Brawn qualify one-two at Australian GP

Briton Jenson Button described as "amazing" his journey from the edge of the Formula One scrapheap to pole position for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix.

Button snared top spot on the grid as the new Brawn GP cars dominated qualifying;
his Brazilian veteran teammate Rubens Barrichello starts from second spot.
And in another sign of the sport's new order Red Bull claimed third when young gun
Sebastian Vettel outperformed teammate Mark Webber, who will start from 10th.
World champion Lewis Hamilton and McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen limped around,
failing to register a time in the second session due to mechanical issues. Hamilton
will start the race from 15th, one place behind Kovalainen.
The Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen will begin from seventh and ninth
positions respectively.
Just a few months ago Button and Barrichello looked likely to be out of a job as
Honda quit racing due to the global economic crisis.
But they earned a last minute reprieve when technical guru Ross Brawn line-up
finance to run the team under his name.
Throughout pre-season testing the Brawn cars set the pace as hope began to rise from
the ashes of the Japanese car maker's outfit.
"The last five or six months for both of us have been so tough because from going
from not having a drive or any future in racing to putting it on pole here is just
amazing," Button said.
"This is where we deserve to be I think after the tough times I've had.
"It's been a long time since we've had a car that's been competitive. It was 2006
when I put it on pole here so it's been very tough.
"There are a lot of people who stand by you, which is fantastic, but there are
obviously a few people who don't, and they forget and they don't believe.
"But the important thing is the people in the team believe and that's all we care
about - and they've proven it with this car.
"I think we've done a good job this weekend so far considering the amount of mileage
we've had in the car.
"This is a great moment but obviously not the most important moment of the weekend,"
Button said.
Brawn, whose white cars arrived in Melbourne without sponsors, lured last minute
backing from Virgin.
Company boss Sir Richard Branson paraded down pit lane to announce his support on
Saturday and the cars emerged for qualifying sporting his red logo.
Barrichello said the new money was critical if Brawn were to maintain their position
at the head of the field throughout the season.
"I was very glad to see Virgin signing us this morning because it now means we have
the attitude on the team to carry on," Barrichello said.
"That could have been the problem during the year. I think this car will be very,
very good for the first four races but definitely we need to have things coming in
to keep on going."
Vettel was delighted after a dismal practice session on Friday when he encountered a
mechanical problem in the first session then made a mistake and spun out in the
second.
"This is for sure a good starting point but (for) points tomorrow we will have to
work hard," he said.
Vettel echoed several drivers who were concerned about visibility in the setting sun
during a twilight race.
"It was tricky, for instance you go down the main straight, the sun is very low, you
cannot see the white line for instance when you exit the pits so you just keep right
and hope you are far enough to the right.
"The same if you go to turn three with the trees, it's quite tricky as you have a
lot of shadows there," he said.