“I read about it on Thursday in the hotel, because I was there all day. I turned the computer on and I read it. Every time there are decisions taken against other teams you don’t care too much and in this case it didn’t change the result for me, so it didn’t affect me too much.”

By Chrish

The two Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa this afternoon topped the Malaysian free practice timesheets. Raikkonen set the fastest time, followed by his team-mate Massa and the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel. Williams’ Nico Rosberg was fourth fastest.

Ferrari have suggested that the Sepang circuit might suit their F60 car better than Melbourne last week and being fastest on Friday seems to be a statement of intent from the Maranello squad. The two Brawn GP cars of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello failed to blitz the opposition in the same way they did in Australia, emerging 6th and 7th fastest respectively, but their true pace will be confirmed tomorrow.

The complete times were:
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:35.707 40
2. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:35.832 + 0.125 38
3. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:35.954 + 0.247 40
4. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:36.015 + 0.308 39
5. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:36.026 + 0.319 36
6. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:36.161 + 0.454 37
7. Button Brawn-Mercedes (B) 1:36.254 + 0.547 31
8. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:36.290 + 0.583 35
9. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:36.397 + 0.690 40
10. Piquet Renault (B) 1:36.401 + 0.694 35
11. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:36.515 + 0.808 30
12. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:36.516 + 0.809 34
13. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:36.628 + 0.921 32
14. Glock Toyota (B) 1:36.639 + 0.932 29
15. Alonso Renault (B) 1:36.640 + 0.933 20
16. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:36.875 + 1.168 36
17. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:37.267 + 1.560 38
18. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:37.278 + 1.571 30
19. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) 1:37.432 + 1.725 27
20. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:37.930 + 2.223 37

By Hugh Podmore