KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — A torrential downpour delivered the shortest Formula One race for 18 years and back-to-back victories for Brawn GP’s Jenson Button at the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday.
The race suspended when the red flag came out after 32 laps as a tropical storm lashed the Sepang track, making conditions impossible for drivers. A restart was considered for 50 minutes, but with the rain continuing and darkness descending after the twilight start, the race director elected not to attempt a restart.
Because less than three quarters of the scheduled 56 laps were completed, only half points were awarded to drivers and teams. It was the first time that had happened in F1 since the Australian GP at Adelaide in 1991.
“It wasn’t like a river, it was a lake,” Button said of the track conditions when the race was stopped.
Canny strategy delivered a second place finish for BMW’s Nick Heidfeld and an impressive third place to Toyota’s Timo Glock.
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen finished out of the points, making it the first time since 1992 that Ferrari had been pointless after the opening two races of the season.
Jarno Trulli of Toyota was fourth, ahead of Brawn’s Rubens Barrichello. Red Bull’s Mark Webber was sixth, Lewis Hamilton was seventh for McLaren, giving him some reward after a dire week, with Williams’ Nico Rosberg eighth.
Conditions deteriorated very rapidly. The first rain arrived in the 22nd lap, but ten laps later the conditions were undriveable.
The track was awash in rain, and the twilight start meant the skies were very dark and visibility poor.
Abandonment of the race raised questions about the wisdom of scheduling twilight races — this race began at 5 p.m. local time — to make at a more convenient time for European television audiences.
Button’s win was the third of his career and built on his victory at last weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
“What a crazy race, it really was,” the Briton said. “You could not actually see the circuit, it was that bad.
“We were going around at walking pace and it still felt like you were going to go off.”
Button said there was no choice but to end the race. Even when conditions eased to make a restart appear possible, but real racing out of the question. The cars would have had to parade around behind the safety car until the two-hour time limit was reached.
“The race was way, way too wet and the call was correct,” Button said.
“When the safety car is pulling away at 20 seconds per lap, you know its too wet for a Formula One car.”
Brawn became the first new team to win its opening two races since Alfa Romeo won the first ever two grands prix in 1950.
Heidfeld’s correct decisions on tires, as the rain gradually moved in, meant he pitted only once, while other drivers had three or four stops to switch rubber as conditions rapidly changed. It was the German’s best result since the equally chaotic finish to the Belgian Grand Prix last season. He now has eight career second places against just two wins.
Glock’s third place was only the second podium finish of his career, having been runner-up in Hungary last year. The German was running eighth up to the first set of pit stops, but benefited greatly from the decision to switch to intermediate tires in the initial light rain while others went to full wets. The resultant speed advantage sent him storming through the field.
“It was one of the best races I ever could do,” Glock said. “I said go to ‘inters’, took the risk, and it paid off.”
Rosberg, fourth on the grid, got the best of the start and led the race up until the scheduled first slew of pit stops.
Heidfeld backed the decision to red flag the race, and not to restart it.
“It was very clearly impossible to run if the rain continued like it was when the race was quote rightly stopped,” he said.
Glock also approved the race director’s call.
“I was trying to follow the safety car, it was quite difficult, I was swimming around,” Glock said.
“It was just unbelievable and impossible to drive for me at the end, and the right call was to stop the race.”
Sunday at Sepang International Circuit circuit
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Lap length: 3.44 miles
1. Jenson Button, England, Brawn, 31 laps, 0:55:30.622, 115.407 mph.
2. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, BMW Sauber, 31, 22.722 seconds behind.
3. Timo Glock, Germany, Toyota, 31, 23.513.
4. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Toyota, 31, 46.173.
5. Rubens Barrichello, Brazil, Brawn, 31, 47.360.
6. Mark Webber, Australia, Red Bull, 31, 52.333.
7. Lewis Hamilton, England, McLaren Mercedes, 31, 1:00.733.
8. Nico Rosberg, Germany, Williams, 31, 1:11.576.
9. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 31, 1:16.932.
10. Sebastien Bourdais, France, Toro Rosso, 31, 1:42.164.
11. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Renault, 31, 1:49.422.
12. Kazuki Nakajima, Japan, Williams, 31, 1:56.130.
13. Nelson Piquet Jr., Brazil, Renault, 31, 1:56.713.
14. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Ferrari, 31, 2:22.841.
15. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Red Bull, 30, +1 lap, spin.
16. Sebastien Buemi, Switzerland, Toro Rosso, 30, +1 lap, spin.
17. Adrian Sutil, Germany, Force India, 30, +1 lap.
18. Giancarlo Fisichella, Italy, Force India, 29, +2 laps, spin.<
Not Classfied
19. Robert Kubica, Poland, BMW Sauber, 1, Engine.
20. Heikki Kovalainen, Finland, McLaren Mercedes, 0, spin.
Drivers Standings (After two of 17 races)
1. Jenson Button, England, Brawn, 15 points.
2. Rubens Barrichello, Brazil, Brawn, 10.
3. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Toyota, 9.
4. Timo Glock, Germany, Toyota, 8.
5. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, BMW Sauber, 4.
6. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Renault, 4.
7. Nico Rosberg, Germany, Williams, 4.
8. Mark Webber, Australia, Red Bull, 2.
9. Sebastien Buemi, Switzerland, Toro Rosso, 2.
10. Lewis Hamilton, England, McLaren Mercedes, 1.
Constructors Standings
1. Brawn, 25 points.
2. Toyota, 17.
3. BMW Sauber, 4.
4. Renault, 4.
5. Williams, 4.
6. Toro Rosso, 3.
7. Red Bull, 2.
8. McLaren Mercedes, 1.
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