Melbourne, Australia (My Sportsbook) - Brawn GP has made a superb debut in Formula One racing so far with drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello capturing the front starting row for Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Button grabbed the pole position from Barrichello on the final lap after turning in a lap of one minute, 26.202 seconds around the 3.295-mile Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit. He recorded his fourth career F1 pole, but his first since 2006 at Melbourne.

"The last five or six months for us have been so tough, because going from not having any future in racing to having a pole here is just amazing." Button said. "This is where we deserve to be after the tough times we've had."

Barrichello will start on the front row for the first time since 2004 at Brazil after posting the second best lap at 1:26.505.

"I was hoping I could put the car on the pole," Barrichello said. "I think the front row for both of us is a credit, and we are happy."

It marked the first time a new F1 team has started their inaugural race from the front row since 1970.

Brawn GP team principal Ross Brawn recently acquired the former Honda team and immediately surprised the competition in testing at Barcelona and Jerez, Spain where Button and Barrichello turned in the fastest times in their BGP 001 car.

Honda announced in December it was pulling out of F1 competition and selling its team due to world-wide economic conditions.

Sebastian Vettel from Red Bull claimed third on the grid, while BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica took fourth. Nico Rosberg from Williams grabbed the fifth spot.

Defending F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton struggled in his MP4-24 car during qualifying. Hamilton barely survived the first session (Q1), and then sat out the next round after suffering a gear-box problem. He had qualified 15th, but will have to start from the rear of the field in 18th due to a gearbox change.

"I just lost all drive in the gearbox and couldn't continue," Hamilton said. "The team will look at the problem tonight, and I'm determined to drive an attacking race."

Hamilton's teammate, Heikki Kovalainen, was 14th, marking the worst qualifying performance for the McLaren team since the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen advanced to the third session (Q3), but Massa ended up with a seventh starting spot and Raikkonen ninth.

Toyota drivers Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli qualified sixth and eight, respectively, but will also have to start from the back of the grid after stewards found their TF109 cars to have "extreme flexibility" in their rear wings.

On Thursday, stewards passed the cars of Brawn GP, along with Toyota and Williams, despite protests from rivals, who believed their diffusers may be illegal. The protests were rejected, which in turn was appealed by Ferrari, Red Bull Racing and Renault. The FIA International Court of Appeal will hear the appeal on April 14.

Sunday's race is scheduled to begin at 2:00 a.m. (et).