2010 Australian Grand Prix - Brave Button Claims Victory In Oz

A brave and calculated gamble from world champion Jenson Button saw the Brit claim an unexpected victory for McLaren at Albert Park.  In an incident-packed Australian Grand Prix, just what the sport needed following the bore in Bahrain a fortnight ago, Button pitted from seventh place on Lap 7 of the 58-lap encounter, becoming the first driver to try out slick tyres on a damp track.

The move paid off and Jenson was catapulted up to 2^nd, and then inherited the lead when race leader and pole sitter, Sebastian Vettel spun off on Lap 26, with a front-right brake disc failure.  From there on, Button was unchallenged and cruised home to the 8^th victory of his career, his first since the Turkish Grand Prix last June.  In a race that saw plenty of thrills and spills, Renault’s Robert Kubica kept his cool and produced a stunning drive to 2^nd.  Ferrari’s Felipe Massa survived several scary moments to record his best finish in Melbourne, and register back-to-back podium finishes.  Team-mate and Bahrain winner Fernando Alonso recovered from a first corner clash with Button to rescue 4^th place and the championship lead, on a day when Ferrari suffered from the cooler track conditions.

It has been a trying weekend for the other Brit, Lewis Hamilton.  Following his bad qualifying, plus the embarrassing police encounter he endured on Thursday night, Hamilton put in an aggressive drive as ever, with some stunning overtaking moves, most notably on Nico Rosberg on the outside of Turn 10.  However, a questionable strategy left Hamilton up against it, and then when trying to snatch 4^th place from Alonso, Lewis was clouted into a spin by local favourite Mark Webber with two laps to go.  The result saw Hamilton finish a frustrated 6^th and an over-aggressive Webber drop down to a dismal 9^th, needing a new front-wing in the closing stages.  

Rosberg produced an error-free run to 5^th, once again having the measure of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher in the Mercedes GP.  Schumacher was caught up in the Alonso/Button tangle at Turn 1, required a new nosecone and then laboured around to 10^th place and the final point, having spent most of his race fighting the Toro Rosso of Jaime Alguesuari.  Alguesuari’s team-mate, Sebastian Buemi was wiped out at Turn 5 in a horrific accident, which saw Kamur Kobayashi’s Sauber t-bone both Buemi and Nico Hulkenberg following a front-wing failure.  Fortunately, all drivers escaped unharmed.  Like in Bahrain, Force India’s Vitantonio Liuzzi and Rubens Barrichello for Williams, escaped all the chaos to register solid 7^th and 8^th place results.  Finally, well done to Indian Karun Chandok, who despite finishing five laps down, recorded Hispania Racing’s first finish in Formula 1, albeit, 14^th and last.

Red Bull Racing may have the fastest car, but their problems in converting that into results are already evident.  Mercedes GP still have a load of work to do, in efforts to get up to race-winning potential, whilst Ferrari showed they aren’t invincible.  Today though, the overcast skies belonged to McLaren Mercedes and their world champion, as Jenson Button reminded us all just why he is a world champion.