Australian Grand Prix (3.29.2009)
Upstart fledgling Brawn GP Stuns the Racing World Order As Its Radical Rear Diffuser Stomps the Field at Melbourne.
In an F1 opener for the ages, British upstart Brawn GP, purportedly only a shoestring shell survivor of Honda’s failed grand prix efforts, shatters the existing order in top-shelf auto racing as reputed has-beens Jenson Button (22 Brawn Mercedes) and Rubens Barrichello utterly crush the field at Melbourne with a stunning wire-to-wire, one-two victory. The other constructors, hardly believing for a moment that mastermind Ross Brawn could build a such a dominant chassis for his debut entry into Formula 1, immediately uncover the team’s clever and clandestine work with Honda during the prior season in preparation for Melbourne. Still frustrated with Brawn’s sudden success, the constructors then allege that the winning entry ran with an unsanctioned diffuser design (the rear wing) that essentially works as a double wing. The constructors assert that since the rules restrict the planar dimensions of a diffuser expressly in order to limit the amount of downforce available to a driver, a team by definition then cannot implement any design that indeed adds downforce. Brawn counters that its lower plane is part of the diffuser’s required support structure and not an aerodynamic device. The FIA, with a wink and a smirk to the camera, summarily approves the diffuser design, and the other constructors groan at the thought of a long season in desperate pursuit of Brawn GP.
McLaren Driver Lewis Hamilton Buckles Under the Pressure Generated by his Actions in Allowing Jarno Trulli to Pass Him Under Caution at Melbourne.
If the Brawn diffuser did not cause enough controversy on its own, the literal race outcome enters the realm of the bizarre during the final moments. P5 and hard charging Jarno Trulli of Toyota, battling struggling P4 Lewis Hamilton of McLaren for position, powers past the latter and one more entry in order to earn a startling podium finish, an engaging surprise for ever-struggling Toyota and F1 enthusiasts. McLaren protests the result and alleges that Trulli passed Hamilton after Race Control issued a caution condition, a clear stewards’ violation. The stewards remove Trulli from the final classification, yet a swift protest by Toyota and a subsequent investigation reveals in stunning fashion a radio transmission from McLaren to Hamilton instructing him to allow Trulli to pass his car. Since all teams receive immediate notification of a caution condition, and the subject radio transmission clearly came after the same, the stewards angrily assert malfeasance on the part of McLaren, reinstate Trulli back to the podium, and disqualify McLaren from the contest. The controversy only takes on additional heat after a harried Hamilton desperately blames team race manager David Ryan for his actions. As the nuclear fallout descends upon McLaren, Ryan loses his job, the FIA quietly ushers high profile team principal Ronald Dennis out of race operations, and Hamilton faces a long season working with an angry team who believes its pampered driver sold out a much admired race director in order to save his public image. In Hamilton’s defense, did he have any choice after the stewards discovered the utterly foolish radio transmission?
