BRAWN GP's Jenson Button was grateful to have come out on top in a 'crazy' rain-shortened Malaysian Grand Prix, with just 32 laps completed and only half points awarded.

BMW’s Nick Heidfeld was second and Toyota’s Timo Glock was third.
This was the first race stopped short due to weather conditions since the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix, and the first to result in distribution of only half the points since the 1991 Australian Grand Prix in similar monsoon conditions.

Under Formula One rules, only half points are awarded if less than three-quarters of the scheduled race distance is completed. The race was red flagged after 32 of the scheduled 56 laps, with results reverting back to the penultimate lap, in this case lap 31.

After the red flag came out, cars and drivers sat on the grid for 50 minutes, with a restart possible if conditions improved. However the race director eventually ruled the race would not restart.

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
After starting from his fifth career pole, Button was delighted to follow up his win in the opening race last week in Australia with another triumph.

“My start was pretty bad, I had a lot of oversteer in the car and I don’t think I got heat into the rear tyres. I went back to fourth, got back up to third and eventually got back to the front and I was pretty happy,” he said.

“Our pace was good and then the rain started. Choosing the tyres became difficult because when it rains here it usually pours, but it didn’t to start with. We went for the full wet tyre and it just destroyed itself.

“I saw Timo flying up behind us on the inter so we put the inter on. Just as he came by I saw his tyres were bald. It was raining out the back so he had to pit.

“I was then able to get one lap in at reasonable pace before I had to pit and was able to get back out in front.

“It was a very interesting race but I still haven’t seen a chequered flag without a safety car.”

Heidfeld, who finished down in 10th last week in Melbourne, was delighted to claim second place and four championship points after battling his way from 10th on the grid.

“It was very difficult to make choices in these conditions,” he said. “I didn’t make the perfect tyre choices as I went straight to extras as there is normally heavy rainfall here.

“The team then told me there was heavy ran expected but I told them intermediates would be quicker and then when they told me to pit, it started to rain heavier and it was just 200m from the pit entry so I decided to stay out and preserve my tyres.

Results from the Malaysian Grand Prix:
1. Jenson Button (Britain) Brawn - Mercedes 1h 10m 59.092s
2. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber +00:22.700
3. Timo Glock (Germany) Toyota 00:23.500
4. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 00:46.100
5. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Brawn - Mercedes 00:47.300
6. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull - Renault 00:52.300
7. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren - Mercedes 01:00.700
8. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams - Toyota 01:11.500
9. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 01:16.900
10. Sebastien Bourdais (France) Toro Rosso - Ferrari 01:42.100
11. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 01:49.300
12. Kazuki Nakajima (Japan) Williams - Toyota 01:57.000
13. Nelson Piquet (Brazil) Renault 01:57.500
14. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 02:23.100
15. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) RedBull - Renault 1 lap
16. Sebastien Buemi (Switzerland) Toro Rosso - Ferrari 1 lap
17. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India - Mercedes 1 lap
18. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Force India - Mercedes 2 laps
r. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber 30 laps
r. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) McLaren - Mercedes 31 laps

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