Alonso, Ferrari looking for more momentum in Australia

When F1 kicked off its 2009 season with the Australian Grand Prix, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello gave Brawn GP a 1-2 finish in the team's debut. Button won six of the first seven grand prix last year, en route to his first world championship. Brawn also claimed the constructors' title in convincing style.

Will Ferrari follow the same route as Brawn did last year?

After a disappointing season last year, it appears Ferrari is back on track with its program. Alonso left Renault and jumped into a championship- contending car at Ferrari this season. He joins Felipe Massa, who has made a remarkable comeback after a high speed crash in qualifying at Hungary last July shortened his season.

"The one-two win in Sakhir gave us confidence and was a great result, but we can't take anything for granted," Alonso said. "We have to keep our feet on the ground, keep calm and stay concentrated. In Melbourne, we're starting from square one."

Alonso won the Australian GP during his second consecutive F1 championship season with Renault in 2006.

After winning the title last year, Button moved over to McLaren and teamed up with 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton. Button finished seventh in his debut with McLaren in Bahrain.

"We learned some very useful lessons about the MP4-25 [car] in the opening race, and the whole team is keen to put them into practice this weekend," Button said.

Hamilton looked impressive in Bahrain with a third-place finish. The Briton won the Australian GP in 2008.

"I've always enjoyed Albert Park," Button said. "I had a great race here on my Formula One debut in 2007, won the race a year later and made full use of KERS to drive through the field there last year."

Thanks in part to some of new rule changes this year, the Bahrain GP turned out to be a lackluster event.

Starting this year, teams are prohibited from refueling their cars after they have left pit lane prior to the start of a grand prix. In Bahrain, teams were in and out of their pit stalls in seconds after taking on new tires only.

Sebastian Vettel started on the pole and led two-thirds of the 49-lap Bahrain GP, but Vettel lost power and gave up the lead to Alonso.

If it weren't for Vettel's unfortunate mishap late in the race, the Bahrain GP would have been a bummer. Hopefully, the Australian GP will be a bit livelier.