Just seven days after Melbourne, F1 is in Malaysia for round two of what looks likely to be a monumental season for Formula One, both off and on the track.

It was said many years ago that "when the flag drops the bulls**t stops", and hopefully that will be the case today, for the last few days has seen the sport sullied as the fall-out over what happened in the closing laps of the Australian Grand Prix continues.

Yesterday, in an edge of the seat session, Jenson Button took his second successive pole, however, Brawn GP didn't appear to enjoy the same edge they had in Melbourne. Indeed, all considered, the Englishman looks like he'll have a real fight on his hands today.

Ignoring the weather, which isn't easy in this part of the world, we can also forget about a major incident at the first corner here, mainly thanks to the long run to the first corner and the fact that Sepang is one of the widest track, consequently the initial order is usually in place by the time they all steam into Turn 1. Then again, boys will be boys!

Looking at the weights of the cars, it is clear that Button doesn't have the advantage he had just seven days ago, indeed, he, Trulli, Glock, Rosberg and Webber will be among the first to stop today, having been among the lightest runners in yesterday's qualifying session. That said, the lightest runner, and therefore surely the first to stop today, was Vettel.

As is often the case, BMW is playing the strategy game, and while Heidfeld is the only Munich runner with KERS, he was also the heaviest runner yesterday, so do keep an eye on the German. Furthermore, despite the strategic foul up, keep an eye on Massa, a previous winner here, while Rubens Barrichello, starting from eighth should not be ruled out.

Along with Heidfeld, only McLaren, Ferrari and Renault are running KERS, so despite the problems overshadowing the Woking team don't write off McLaren or, indeed, Fernando Alonso, ear infection or no ear infection. Keep an eye on Nakajima and Buemi also.

The tyre options this weekend are soft and hard, and as we saw yesterday some drivers are able to get a couple of strong laps out of the softs, Jarno Trulli being a good example.

It's worth noting that in addition to starting from the 'dirty' side of the grid, Button has two sets of new softs whereas he says those around him haven't.

With around forty-five minutes to go before the race gets underway, the sun is shining, with just a few dark-ish clouds in the distance. However, shortly after yesterday's qualifying session, we received the following text from Bob Constanduros. "Chris, you cannot believe how dark it is and p*****g with rain! there is absolutely no way the race could continue if it's like this tomorrow".