Jenson Button, the whiz kid of late 90s gokarting, who found himself in a Formula One car at the precocious age of 20.

He would probably never have guessed the nine bleak years that would follow, 155 races with a single lucky win in Hungary, punctuated by mediocre or downright horrible racing cars.

His ascendancy to the highest rung of motor racing also happened to coincide with the rise of a particular team led by his current boss Ross Brawn: Scuderia Ferrari.

Awakening from a slumber of almost twenty years, Ferrari came to dominate Formula One like no one had before.

But this scruffy British kid has now been paired with a sublime car and a boss whose giant brain is certainly helpful for building a winning team. With a manic, courageous drive which took him from 14th place to 5th, Jenson Button claimed the 2009 Formula One world championship in high style at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

A beautiful way to end a season tarred and slimed by mischief and mayhem, a season which saw a shakeup of the established order like few seasons ever have, a season which spelled the righteous end of Ron Dennis and Flavio Briatore.

And it’s a season which is not even over yet. November 1 will see the inaugural Formula One race at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit, where Button and his constructor’s champion Brawn GP team will have a chance to say a relaxed farewell to a season to remember.

Or maybe not: also up for grabs is second place in the driver’s championship and Button’s teammate Rubens Barrichello (embraced on the picture above by Button’s father John) maintains but a two point lead over young hotshot Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull.

Photo Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images, Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Button went to Japan with a 15-point lead on his teammate Barrichello as Sebastian Vettel—very fast but prone to the errors of the young—looked increasingly less of a credible challenger. Twenty-five points behind with thirty to grab in three races, Red Bull’s driver faced an uphill battle.

He began his working weekend by setting pole on Saturday with a time of 1:32.160, 60 milliseconds clear of Toyota’s Jarno Trulli, with McLaren’s incumbent champion Lewis Hamilton a further 175 milliseconds behind.

Photo Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images

The legs you are looking at belong to Timo Glock, Jarno Trulli’s teammate at Toyota, who finished second at the previous race in Singapore. He injured his left calf in a crash during practice and couldn’t drive in the race.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Vettel had the advantage of pole position, but could not afford to finish at anything worse than 4th to retain even a sliver of chance for this year’s title. Which would be no mean feat, as Vettel celebrated his 22nd birthday on July 3rd—if he became world champion, he would be by far the youngest champion the sport has ever seen.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Because he knows Jay Leno has a great many fast cars which he likes to drive at speed, Vettel performed a ritual transformation into The Chin as he put on his fire-retardant mask.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

And the race is on! As you can see in the lower right corner, Lewis Hamilton, driving the KERS-powered McLaren, pulled in dangerously close to Vettel from his position of 3rd on the grid. Vettel can thank Jarno Trulli, seen in his red and white Toyota on the left, for holding Hamilton slightly back. While Hamilton was at one point nosing ahead of Vettel, he was on the outside line, allowing Vettel to turn first into the first corner. This was to be a position he would never relinquish, not even for a single pitstop.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Proving how fast he is when he doesn’t have to deal with traffic, Vettel quickly built up an impressive lead as he was chased by Lewis Hamilton and Jarno Trulli.

Photo Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Hamilton ran in second place for almost half of the race, having overtaking Trulli at the start, but he was never in a position to challenge for the lead.

Then came his first pitstop. McLaren threw down the gauntlet with a scorcher of a tire change and refueling at 6.7 seconds—with Jarno Trulli, running third, due for his own stop in the next lap.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Toyota rose to the occasion: they swapped out Trulli’s slicks and refueled him in 6.6 seconds. Combined with the time he gained on Hamilton during his last, fast lap out, this was enough of a margin to allow Trulli to return in front of Hamilton. The Toyota pit crew was absolutely overjoyed. Trulli would manage to hold on to his position to take the 11th podium of his 12-year career.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Here’s Jenson Button, driving out of the points after a lackluster qualifying session and a poor start. Pure luck would return him to 8th place, worth a single point: a fight ahead of him between Adrian Sutil of Force India and Heikki Kovalainen of McLaren culminated in a spin, allowing Button to slip by. He finished at 8th, one place behind teammate Rubens Barrichello, who thus gained a point on him. Brawn GP would end the race needing half a point to claim the constructor’s championship.

Photo Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Poor Mark Webber, already out of the challenge for the world title, had to start from the pitlane after a botched qualification and was already on his second or third pitstop by lap five. Red Bull Racing used the opportunity to recall him to the pits a number of times during the race to test various aerodynamic bits: you’ll remember that in this season, testing is not allowed outside of race weekends.

Red Bull did a splendid job. Running dead last in 17th place with two laps down on the rest of the field, Webber set the race’s fastest lap on lap 50 with a time of 1:32.569.

Photo Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Just as things were becoming a tad boring, Bernie Ecclestone—sitting in his supervillain mansion on the island of Thule in the Southern Ocean—pressed the ACCIDENT button on his control panel. Toro Rosso’s 19-year-old Jaime Alguersuari promptly disintegrated an advertising board and stuck his car nose first into the tire barrier. The Spanish kid emerged just fine, but as the track was now littered with carbon fiber, it was time to fire up the 6.3-liter V8 in the AMG Benz safety car.

