Button dominates in Ozposted in F118 | 03 | 2012
McLAREN'S JENSON BUTTON dominated the opening grand prix of the year, while Scotland's Paul di Resta scored his first world championship point after a dramatic finish.
Former world champ Button eased past team-mate and polesitter Lewis Hamilton at the first corner in Melbourne to lead from start-to-finish in the Australian Grand Prix.
But just as it looked like McLaren would record a 1-2, a Safety Car period — which followed Vitaly Petrov stopping his Caterham on the start-finish line with 21 laps of the Albert Park circuit remaining — allowed Sebastian Vettel to leapfrog Hamilton with a flying pitstop.
And while Button was understandably delighted with his third win in Melbourne, Hamilton was a disgruntled driver at the end of the race.
conceded he could not understand where his lack of pace was coming from.
"I really don't know why I struggled for pace," Hamilton, whose race was also compromised by getting stuck behind the Sauber of Sergio Perez, said.
"I just struggled out there. I got a shocking start, which was really the beginning of it all. It was obviously a tough race, but congrats to Jenson.
"It was great race for him. It would have been great to have had a one-two, but it just wasn't a good day for me.
"But I'll re-focus, and get my head down. There's lots of races ahead. In these championships it's all about consistency so that is what I am going to focus on."
Button though was ecstatic with the 13th grand prix win of his career, and which followed his Aussie wins in 2009 and '10.
"It was very special," the Englishman admitted. "Starting the year with a win is important. To come away with Lewis's pole yesterday and victory today, I think it puts us in a great position for the next few races and on the right foot, so a big thank you to everyone in the team.
"I am very excited heading to Malaysia but not thinking about that now. I'll enjoy this now with friends and family, and tomorrow turn my attention to Malaysia.
"The biggest worry was the safety car. When you have a 10-second gap, it is a great place to be, but as soon as the safety car comes out and it is 6pm, it's difficult to keep the temperature in those tyres. That was a big worry for me.
"I was able to keep the heat in the tyres and saved a lot of fuel, which was important for us, and then got a good restart.
"I was able to do that, which I was very happy about, and was then controlling pace to the end of the race so a pretty amazing day."
Australian Grand Prix — Result (Provisional):
1. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1h34:09.565
2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault +2.139
3. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes +4.075
4. Webber Red Bull-Renault +4.547
5. Alonso Ferrari +21.565
6. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari +36.766
7. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault +38.014
8. Perez Sauber-Ferrari +39.458
9. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari +39.556
10. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes +39.737
11. Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari +39.848
12. Rosberg Mercedes +57.642
13. Maldonado Williams-Renault +1 lap
14. Glock Marussia-Cosworth +1 lap
15. Pic Marussia-Cosworth +2 laps
16. Senna Williams-Renault +4 laps
Fastest lap: Button, 1min 29.187secs
Keep up-to-date with all the latest news by following us on twitter.com/scotcars
Jim McGill