Top 5 F1 season-openers in history

Jean Alesi stunned everybody in the first round of the 1990 season.
Jean Alesi stunned everybody in the first round of the 1990 season.

#4 - Australia 2009

Jenson Button (left) and Rubens Barrichello got Brawn GP off to the perfect start in F1.
Jenson Button (left) and Rubens Barrichello got Brawn GP off to the perfect start in F1.

2009 brought a large shakeup in the regulations, not dissimilar to those which we saw in 2014 and 2017, and this always provides teams lower down with an opportunity to close the gap to the fastest outfits. From the embers of the Honda Racing F1 team came Brawn Grand Prix, and not much was expected of them going into the opening race in Melbourne. That was until qualifying, when they unbelievably got a 1-2, as Jenson Button claimed pole with teammate Rubens Barrichello alongside him.

When the race got underway, Barrichello almost stalled and plummeted down the field into P9 and was lucky not to retire after contact with Mark Webber. The Brazilian driver then set about regaining the places he lost on the first lap, and after a sloppy move on Kimi Raikkonen, he was on his way. Late on in the race, Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica came together when the Pole was trying to make a move. This meant that both retired and Barrichello snuck into second place behind Jenson Button, who was wheel-perfect all race. Brawn GP debuted with a 1-2, and Lewis Hamilton got an incredible third in his lacklustre McLaren before he was disqualified in controversial circumstances.

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