2009 Malaysian Grand Prix

Championship standings

Button leads the championship by two points from teammate Barrichello after a 1–2 debut for Brawn GP at Melbourne. Jarno Trulli of Toyota is third. Brawn lead the Constructors’ Championship by seven points from Toyota.

Previous race

At Melbourne, Button led all 58 laps from pole to give Brawn GP a debut win, with Barrichello second. The race finished under the safety car after a collision between Vettel and Kubica on lap 56 eliminated both. Trulli took third on the road but was later penalised — and then reinstated — in a controversy dubbed “Liegate” after McLaren’s Hamilton was disqualified for misleading stewards. Vettel was handed a ten-place grid penalty for Malaysia for causing the collision.

Between-race developments

Vettel’s ten-place grid penalty for the collision with Kubica in Australia carries forward to Malaysia. Barrichello takes a five-place penalty here for a gearbox change.

Entrants

The race start time is moved forward two hours to 15:00 local time, with organisers declining to hold a night race for budgetary reasons.

Practice

Williams and Ferrari set the early pace. Rosberg and Nakajima went first and second in FP1. Ferrari’s Räikkönen and Massa were quickest in FP2, where Räikkönen’s car began billowing smoke — reportedly from an overheating KERS unit — after 18 laps.