Button wins Australian Grand Prix

18 March 2012 15:27

A dominant Jenson Button has taken out the season-opening Australian Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday.

The Brit, who passed McLaren team-mate and pole sitter Lewis Hamilton on the first corner, led for most of the way at Albert Park in Melbourne.

Button held off world champion Sebastian Vettel by 2.1 seconds, while Hamilton clinched third ahead of Mark Webber.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was fifth, while Kimi Raikkonen - on his return to F1 - went from starting 18th on the grid to finishing an impressive seventh in his Lotus.

Webber's fourth place was his best finish at his home race, while fellow Australian Daniel Ricciardo ended up ninth.

Button showed off the pace of his McLaren and overcame a safety car with 21 laps remaining to make a dream start to the season.

Nico Rosberg made a strong start from seventh, while Mercedes team-mate Michael Schumacher, who had looked threatening through practice and qualifying, retired after just 10 laps because of gearbox troubles.

Button maintained a 10-second lead throughout the first 30 laps, before a safety car brought the field together after Caterham's Vitaly Petrov stopped on the straight on lap 37.

The yellow flag helped Vettel ahead of Hamilton, but Button got the better of the German after the restart to edge clear.

Vettel, however, moved clear of Hamilton in the final six laps, leaving him the only serious challenger to Button.

But the 2009 world champion was untroubled, staying well clear for his 13th career victory and third in Australia.

Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi was sixth, while team-mate Sergio Perez finished a strong eighth ahead of Toro Rosso's Ricciardo and Force India's Paul di Resta.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa retired after 46 laps and Romain Grosjean - the surprise packet in qualifying - was an early casualty.

Pastor Maldonado looked certain to finish a career-best sixth in his Williams before he lost control and crashed into a wall on the final lap.

The next race of the season is in Malaysia on March 25.