A storm of monsoon proportions caused the race to be suspended, and while the weather eventually cleared, the impending gloom made it impossible to run the remaining laps.
In Australia the previous weekend Button had taken the chequered flag with the field lined up under caution behind him. At Sepang he didn’t even manage that, learning that he’d won while sitting in his car on the grid, waiting for a resumption that never came.
Cars stop on the main straight as the race is red flagged on lap 33 due to weather conditions
Photo by: Rainer W. Schlegelmilch
It was an unusual end to an extraordinary afternoon, one that saw half points awarded for only the fifth time in the sport’s history, and regular pacesetters McLaren and Ferrari earn just an eighth place between them.
Indeed for many the enduring image of the day is not of Button celebrating, but of Kimi Raikkonen in civvies and eating an ice cream after the stoppage – while his Ferrari team worked to get his car back into the race…
The eventful afternoon allowed everyone to take their minds off the big story of the week. The reconvening of the Australian GP stewards and subsequent disqualification of Lewis Hamilton from his Melbourne third place – for not telling the full story about waving Jarno Trulli by in the safety car queue – had dominated the headlines, and the beleaguered driver and his McLaren team were under fire from all sides.
With rain threatening an exciting Saturday qualifying session saw Ferrari and McLaren struggling as Brawn continued to upset the established order, the car’s double diffuser having been passed legal in Australia.
Felipe Massa, Ferrari
Photo by: Hazrin Yeob Men Shah
There was drama in Q1 when both Ferrari drivers stood on their times from their first runs, assuming that they would be fast enough to get through anyway. However the field was so closely packed that as Felipe Massa sat helpless in the garage he was bumped down to 16th, and out of Q2. Team mate Raikkonen just scraped through in 14th.
Then in the second session it was McLaren’s turn to suffer, as Hamilton took 13th, and team mate Heikki Kovalainen 14th, neither man thus progressing into the vital Q3 session.
Having struggled a little in practice on Friday Button got it just right to take his second pole in two attempts.
Jenson’s closest challenger was Trulli, the Toyota driver coming within 0.106s of Button’s time as he claimed the other front row spot.
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