Photo Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images

The race stewards performed with clockwork Japanese precision, but it still took them five laps to clear the track, chilling everyone’s tires. Fun was provided by safety car driver Bernd Mayländer, who let the big Benz rip, sending big gargles of V8 down the trackside microphones.

Photo Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Nothing remained for the last few laps: Robert Kubica threatened Button for a while but then backed off, allowing him to grab his single point—and Vettel his full ten for the 4th win of his career. He was manic with joy. The photo above was preceded by one hell of a chest bump, captured by the cameraman to the right. If you watch the race on tape, keep an eye out for it!

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

One of these days, racing drivers will have to abandon Dan Gurney’s great invention if they don’t want to end up cross-posted to our sister site of smut, Fleshbot.

Photo Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Come to think of it again: too late. Call the San Fernando Valley—or better yet, Budapest!

Photo Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images

The saddest man on the entire island of Honshu! In a repeat of last weekend’s performance, Toyota inched ever closed to its first win in Formula One. But similarly to Timo Glock’s second, Jarno Trulli could not claim victory. He was full of praise for his team and his injured teammate, a stark contrast with the ever aloof Lewis Hamilton, who blamed nothing but his car for his third place.

Sebastian Vettel is now 16 points down on Jenson Button with two races to go and a maximum of twenty points to gain. Two years ago, Kimi Räikkönen was down 17 points as Formula One went to its penultimate race in Shanghai—but two flawless victories and Lewis Hamilton’s rookie shakes made him world champion by one point over Hamilton and teammate Fernando Alonso.

Let’s see if Vettel can do the same. He’s got his work cut out for him: the next race will be on Barrichello’s home turf in Brazil on October 18th.

Photo Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images

The outburst of relief does make you wonder if Webber had for the past 22 races or so spent time thinking about another racing driver from the Southern Hemisphere: Chris Amon.

Born in New Zealand to a sheep farmer, Amon raced in Formula One for 14 years, entered 108 races, stood on the podium 11 times—but never won a single grand prix. And it’s not like he was a bad driver. He was racing the GT40 that gave Ford its first victory at Le Mans, paired with fellow Kiwi Bruce McLaren.

Photo Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Photo Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Photo Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Proper Aussie accessories!

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Photo Credit: Getty Images

At the top of the podium.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

The other gent is Mark’s dad, Alan.

Photo Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Photo Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Photo Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Since their upgrade prior to the British Grand Prix three weeks ago and contrary to the utter Brawn domination until then, Red Bull had the upper hand now. After 129 races incresingly dotted by podium finishes, it was Australia’s Mark Webber who took victory—his first ever since debuting in Formula One at his home race in 2002.

The Brawns have shown their Achilles heel yet again: the white-and-fluoro-green battleship is simply too aerodymanic to properly warm its tires on a wet and damp track like the Nürburgring or Silverstone. Adrian Newey’s lithe Red Bulls blazed to victory, with their third all-podium finish in the past three races, two of them 1–2’s.

Last year’s champion Lewis Hamilton had a dismal Sunday after a fine qualifying at 5th: he ran wide at the very first corner, punctured a tire and limped home last.

Webber was obviously overjoyed—but Brawn’s Rubens Barrichello provided a counterpoint. The 37-year-old Brazilian, second in the championship before the race, has fallen back to fourth place after finishing sixth, leapfrogged by both Red Bull drivers. His response was less than diplomatic:

I guess the strategy in the pit lane… it was a good show from the team on how to lose a race today. I’m terribly upset with the way things have gone. I did all I had to do. I went first on the first corner and that’s all I did and then they made me lose the race. If it is really what’s going on, we’re going to end up losing both championships. I feel sorry for myself, the team. To be very honest, I wish I could get on the plane and go home. I don’t want to talk to anyone in the team. It will be all ‘bla bla bla’ and I don’t want to hear that.

His boss with the giant extraterrestrial brain responded with the brutal facts:

Rubens had the 11th fastest time in the race today. You cannot win a race, whatever strategy you have, if your best lap time is the 11th quickest.

And while Ross Brawn may have dismissed his driver’s outburst as the words of a frustrated racing driver in the heat of the moment, Barrichello may well remember this interview with Brawn back in 2001.

Formula One is coming to Hungary in two weeks to race at the slow and dusty cauldron of the Hungaroring. With the Budapest midsummer approaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit, it should be Brawn territory—and it is the scene of Jenson Button’s only win outside this season, at a wet and wacky 2006 race.

After nine races, Jenson Button still leads the championship with 68 points, followed by Sebastian Vettel with 47 and Mark Webber with 45.5. Rubens Barrichello is fourth with 44. These same men have buoyed the points of their constructors: Brawn's 112 and Red Bull's 92.5 are clear ahead of Toyota at third place with 34.5.

Kimi Räikkönen

Ferrari’s world champion Finn is pretty damn far from a good season this year, not even finishing the German Grand Prix, but have you seen a photo this close and visceral since Juan Manuel Fangio in his Mercedes-Benz W196?

