2009 Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix
I was extremely fortunate to be able to attend the 2009 Australian Grand Prix, what an amazing event! The qualifying on Saturday afternoon was amazingly exciting, with the Brawn team getting the top two places on the grid. This team has been very cool to watch, since they basically did not exist until last month, and didn't even have a sponsor until just a few days ago!The weekend started off with, amazingly, a walk down pit lane a few days before the race. This was really an incredible experience, one I doubt I'll ever be able to do again!
Jamie and I went to see the qualifying on Saturday, which was exceptionally great. The most interesting thing about this was that you never know where the cars stand until after they cross the line, and then there are other cars behind them that may still get faster times. Cars come and go at random during the qualifying laps, and they are scattered all over the track so that someone is always crossing the start/finish line and the ranks are constantly changing. Each time Brawn got the top two spots, everyone cheered wildly.
The race itself kicked serious ass. The weather could not have been better, and the energy and excitment in the stand was fantastic. Seeing Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello take first and second place for Brawn was quite incredible, even though old favorites like Ferrari did poorly. Button held a significant lead throughout the whole race, and really deserved to win. Barrichello drove well too, but ended up in 2nd place mostly due to crash near the end of the race.
We had fabulous seats which gave us a prime view of all the important developments, from qualifying all the way through to the champaign at the end. No pictures can capture the atmosphere here, but take a look anyway :)
