Jenson Button took victory in the first race of the new season to get his title challenge off to the best possible start in Australia.
The McLaren driver led from the first corner after passing his teammate Lewis Hamilton, who had secured pole, to control the race and finish two seconds ahead of Sebastian Vettel.
The German managed to secure second after a clever strategy which involved pitting under the safety car got him ahead of Hamilton who finished third to complete the podium.
Mark Webber led Fernando Alonso who had battled with Pastor Maldonado in the closing laps before the Williams driver dropped it and hit the wall on the last lap to throw away a handful of points.
Kamui Kobayashi, Kimi Raikkonen, Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo and Paul di Resta complete the top ten.
For a full race report, check out our live text commentary here.
2012 Australian GP Results: (Fastest lap: J. Button; 1:29.187)
| Pos | Driver | Team | Gap | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01. | J. Button | McLaren | 25 | |
| 02. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | +2.1 | 18 |
| 03. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | +4.0 | 15 |
| 04. | M. Webber | Red Bull | +4.5 | 12 |
| 05. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +21.5 | 10 |
| 06. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | +36.7 | 8 |
| 07. | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | +38.0 | 6 |
| 08. | S. Perez | Sauber | +39.4 | 4 |
| 09. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | +39.5 | 2 |
| 10. | P. di Resta | Force India | +39.7 | 1 |
| 11. | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | +39.8 | |
| 12. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | +57.6 | |
| 13. | P. Maldonado | Williams | +1 lap | |
| 14. | T. Glock | Marussia | +1 lap | |
| 15. | C. Pic | Marussia | +5 laps | |
| 16. | B. Senna | Williams | +6 laps | |
| 17. | F. Massa | Ferrari | +12 laps | |
| 18. | H. Kovalainen | Caterham | +20 laps | |
| 19. | V. Petrov | Caterham | +24 laps | |
| 20. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | +48 laps | |
| 21. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | +57 laps | |
| 22. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | +57 laps |
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