Photo Credit: TORSTEN SILZ/AFP/Getty Images

Sebastian Vettel

It will probably be possible to take utterly boyish portraits of Red Bull’s ultra-fast young German well into the next decade.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Christian Horner (Red Bull’s team principal) and Mark Webber. Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Men would kill for Webber’s jawline. Women, too.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

The start of the race

And they’re off! Lewis Hamilton on the right in his silver McLaren is milliseconds from fucking it all up after a fine qualifying at fifth.

Photo Credit: FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

Ari Vatanen

If you’re a Finnish voter, you may know this man as a retired member of the European Parliament, having served from 1999 to 2009. If you’re a petrolhead, you’ll know his as a rally god and the star of Climb Dance, that ten-minute epic about the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. He may follow in Max Mosley’s footsteps this fall as the embattled president of FIA prepares to step down.

Photo Credit: SASCHA SCHUERMANN/AFP/Getty Images

Kimi Räikkönen

Yes, he is dozing through the season but he drives a red car. Isn’t it just splendid to look at?

Photo Credit: GUILLAUME BAPTISTE/AFP/Getty Images

Webber, Räikkönen and Adrian Sutil

Later in the race, ice-cream-man Räikkönen would bump into Force India’s Sutil, seen here emitting a cloud of smoke, and take him out of the race. What a shame.

Photo Credit: FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

Mark Webber

Two weeks after hanging out with motorcyclists, Mark Webber is driving his flat-nosed Red Bull home to his first grand prix victory. Fancy job, mate.

Photo Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Mark Webber after the race

Overcome with the magnificence of it all, Webber stands after his win in front of thick Eifel Mountains rainclouds after becoming only the 102nd man on Earth to win a Formula One grand prix. The first one was Nino Farina at the 1950 British Grand Prix.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Mark Webber

This week, the obligatory misuse of architectural imaging equipment sees our Aussie hero of the week taking a corner.

Photo Credit: FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton

Slow car, pretty picture.

Photo Credit: FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

Bernie Ecclestone

“Hey, Slavica, are you there?”

“What do you want, Bernie? We’re divorced.”

“I know, love, but I need your advice on how to look very evil.”

“Easy peasy, just skip on the hairspray on your right side.”

“That all?”

“Yes, Bernie. Then find a spot of wind and wink into it.”

“Fabulous. Honey, fancy a meet next week on my powerboa—”

BEEP…BEEP…BEEP

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

There has only been a single man who has won world championships on both motorcycles and in racing cars: John Surtees.

He was the man to beat on bikes in the 1950s. He won an incredible 38 of the 49 Grands Prix he entered and became world champion seven times in two classes, riding Nortons and MV Agustas. He then switched to cars and won the Formula One world championship for Ferrari when Jimmy Clark’s Lotus 25 died on him on the last lap of a wacky 1964 Mexican Grand Prix.

Apart from Valentino Rossi’s flirting with Ferrari a few years back, modern drivers don’t experiment with the number of wheels they ride. Mark Webber is no exception. The photos you’re about to see were taken at a Superbike World Championship at Donington Park, the site of next year’s British Grand Prix.

Mr. Webber has kindly agreed to provide commentary for which we cannot be thankful enough.

Okay, so they are racing weird machines here but certain elements suggest we are still at a motor race. Good. Yamaha grid girls!

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Yes, Jonathan [Rea, driver for Ten Kate Honda – Ed], but do you have a lever that launches a homing missile on Ross Brawn’s brain in outer space?

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Honda. Hmm! Not much of a future in F1—or is there? Wait, I think I’ve found that lever for the anti-Brawn missile after all. Excellent.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

It’s reassuring that tire cozies are not exclusive to Formula One. Such sissiness pinned on a single category would be terrible.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Oh, great. These people wear Brawn GP team colors. I just bet Ross is picking my brain this very minute. Mate, unplug now, willya?

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Is that down under macho enough or shall I grab the girl in green with the umbrella?

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

I may be making a silly face but you will not be keeping keep my Red Bull hat for long, motorcycle boy [Tom Sykes of Team Yamaha – Ed], oh no you won’t.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

These guys are fast but I am faster.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Photography is complicated enough as it is, but when you add a lens that purposely manipulates the plane of focus or meddles with parallel lines, full comprehension will require a trip to the Physics section of your local bookstore to familiarize yourself with the work of Theodor Scheimpflug. The lenses used to take these photos are highly expensive and the output they produce cannot be used for straight news reportage, yet a handful a sports photographers employ them to capture the visuals of Grand Prix weekends in ways impossible with other equipment. And no, not every tilt-shift photo is a a fake miniature.

Click through for a distorted trip of the past three years of Formula One.

2008 Japanese Grand Prix

Here’s the Red Bull team having fun at Fuji Speedway. This is perhaps the most optically complex photo in our gallery and not only because you are probably spectacularly uninterested in the subjects in the plane of focus.

It’s because the girl’s left cheek also appears to be in focus, yet a blurred field separates it from the Red Bull team members. Physics majors, please explain in the comments.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Kimi Räikkönen, 2009 Monaco Grand Prix

This is classic tilted plane fake miniaturization: the chap in the red car is Kimi Räikkönen, on his way to Ferrari’s only podium finish this year.

