Brilliant Button delivers Oz masterclass

Date published : 28 Mar 2010 - 08:48:00

Jenson Button delivered a driving and strategy masterclass to claim a sensational maiden victory for McLaren, and his first since Turkey last summer, in a thrilling Australian Grand Prix.In a race full of high-octane drama from lights to flag, Sebastian Vettel led almost to half distance but for the second race in a row his Red Bull ran into reliability problems although this time they were terminal as a brake failure pitched him off into the gravel.Button duly inherited the lead having got up to second despite a difficult start in light rain thanks an inspired strategy call which saw him switch to slick tyres before all the other front runners.From there he the dished out an expert lesson in tyre management, making his super-soft tyres last for the remaining 52 laps while others including a hugely frustrated and eventually disconsolate team-mate Lewis Hamilton were forced to make second stops.Robert Kubica proved equally easy on his tyres and claimed an amazing second place for Renault, the Pole having held his own near the front all afternoon after a demon start from ninth place.Ferrari also only had to pit its cars once and took third and fourth, Felipe Massa finishing ahead of Fernando Alonso this time despite clearly holding the Spaniard who had brilliantly recovered from a first corner tangle with Button up for the majority of the race.Mercedes GP's Nico Rosberg inherited fifth with two laps to go after Hamilton dropped to sixth after being run off the road by home hero Mark Webber at turn 13, the pair having lost ground through second pit stops. With all the field having started the race on intermediates, Vettel made his second textbook getaway from pole in as many races but behind there was a major shuffling off the order, with Massa benefiting as he used the dry side of the track to move up from fifth to second.The sister of Ferrari of Alonso got away in a far more sluggish fashion and was soon facing the wrong direction at the first corner, the Spaniard spun round after contact with Button.It sent the Ferrari into a collision with another world champion in the form of Michael Schumacher the contact damaging the left-hand side of the German's front wing and sending him across the gravel.While the four-time Melbourne winner dragged his W01 back to the pits, the first safety car of the afternoon soon arrived after a huge accident triggered by Kamui Kobayashi.In a similar incident to the one the Sauber driver experienced in Friday practice, Kobayashi arrived on the curved approach to turn six with his front wing jammed underneath his C29.But this time the outcome was far nastier as, after skating along the inside wall, the Japanese slammed into a heavy-side on impact with Hulkenberg's Williams and Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi, sending all three cars flying into the gravel trap.The resulting safety car stayed out for four laps but this only served to momentarily quell the breathless action Webber soon reclaiming second from Massa at turn six while behind Hamilton pinched sixth off team-mate Button under braking at the third corner.Although the rain had now stopped, any move to slicks seemed ill-advised at this stage but this didn't deter Button, who deciding his inters were not up to the task, dived into the pits on lap six in search of some super-softs.When he returned to the track only to skate off into the gravel at the third corner, it seemed like an unnecessary gamble that had backfired but his bold decision would be vindicated as his rivals all soon followed suit while he was beginning to set fastest sector times.While most cars piled into the pits on lap nine, RBR didn't feel the need to rush things and opted to keep race leader Vettel out for an extra lap, and Webber two.By the time they eventually did switch to slicks, Button was on Vettel's tail in second while Webber dropped into what soon turned into a fierce fight for fifth, sixth and seventh with Massa and Hamilton, who had lost ground in the pit lane.Vettel had no such concerns and opened up a comfortable four second cushion over his new McLaren pursuer before disaster struck on lap 26, an apparent brake failure meaning his RB6 suddenly went straight on under braking for turn 13 and beached in the gravel.Button didn't need a second invitation to seize the lead and five laps later enjoyed a 4.8s advantage over the impressive Kubica, who now had a fired-up Hamilton all over him who was clearly scenting victory.On lap 22 the former world champion had already brilliantly dispensed with the struggling Massa in a daring move which took the pair right to the inside of the main straight, Hamilton having already edged a topsy-turvy battle with Webber.He had then moved up to third after passing the Rosberg in an even more awe-inspiring overtake around the outside of his old karting buddy on the approach to the super-fast turn 11/12 chicane.His progress was then blunted by the resolute Kubica before McLaren took the decision to pull him in for a second stop on lap 35 this despite Button currently setting the race's fastest lap on what should have been similarly worn super-softs in the other car.Mercedes and Red Bull made the same call for Rosberg and Webber respectively.Those decisions set up a thrilling finish to the race as Hamilton and Webber who managed to pass Rosberg on track began flying on their new tyres and making up between one and two seconds on the Ferraris in third and second.With eight laps remaining they were right with the two red cars, but Hamilton reported over the radio that his tyres had now gone off although this didn't stop him getting alongside Alonso at turn 13 with two laps remaining.While the McLaren driver was eventually forced to back out of the move, Webber sensed a chance to end his frustrating afternoon on a high but the Aussie's attempts to pass on the inside only resulted in him hitting the inside of the McLaren and taking both into the gravel.There collision was a god-send for Rosberg, who sailed through to claim a second successive fifth-place finish ahead of Hamilton who clawed his way out of the gravel and into an immediate debrief into the team as to why he had pitted for a second time.Webber eventually made it to the finish of his home race with two points, having also been passed by Tonio Liuzzi (Force India) and Rubens Barrichello (Williams) who both added to the points they claimed in Bahrain.After his first-lap tangle with Alonso, Schumacher endured a largely dispiriting afternoon towards the back of the field over 20 laps of which in the closing stages was spent helplessly tucked up behind Toro Rosso's Spanish youngster Jaime Alguersuari.However, the returning legend showed he has lost none of his legendary fighting spirit as a late-late charge saw him eventually pass Alguersuari via a typically uncompromising move at the penultimate corner and Sauber's Pedro de la Rosa for 10th and the final point.Australian Grand Prix result (58 laps) 1  BUTTON       McLaren 2  KUBICA       Renault      +12.0s3  MASSA        Ferrari      +14.4s4  ALONSO       Ferrari      +16.3s5  ROSBERG      Mercedes     +16.6s6  HAMILTON     McLaren      +29.8s7  LIUZZI       Force India  +59.8s8  BARRICHELLO  Williams     +60.5s9  WEBBER       Red Bull     +67.3s10 SCHUMACHER   Mercedes     +69.3s11 ALGUERSUARI  Toro Rosso   +71.3s12 DE LA ROSA   Sauber       +74.0s13 KOVALAINEN   Lotus        +2 laps14 CHANDHOK     HRT          +5 lapsR. GLOCK        Virgin       +17 lapsR. DI GRASSI    Virgin       +32 lapsR. VETTEL       Red Bull     +33 lapsR. SUTIL        Force India  +49 lapsR. PETROV       Renault      +49 lapsR. SENNA        HRT          +54 lapsR. BUEMI        Toro Rosso   +58 lapsR. HULKENBERG   Williams     +58 lapsR. KOBAYASHI    Sauber       +58 lapsR. TRULLI       Lotus        +58 lapsFastest lap: WEBBER  1m28.358s (lap 47)