From GMM

The newly Virgin-branded Brawn's winter testing victory translated on Saturday into locking out the front row of the grid for the 2009 season opener.

After Williams' Nico Rosberg captured the fastest times in all three pre-qualifying practice sessions, Jenson Button shifted into a higher gear to capture pole in Australia.

His teammate Rubens Barrichello was three tenths slower but still a comfortable second, as Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel joined the white-overalled drivers from Brackley in the post-session press conference.

Lewis Hamilton's first weekend as reigning world champion went from bad to worse in qualifying: yet again slower than his McLaren teammate, and forced to sit out 'Q2' with what he disconsolately told reporters was a broken component in the rear of his MP4-24.

A year after winning at Albert Park, he is fifteenth on the grid, one place behind the sister McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen, who on Saturday was quicker only than the slow Toro Rossos, Force Indias and Nelson Piquet.

Elsewhere, the field is incredibly closely matched and equally hard to read: BMW's Nick Heidfeld is seven places behind his teammate, Rosberg eight places ahead of Kazuki Nakajima, and local driver Mark Webber seven places behind Vettel.

The struggling Ferraris are just seventh and ninth on the grid, while neither Renault graduated into the top-ten runout.

QUALIFYING RESULTS:
(Driver, Car, Team, Time, Car Weight)
1. Row
Jenson Button (Brawn BGP001-Mercedes) - 1'26"202; 664.5kg
Rubens Barrichello (Brawn BGP001-Mercedes) - 1'26"505; 666.5kg
2. Row
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB5-Renault) - 1'26"830; 657kg
Robert Kubica (BMW F1.09) - 1'26"914; 650kg
3. Row
Nico Rosberg (Williams FW31-Toyota) - 1'26"973; 657kg
Timo Glock (Toyota TF109) - 1'26"975; 670kg
4. Row
Felipe Massa (Ferrari F60) - 1'27"033; 654kg
Jarno Trulli (Toyota TF109) - 1'27"127; 660kg
5. Row
Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F60) - 1'27"163; 655.5kg
Mark Webber (Red Bull RB5-Renault) - 1'27"246; 662kg
6. Row
Nick Heidfeld (BMW F1.09) - 1'25"504; 691.5kg
Fernando Alonso (Renault R29) - 1'25"605; 680.7kg
7. Row
Kazuki Nakajima (Williams FW31-Toyota) - 1'25"607; 685.3kg
Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren MP4/24-Mercedes) - 1'25"726; 690.6kg
8. Row
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/24-Mercedes) - no time; 655kg
Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso STR4-Ferrari) - 1'26"503; 675.5kg
9. Row
Nelson Piquet (Renault R29) - 1'26"598; 694.1kg
Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India VJM02-Mercedes) - 1'26"677; 689kg
10. Row
Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM02-Mercedes) - 1'26"742; 684.5kg
Sebastien Bourdais (Toro Rosso STR4-Ferrari) - 1'26"964; 662.5kg
**Unofficial Timing**