Photo Credit: FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

Jenson Button, 2009 Turkish Grand Prix

A tilted focus is great for portraiture: photographer Mark Thompson can direct our gaze to Jenson Button’s left eye at the exclusion of everything else. Button here is consulting with his teammates at the 2009 Turkish Grand Prix, before his crushing victory on race day.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Jenson Button, 2009 British Grand Prix

If you tilt your plane of focus to a narrow vertical field, you can isolate a race car with sudden clarity. Jenson Button is seen here during free practice at last weekend’s British Grand Prix, where he lost by a wide margin to Red Bull’s flying Sebastian Vettel.

Photo Credit: FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

Felipe Massa, 2007 Monaco Grand Prix

Let’s see some Ferraris: Felipe Massa is seen here sharing a plane of focus with a bunch of yachts in Monaco harbor. He is on his way to finish third behind the twin McLarens of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.

Photo Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Michael Schumacher, 2008 German Grand Prix

Ferrari personnel in their red getups make for great photos: here’s Michael Schumacher at last year’s German Grand Prix, looking very excited as he’s sandwiched in between two aesthetic crimson blobs as the sole punk in blue jeans.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Kimi Räikkönen, 2009 Turkish Grand Prix

Ferraris may suck this season, but even parked and hooked up to computers, they look gorgeous. 2007 world champion Kimi Räikkönen is about to go for a practice run at a race he would finish outside the points. Notice how the tilted plane renders everything but Räikkönen’s head and the yellow Scuderia Ferrari badge out of focus.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Kimi Räikkönen, 2007 British Grand Prix

Last Ferrari photo, but look at the fancy British clouds, sharp only where they line up with the starting grid of Silverstone, which photographer Clive Mason chose as his plane of focus. Kimi Räikkönen is seen here in happier times: he is about to qualify second in the 2007 British Grand Prix, a race he would win on his way to claim the 2007 championship.

Photo Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Timo Glock, 2009 Bahrain Grand Prix

This photo captures like no other Mercedes-Benz’s renowned racing manager Alfred Neubauer’s observation that the racing driver is the loneliest creature in the universe. Neubauer invented pit signaling to remedy this, taking his Mercedes-Benz team to a hail of victories over three decades, while photographer Fred Dufour used a tilt lens to show Toyota’s Timo Glock practicing for the 2009 Bahrain Grand Prix.

Photo Credit: FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

David Coulthard, 2008 German Grand Prix

It’s Mr. Jawbone right there in his Red Bull, in the waning months of his long career. Wearing a flameproof balaclava, he is a lone white human figure in a scaffolding of wire and carbon fiber suspension parts.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Sebastian Vettel, 2009 Bahrain Grand Prix

Contrary to what you can read on the pit wall, this is David Coulthard’s successor Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull RB5 car, leaving the pits at the 2009 Bahrain Grand Prix.

Photo Credit: FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

Hamilton, Heidfeld, Fisichella and Alonso, 2009 Spanish Grand Prix

You can also use a tilt-shift lens to cut through the clutter of people at a press conference, picking out those that your viewers are probably most interested in: bitter 2007 rivals Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, shown here at a press conference three days before the 2009 Spanish Grand Prix.

Photo Credit: FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

Red Bull’s Guests, 2007 Italian Grand Prix

Like any other photographic technique, a tilted plane of focus can be used to capture gratuitous shots of young women. These blondes are guests of Red Bull at the 2007 Italian Grand Prix and judging solely on appearance, they are hopped up on the team’s signature soft drink.

Photo Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Jenson Button, 2009 British Grand Prix

And we’re back to toy cars. While photographer Fred Dufour probably did not know at the time he took this picture, Jenson Button’s usually dominant Brawn would actually be relegated to toy car status during last weekend’s British Grand Prix, as Red Bull’s upgraded RB5’s stormed the field, taking their second 1–2 victory of the season.

Photo Credit: FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

Sebastian Vettel, 2008 German Grand Prix

Black and white? Art! Focusing in a slanted plane on Sebastian Vettel’s face shows just how young Red Bull’s superfast German really is: he was born on July 3, 1987. When this photo was taken, he'd only been old enought to have a beer in America for less than two weeks.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Fernando Alonso, 2009 Monaco Grand Prix

For a final tilted image, here’s one for pure aesthetic awesomeness. Fernando Alonso is taking the Grand Hotel Hairpin of the Monaco street circuit in the Renault during free practice at this year’s grand prix.

Photo Credit: FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

New to the informational deluge of Formula One this season is a table of pre-race car weights published on the official Formula One website. The published weights include car, driver and fuel, helping the erudite and mathematically inclined viewer separate a car’s performance from the hydrocarbons and the sole human sloshing inside.

Here is the table for last Sunday’s British Grand Prix, expressed in kilograms (multiply by 2.2 to get pounds):

1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 666.5
2. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP, 657.5
3. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 659.5
4. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 658
5. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 652.5
6. Jenson Button, Brawn GP, 657.5
7. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 661.5
8. Timo Glock, Toyota, 660
9. Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari, 654
10. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 654
11. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 675
12. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber, 689.5
13. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 695.5
14. Nelson Piquet, Renault, 682.5
15. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 665.5
16. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India, 668
17. Sébastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso, 687.5
18. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 692
19. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 666
20. Sébastien Buemi, Toro Rosso, 672.5

As the combined weight of Sebastian Vettel, his load of fuel and his Red Bull RB5 race car is within rounding error of the Number of the Beast, one cannot help but wonder whether his hat trick of pole position, fastest lap and race win were achieved with netherworldly help.

