Jenson Button wins Australian Grand Prix

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Sauber Formula One driver Kamui Kobayashi of Japan (front) crashes out of the Australian F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Movie star John Travolta waves the checkered flag as McLaren's Jensen Button crosses the finish line to win the Australian F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne.

McLaren crew working on Lewis Hamilton's car during a pitstop in the Australian F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Mercedes Formula One driver Michael Schumacher of Germany nurses his damaged car in for a pit stop during the Australian F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Ferrari Formula One driver Fernando Alonso of Spain (centre) spins his car in the middle of the track during the Australian F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne.

CHAMPAGNE SPRAY: Jenson Button sprays his team and fans from the podium after winning the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Jenson Button celebrates his Australian Grand Prix win on the podium.

Jensen Button sprays second-placed finisher Robert Kubica with champagne.

Australian Grand Prix winner Jenson Button ahead of Robert Kubica.

A wet grid of cars awaits the restart during the Australian Grand Prix.

Fastest qualifier and poll position Sebastian Vettel (middle), second Mark Webber (left) and third Fernando Alsonso.

GP fans enjoy the colour and excitement of F1 Racing.

Mark Webber (2nd place) and Sebastian Vettel (1st place) after qualifying.

Fastest qualifier and poll position Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) exits the pits.

Mark Webber of Red Bull Racing during qualifying.

The grid girls, decked out in Kit Willow-designed outfits provided a distraction from the noise away from the track.

Lewis Hamilton during practice.

Michael Schumacher arriving at the track.

John Travolta and Mark Webber.

Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher during Qualifying.

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VINCE CALIGIURI/The Age

CHAMPAGNE SPRAY: Jenson Button sprays his team and fans from the podium after winning the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

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Formula One world champion Jenson Button timed his pitstop to perfection to chalk up his first win for McLaren in a rain-affected and entertaining Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The Briton, a winner in Melbourne with Brawn GP last year, took the lead when Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, starting on pole position, was pitched into the gravel mid-race by a brake failure.

"It feels so good... Guys, amazing job, I think we got that pitstop pretty much perfect," Button, who went for an early change to slicks that proved crucial, shouted over the team radio after beating Renault's Robert Kubica by 12.034 seconds.

"It was the right time. Fantastic job, this is a great way to start the year."

Poland's Kubica was comfortably clear of Ferrari's Brazilian Felipe Massa, who nosed out team mate Fernando Alonso for third after the Spaniard had roared back from a first corner spin that left him in last place.

With the race starting in wet conditions, Button was the first to pit for slick tyres and seemed to have got it wrong when he immediately skidded off into the gravel. It took only a lap for him to be vindicated, however, as the track dried.

"He made the call on his tyres," said McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh after a race full of overtaking to banish fears of more tedium after a dull opener in Bahrain two weeks ago.

"We said 'you make the call', he got it spot on and that won him the race."

VETTEL UNLUCKY

After locking out the front row, Red Bull's race again unravelled with Vettel crashing out on lap 26 of 58 and Australian Mark Webber colliding with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton on the penultimate lap while fighting for fifth place.

"I had some sparks coming up from the front left wheel," Vettel, who had missed out on victory from pole in Bahrain due to a spark plug failure, told television reporters.

"We didn't know what it was, we wanted to pit on that lap.

"A couple of corners before I had huge vibrations building up and approaching turn 13... as soon as I touched the brakes the brake disk exploded it felt like."

Webber, who had hoped to become the first Australian to win his home race, ended up ninth in a race he had led briefly before falling back and having to scrap for every position.

Hamilton was on Kubica's tail and might have anchored a McLaren one-two, or even won, before his team called him in for a misguided second change of tyres.

"I think I probably had one of the drives of my life," he told the BBC. "Unfortunately due to the strategy I was put further back and then I got taken out by Mark Webber.

"I think I honestly drove my heart out today and I think I deserved better than what I ended up with," the 25-year-old added.

The Briton, embroiled in a lying scandal in Melbourne last year, had qualified 11th after making headlines on Friday when police stopped him and impounded his Mercedes road car for what he described as over-exuberant driving off the track.

Seven times world champion Michael Schumacher finished 10th for Mercedes after being effectively ruled out at turn one.

Button's left front tyre hit Alonso's right at the first corner, causing the Spaniard to spin and collide with Schumacher and break the Mercedes' front wing to force an unscheduled stop.

Only 14 cars finished the race as intermittent showers made tyre selection, and the timing of pitstops, a key factor on the bumpy street circuit.

The safety car made an early appearance when BMW Sauber's Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi rebounded off a barrier at turn six on the first lap, crashing into Williams's German driver Nico Hulkenberg.

The incident also forced Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi out.

Double world champion Alonso, who won on his Ferrari debut in Bahrain last week, stayed top of the standings after two races with 37 points to Massa's 33. Button has 31.

Unofficial results from the Australian Grand Prix (58 laps):

1. Jenson Button (ENG/MLA) 1hr 33min 36.531sec
2. Robert Kubica (POL/REN) +12.034
3. Felipe Massa (BRA/FER) 14.488
4. Fernando Alonso (ESP/FER) 16.304
5. Nico Rosberg (GER/MER) 16.683
6. Lewis Hamilton (ENG/MLA) 29.898
7. Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA/FOR) 59.847
8. Rubens Barrichello (BRA/WIL) 1min 0.536
9. Mark Webber (AUS/RBR) 1min 7.319
10. Michael Schumacher (GER/MER) 1min 9.391
11. Jaime Alguersuari (ESP/TOR) 1min 11.301
12. Pedro de la Rosa (ESP/SAU) 1min 14.084
13. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/LOT) 2 laps
14. Karun Chandhok (IND/HRT) 5 laps

Not classified:
Timo Glock (GER/VIR) 17 laps
Lucas Di Grassi (BRA/VIR) 32 laps
Sebastian Vettel (GER/RBR) 33 laps
Adrian Sutil (GER/FOR) 49 laps
Vitaly Petrov (RUS/REN) 49 laps
Bruno Senna (BRA/HRT) 54 laps
Sebastien Buemi (SUI/TOR) 58 laps
Nico Hulkenberg (GER/WIL) 58 laps
Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/SAU) 58 laps
Jarno Trulli (ITA/LOT) 58 laps

- Reuters

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Warren   #1   12:48 pm Mar 29 2010

Late last week, the FIA launched its Make Roads Safe campaign in Melbourne, in a bid to reduce the global road toll. Then, on Friday night, former Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton was picked up by police for hooning in an expensive Mercedes car on the streets of Melbourne. It's another difficult issue for the FIA to grapple with.

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