Button takes pole position in Malaysia

Jenson Button set a searing pace once again for Brawn GP as he secured pole position for the Formula One newcomers in tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

The British driver clocked a time of one minute 35.181 seconds to secure the fifth pole position of his career and his second in as many weeks.

Jarno Trulli will line up alongside Button on the front row of the grid after finishing second with a lap of 1min 35.273sec in the closing seconds.

Timo Glock recorded only the fifth best time in final qualifying but will be third on the grid in his Toyota as a result of penalties handed out to Sebastian Vettel and Rubens Barrichello.

Lewis Hamilton’s miserable week continued with the world champion due to start 12th after failing to negotiate the second stint of qualifying.

But perhaps the biggest surprise was Felipe Massa, who will start near the rear of the field in 16th after failing to get his Ferrari through the first qualifying period.

FIA Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Leading Grid Positions after Qualifying: 1 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 1min 35.181secs, 2 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:35.273, 3 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:35.690, 4 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:35.750, 5 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:35.797, 6 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:36.106, 7 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:36.170, 8 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 1:35.651, 9 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:37.659, 10 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:34.769, 11 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:34.788, 12 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:34.905, 13 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1:35.518, 14 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 1:34.924, 15 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:35.431, 16 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:35.642, 17 Nelson Piquet Jr. (Bra) Renault 1:35.708, 18 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 1:35.908, 19 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:35.951, 20 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:36.107

Note: Sebastian Vettel, who qualified 3rd, and Rubens Barrichello, who qualified 4th, have received 10 and 5-place grid penalties and therefore, will start from 13th and 8th places respectively.