He certainly looked like a man who had borrowed Lucifer’s great leather wings for the last sixty laps of F1 racing Silverstone will witness for the foreseeable future.

You will also notice that down at the bottom of the grid, BMW’s Nick Heidfeld and McLaren’s defending champion Lewis Hamilton share Vettel’s hexakosioihexekontahexaphilic heft. It only goes to show that a pact with the devil is never as simple as is looks.

Source: The Official Formula 1 Website. Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

We'll let Red Bull Air Race commenter, Nick Fellows and former Air Race pilot, Steve Jones explain the course and the obstacles the daring Red Bull pilots will face this year.

Image credit: Flickr [via Red Bull]

Felipe Massa of Brazil and Ferrari comes in for a pitstop during the Turkish Formula One Grand Prix at Istanbul Park on June 7, 2009, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Jenson Button of Great Britain and Brawn GP drives on his way to winning the Turkish Formula One Grand Prix at Istanbul Park on June 7, 2009, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Photo Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Sebastian Vettel of Germany and Red Bull Racing is surrounded by photographers on the grid before the start of Turkish Formula One Grand Prix at Istanbul Park on June 7, 2009, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Renault Team Principal Flavio Briatore (center rear) talks at a meeting of Formula One Team Principals and drivers in the Toyota motorhome ahead of the Turkish Formula One Grand Prix at Istanbul Park on June 7, 2009, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

(L-R) Renault Team Principal Flavio Briatore, Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner and supermodel Naomi Campbell are seen on the grid before the Turkish Formula One Grand Prix at Istanbul Park on June 7, 2009, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Jenson Button of Great Britain and Brawn GP tries to keep cool on the grid before the Turkish Formula One Grand Prix at Istanbul Park on June 7, 2009, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Photo Credit: Paul Gilham/Getty Images

Sebastian Vettel (R) of Germany and Red Bull Racing leads Jenson Button (L) of Great Britain and Brawn GP into the first corner at the start of the Turkish Formula One Grand Prix at Istanbul Park on June 7, 2009, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Photo Credit: Paul Gilham/Getty Images

Felipe Massa of Brazil and Ferrari tries to keep cool on the grid before the Turkish Formula One Grand Prix at Istanbul Park on June 7, 2009, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Photo Credit: Paul Gilham/Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and McLaren Mercedes tries to keep cool on the grid before the Turkish Formula One Grand Prix at Istanbul Park on June 7, 2009, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Drivers take the start of the Turkish Formula One Grand Prix, at the Istanbul Park circuit on June 7, 2009 in Istanbul.

Photo Credit: FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

Jenson Button of Great Britain and Brawn GP celebrates in parc fermé after winning the Turkish Formula One Grand Prix at Istanbul Park on June 7, 2009, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Photo Credit: Paul Gilham/Getty Images

Mark Webber of Australia and Red Bull Racing celebrates with champagne and trophy after finishing second in the Turkish Formula One Grand Prix at Istanbul Park on June 7, 2009, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Jenson Button of Great Britain and Brawn GP leads from Sebastian Vettel of Germany and Red Bull Racing during the Turkish Formula One Grand Prix at Istanbul Park on June 7, 2009, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Photo Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images

Jenson Button of Great Britain and Brawn GP celebrates with team mates in the paddock after winning the Turkish Formula One Grand Prix at Istanbul Park on June 7, 2009, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Sebastian Vettel of Germany and Red Bull Racing drives on his way to finishing third in the Turkish Formula One Grand Prix at Istanbul Park on June 7, 2009, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Photo Credit: Paul Gilham/Getty Images

Brawn GP's British driver Jenson Button drives ahead of Red Bull's German driver Sebastian Vettel at the Istanbul Park circuit on June 7, 2009 in Istanbul, during the Turkish Formula One Grand Prix.

Photo Credit: FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

Brawn GP's British driver Jenson Button drives at the Istanbul Park circuit on June 7, 2009 in Istanbul, during the Turkish Formula One Grand Prix.

Photo Credit: MUSTAFA OZER/AFP/Getty Images

Although we're not positive if this is a forum troll or an honest-to-goodness recollection of an epic failure, but here's the breakdown from the top. Catch the thread here.

Gixxer.com user/Rainman "sti2gsxr" started off the party by posting about some mechanical issues he's been having recently:

My bike was running like crap on my way home from work so I stopped at a gas station to get some NOS. I poured in 2 bottles and rode it home. Well I don't think it helped because it ran even worse on the way home and now it won't start. Any ideas?

Sti2gsxr proceeds to describe the two 20 oz. bottles that he poured directly into his gas tank, which is a dead on account of the popular energy drink, not the fuel additive. The thread spirals out of control after that; harnessing the power of the internet to spread his feat over the entire spectrum of car forums, drawing enthusiasts from every orifice of the digital world, including 4Chan.

Speaking of 4Chan, one of its illustrious members decided it proper to create a comic strip in honor of this special occasion. We've included it to the left as it is nearly essential to the enjoyment of this cavalcade of hilarity.

