What We Know Now: GP1 - Australia.

This is the first series to be launched on The Formula, and will be posted on the following Monday after every race weekend. It will provide a look back at the weekend's action and discuss what we, the teams and the drivers have learnt.

BEWARE THE UNKNOWN

Brawn GP notched a stunning one-two finish in their debut race as British driver Jenson Button calmly took his car from lights to flag without losing his lead.

The new regulations on aerodynamics and speed also seemed to have a good influence with regular overtaking and close battles throughout the field. But the longer front wings seemed to cause a few incidents and until drivers get used to that space being filled we could see a couple more flat tyres.

NEVER RULE OUT A CHAMPION

Mclaren's Lewis Hamilton started eighteenth on the grid and despite having a car as competitive as a horse and cart he managed to grab a third place on the podium. A result that could be crucial come the end of the season by which time he will be hoping to be somewhat more competitive.

Meanwhile Fernando Alonso finished in fifth place after starting tenth in Melbourne. A tailored drive saw Alonso bring his car home in the points in an unusually understated fashion whilst teammate Nelson Piquet Jr. started his season with a retirement.

The only other champion in the field, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen, retired after 55 laps after a spin, in which he had miraculously avoided the wall, left his car unable to continue.

THE KIDS CAN STILL GET CARRIED AWAY

Beautifully illustrated by Red Bull's Sebastien Vettel and Robert Kubica of BMW. The pair were pretty much guaranteed a share of second of third place and if they had worked together could probably have caught Button before the end of the race.

However a slip of in Vettel's concentration saw him lose speed through turn one and Kubica's good run out of the second turn saw a wheel to wheel battle in the tight right-hander of turn three. Kubica didn't give Vettel room on the inside and the German refused to back off causing a collision. Whilst both drivers survived the initial contact they would only make it around one more corner as they independently crashed into almost the exact same spot.

YOU CAN BEND THE RULES, BUT YOU CAN'T BREAK THEM

As the FIA has so helpfully cleared up it's OK to race with a disputed rear diffuser but if you have a rear wing that isn't up to spec you must start from the pit lane. There's a line between the two somewhere but i can't quite see it..