This spectacle went as far as earning a spot in Wikipedia under the NOS entry. Oh how quickly an act can go from a huge personal failure, to forum fuel, and eventually to document historical event.

Hat tip to Shardool!

In his typical "Rally Leviathan" style, Travis Pastrana nabbed his third win this season with almost a minute lead between him and second place finisher Tanner Foust. Andrew "Antilag Alarm Clock" Comrie-Picard picked up a third place finish — especially interesting considering Comrie-Picard ate tree during the practice stage. Pastrana's Subaru Factory teammate Ken Block was dramatically removed from the standings on Day Two after an 80 MPH flat tire did him in and left Block with a fractured control arm. Dave Mirra scored a first place finish in the Super Production class; walking away from the event with both his first rally win and a drop-forged cast iron grin.

We're betting on an underdog upset at one of these upcoming rallies; a real David Vs. Goliath moment. Even though he was taken out of this weekend's event due to a very blown engine, our chips are on racing wunderkind and Jalop-You-Never-Knew-Existed Matthew Johnson in his hyper-chromatic technicolor Subaru WRX at a post-X Games rally. You heard it here first.

Sit tight and follow our RallyAmerica tag for the upcoming gonzo coverage of the 2009 Oregon Trail Rally including our mega-gallery plus a smattering of tasty bonus features.

Photog Credit: Alex C. Conley

Whispers of team orders clouds a brainy race in Barcelona, where most of the action happened in the pits and in the tactical computers. Warning: spoilers below.

Spanish Grands Prix tend to be boring affairs. Held on the Circuit de Catalunya, more a motorcycle and testing track than one for spectacular racing, most GP’s here are rather dull. This year’s event, which saw Jenson Button make it four wins out of five races, was far from dull, but most of the action happened not on the track, but in the pits—and in the impenetrable, alien brain of Ross Brawn.

It started off well enough. Button, having grabbed pole on Saturday in the last seconds of qualifying, was passed on the way to Turn One by a resurgent Barrichello from third place. Then followed a mild accident, televisable but not particularly exciting, which decimated the rear of the field (both Toro Rossos, Jarno Trulli of Toyota, Adrian Sutil of Force India and Heikki Kovalainen of McLaren were out) and resulted in an safety car period which would prove decisive.

Unlike the rest of the field on their two stop strategies, the Brawns of Button and Barrichello were on three stops: three quick nips of fuel followed by scorching laps in a permanently light car. Following the safety car period, however, championship leader Button was put on two stops and he made the most of it, putting in blistering laps at the head of the field. Barrichello meanwhile, in a lighter car, lost precious seconds after his second pitstop, ultimately leading to his finishing by 13 seconds behind Button.

Whatever happened in those decisive laps—tire trouble, slow driving, team orders—the veteran Brazilian was very unhappy. This was to be his first win since the 2004 Chinese Grand Prix in what may be his last season in Formula One. A hugely selfless man, he played second fiddle to Michael Schumacher in Ferrari’s dominant years. Years when Ferrari’s strategy was determined by no other than Ross Brawn, the man who runs his current team.

Everyone at Brawn GP has pointed out immediately that they have no team orders in place—as evidenced, for instance, by Barrichello’s move on Button leading into Turn One—but the mind wonders. While Barrichello is a solid second in a championship with 12 more races to go and while he can be just as quick as Button, he has not won a single race yet in a clearly dominant car. Also, he is nine years Button’s senior, in a sport which favors the ultra-quick reflexes of the young.

Speaking of the young: 21-year-old Sebastian Vettel, driving the marvelous, Adrian Newey-designed Red Bull, had yet another frustrating race, stuck behind the Ferrari of Felipe Massa, whom he could not pass on the narrow circuit as the Brazilian deployed his speed-boosting Kers device in every corner. But make no mistake: Vettel is scramjet quick, as he has already shown in Shanghai. And once he finds himself in a position where he can really stretch his legs, the Brawns will have a young German in a dark blue car rapidly filling their rearview mirrors.

The 2009 Spanish Grand Prix was won by Jenson Button, followed by Rubens Barrichello and Mark Webber of Red Bull. Rounding out the points were Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), Fernando Alonso (Renault), Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Nick Heidfeld (BMW) and Nico Rosberg (Williams). Jenson Button leads the championship with 41 points, followed by teammate Barrichello with 27 and Red Bull’s Vettel by 23. The next race will be held in Monaco on May 24.

Photo Credit: Paul Gilham/Getty Images, GUILLAUME BAPTISTE/AFP/Getty Images, Manu Fernandez/AFP/Getty Images, FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images

The horizon already looked gloomy when the field set off to run the planned 56 laps of the Malaysian Grand Prix. Fat tropical rainclouds darkened the horizon, as Jenson Button on the pole was passed by a nimble Nico Rosberg of Williams for the lead. But the real star of the start was sneaky Fernando Alonso in a heavily fueled Renault, who used his Kers button—the gizmo that stores braking energy as a readily available power pop—to great effect and zoomed throught the field up to third. Alonso then proceeded to hold up most of the field behind him in scenes reminiscent of trains on a railroad track.

The bunch around Alonso provided for gorgeous, fluid racing in the first dozen laps. Cars hugged each other with inches to spare, then a single mistake by Alonso allowed Räikkönen in his Ferrari to rocket by. He was replaced on Alonso’s heels by Red Bull’s Mark Webber—nicely recovered from his balls-freezing time in the cryo chamber—who got into a great game of cat and mouse with the double World Champion, before Alonso solidified his position in fifth. It was motor racing at its most beautiful.

Lap 18 saw a botched move by Ferrari, as they recalled Kimi Räikkönen into the pits to shoe him in full wets—with still no rain on the circuit, only those looming thunderclouds on the horizon. Räikkönen slowed down and dropped to the back of the field.

A few laps later, the rain did start, and the field dashed for the pits—except for a hypersonic Jenson Button, still on slicks with a very light load of fuel. Over two flying laps, he built up enough of a lead to pit for intermediates and come in to lead the race. Another brilliant move by Ross Brawn, similar to but the inverse of his tactics at last year’s British Grand Prix, where he put Barrichello on full wets before the rain really started to fall, which allowed the Brazilian in his abysmal Honda to zoom through the field and take third.

The zooming this time was done by Toyota’s Timo Glock, who was given a set of intermediates for a track half dry and half soaking. Glock was closing in on Button at something like 8 seconds a lap, going through the field like butter.

The rain eased up for a few laps at this point, and Button came into the pits for the fourth time to change for intermediates. He immediately charged up on Timo Glock—who had changed to full wets—and passed him for the lead.

And it was at this point that the rain clouds went medieval. Cars began aquaplaning and the safety car was followed very shortly by a red flag. The drivers pulled into the grid with rain falling in buckets as everyone ran for their lives. The cars were soon swarmed by team personnel in umbrellas, as a nervous Felipe Massa of Ferrari radioed for a new visor to replace his useless, fogged-in one, and was promptly told “Felipe baby, stay cool”.

This he did, along with the rest of the field. Grabbing snacks and drinks, they waited for the rain to stop to no avail. As a Grand Prix has to conclude within 2 hours of its start, all eyes were on the clock. The rain showed signs of abating, and the drivers got back to their cars and then time ran out and a scruffy Button was told that he had just won back-to-back Grands Prix, with Nick Heidfeld in 2nd and Tim Glock in 3rd place. Trulli was 4th, Button’s teammate Rubens Barrichello 5th, with Webber, Hamilton and Rosberg rounding out the points.

Because the race was stopped with less than 75% of the total distance covered, drivers will get half points, similar to what had happened at the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix—scene of a young Ayrton Senna flexing his rain muscles—where Alain Prost took 4.5 points and ended up losing the World Championship to Niki Lauda by half a point.

For the 70 minutes that the cars were out there racing, it was magnificent stuff. The Brawns are great but not boringly dominant, and a number of young teams are lapping at their heels. The season continues on April 19 in Shanghai.

If the 15 remaining races are half as good as these first two were, 2009 will definitely be a year to remember.

Photo Credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images, Paul Gilham/Getty Images, NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images

Sunday's Australian Grand Prix finished with Brawn GP’s Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello in first and second place, with Jarno Trulli of Toyota in third. Soon afterward, Trulli was given a 25-second penalty for passing Hamilton under safety car conditions, pushing him down to 12th place, handing Lewis Hamilton the podium. Until today.

What triggered the whole sequence of events began three laps from the end of the race. Robert Kubica of BMW made a move to pass Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull for second place. Vettel defended his position in an aggressive manner, which led to the front wings of their cars tangling up. After separation, Kubica crashed into a wall, raining debris on the track. The safety car was called in to lead the field until officials could clean up the BMW’s bits.

When the safety car is out, drivers cannot pass each other, except if someone leaves the track. This is what happened at Turn 15, as Jarno Trulli of Toyota—now running in third place after Kubica and Vettel crashed out—ran wide, and Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren passed him. This was captured on video by a spectator. Watch the action unfold in the first five seconds:

The race ended under safety car conditions, with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello in the Brawns first and second—but then Jarno Trulli crossed the finish line in third. Which meant that he must have passed Hamilton on his way in: an illegal move behind the safety car (unless, of course, Hamilton ran wide at some point, akin to Trulli).

No footage exists of Trulli’s re-pass. He got on the podium with Button and Barrichelo, then a few hours after the race, he was promptly given a 25-second penalty for the re-pass, demoting him to 12th place, handing Hamilton the podium finish.

What Trulli had to say:

When the safety car came out towards the end of the race, Hamilton passed me [this is what we can see on the fan footage – Ed.] but soon after he suddenly slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road. I thought he had a problem so I overtook him as there was nothing else I could do.

Hamilton, immediately after the race to Speed TV’s reporter, claimed:

I was forced to go by [referring again to the pass captured on video – Ed.]. I slowed down as much as I could. I was told to let him back past, but I mean…I don’t know if that’s the regulations, and if it isn’t, then I should have really had third.

However, this is apparently not what he told the race stewards in his testimony of the incident—which was the testimony the steward partly based their penalty of Trulli on. There is no direct quote to be found, but he apparently stated that Trulli simply sped by him. Which, of course, is illegal under the safety car. But which may not be the truth.

The FIA has now reviewed the incident, issuing the following statement:

The Stewards having considered the new elements presented to them from the 2009 Australian Formula One Grand Prix, consider that driver No 1 Lewis Hamilton and the competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes acted in a manner prejudicial to the conduct of the event by providing evidence deliberately misleading to the Stewards at the hearing on Sunday 29th March 2009, a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code.

Under Article 158 of the International Sporting Code the driver No 1 Lewis Hamilton and the competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes are excluded from the race classification for the 2009 Australian Grand Prix and the classification is amended accordingly.

These “new elements” are supposedly radio transmissions from the McLaren pits to Hamilton, telling him to slow down and force Trulli to pass him—in line with what he said to Speed TV’s reporter.

Basically, McLaren acted in a very shady way. This is what Brad Spurgeon of the NY Times wrote this morning from Malaysia, where the teams are getting ready for this weekend’s Grand Prix:

The story in the paddock is that Hamilton told the television reporter that the team had told him to let Trulli re-pass him because McLaren was worried that Hamilton should not have passed Trulli when Trulli went into the grass under the safety car. Hamilton had slowed down to let Trulli pass. But Hamilton did not tell this same story to the stewards, rather saying that Trulli had just sped past him.

He adds:

As I waited in the heat of the afternoon outside the McLaren meeting area for some kind of statement, a German journalist with whom I was supposed to have an interview with Hamilton in a few minutes—the interview was canceled—quipped to me: “Hamilton is a perfect replacement for Michael Schumacher.”

So there you have it. McLaren has just joined Ferrari in the 0 points club, while the podium of the Australian Grand Prix is now Button, Barrichello and Trulli again. For the time being.

All we need now is for Max Mosley to march through the pits with a whip in his hand, spanking both Hamilton and Trulli on the rear ends while sweltering in the Indochina heat in his SS uniform to make this whole story more intriguing.

Photo Credit: Paul Gilham/Getty Images, WILLIAM WEST/AFP/Getty Image, PAUL CROCK/AFP/Getty Images, Clive Mason/Getty Images

Michigan is home to both the start and end of the yearly RallyAmerica racing circuit. The 2008 season came to an end in Houghton, Michigan last October at the Lake Superior Pro Rally. The fresh 2009 season begins anew here in Atlanta, Michigan during the dead of winter.

Snowmobiles and 4x4 trucks aren't just a convenience in Atlanta - they're a necessary facet of life. Good thing we were locked, stocked and two smoking cameras while rolling in our Roush Propane-powered F-150. This time we were pushing giant steamroller tires on chrome wheels as the factory hides met a smokey demise at an earlier date.

The rally went down as a classic snow rally with plenty of snowbank-Plinko and lots of off-course sliding. Spectators were quick to jump in and assist when drivers chose to jam their cars firmly into the stout, powdered walls. Our rookie favorite of last year Kyle Sarasin was stuck in an old front wheels-driven Mitsubishi Eclipse after his previous yellow Subaru-wielding team was disbanded. The title of Most Jalopnik Rally Car of this event was taken by Greg and Tom Woodside in their turbo 1987 Dodge Shadow.

After a short battle with Travis for the lead, Ken Block was knocked out in the first day with a mechanical failure as a result of a minor crash. Travis Pastrana and Christian Edstrom secured the first place finish while Tanner Foust and Co-driver Chrissie Beavis locked in the second rank in their Hyundai Tiburon. Andrew "ACP" Comrie-Picard and Marc Goldfarb snuck into third place after fighting against some handling problems in their Mistu Evolution IX. BMX baddie Dave Mirra pulled in a strong 6th-place finish.

Keep an eye on our RallyAmerica tag as we'll soon be following up with an exclusive behind the scenes look at Subaru's Rally Team, a full HD video of Sno*Drift and Travis and Ken's In-Car video. We're stuffing our hatchbacks in preparation of the 100 Acre Wood rally in a few weeks time located in Salem, MO. Press on regardless!

Partial Photo Credit: Alex "Tater Salad" Conley

The Dakar Rally is a 15-day, 5,950-mile off-road endurance race for cars, trucks, motorcycles and quads. This year’s route began and ended in Buenos Aires, passing through the Andes and up Chile’s west coast before circling back via Córdoba.

Featured here is Giniel De Villiers’ Volkswagen Race Touareg 2, which won the car race, and a variety of trucks. That class was won by Firdaus Kabirov for Team Kamaz of Russia.

The Race Toureg 2 is a steel space frame, two-door carbon fiber-bodied prototype that shares very little with the production SUV. Power comes for a 260 HP, 443 Lb-Ft 2.5-liter, five-cylinder supercharged Diesel. That may not sound that big, but the overall vehicle weighs just 3,940 Lbs. It has to survive some of the most extreme conditions on earth over the 15-day race, facing temperatures that range from freezing to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, huge impacts, submersion in water and mud as well as powdery sand. This was the Toureg 2’s first race.

For awesome photos of the motorcycles that took part in the 2009 Dakar Rally visit Hell For Leather.

Photography Credit: Red Bull Photofiles