Jenson Button took a sensational victory in Australia, despite a first corner tangle with Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher.
After the bore of Bahrain, the Australian GP didn’t fail to deliver a spectacle – some would say a classic race!
Rain hampered the start of the race, with all drivers starting on slicks.
The first corner saw Alonso spin after closing the door on Button, Schumacher also getting involved in the action, this allowed Lewis Hamilton and Robert Kubica to gain places.
Kamui Kobayashi suffered yet another front wing failure, that resulted in him taking out Nico Hulkenberg and Sebastien Buemi at turn three. A safety car was dispatched at that point.
The turning point in the race came when Button took the decision to change to slicks after falling back down the grid. It looked like a terrible mistake when he slid-off the track. However, once the tyres were up to temperature, the times tumbled and others followed suit.
It was an eventful middle part of the race with multiple overtaking moves to banish many of the complaints over the past two weeks.
It looked like it could have been a McLaren 1-2 when Sebastian Vettel suffered a brake failure, causing him to retire from the lead. A strategy mistake was the undoing of Hamilton’s hard work, he looked like he could have challenged for the lead, but McLaren took the decision to pit him for fresh tyres.
He soon reeled in the competition after slipping back to sixth. As he went to put a move on Alonso for fourth, Webber slid into the back of Hamilton, pushing them both into the gravel trap, just three laps from the end.
They both managed to recover, Hamilton taking sixth, Webber ninth.
Kubica had a good race, holding off the charging Massa. They took second and third respectively.
Race Classification:
| # | Driver | Team | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:33.36.531 |
| 02 | R. Kubica | Renault | +12.0 |
| 03 | F. Massa | Ferrari | +14.4 |
| 04 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +16.3 |
| 05 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | +16.6 |
| 06 | L. Hamilton | McLaren | +29.8 |
| 07 | V. Liuzzi | Force India | +59.8 |
| 08 | R. Barrichello | Williams | +1:00.5 |
| 09 | M. Webber | Red Bull | +1:07.3 |
| 10 | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | +1:09.3 |
| 11 | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | +1:11.3 |
| 12 | P. de la Rosa | Sauber | +1:14.0 |
| 13 | H. Kovalainen | Lotus | +2 laps |
| 14 | K. Chandhok | Hispania | +5 laps |
| 15 | T. Glock | Virgin | +17 laps |
| 16 | L. di Grassi | Virgin | +32 laps |
| 17 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | +33 laps |
| 18 | A. Sutil | Force India | +49 laps |
| 19 | V. Petrov | Renault | +49 laps |
| 20 | S. Senna | Hispania | +54 laps |
| 21 | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso | +58 laps |
| 22 | N. Hulkenberg | Williams | +58 laps |
| 23 | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | +58 laps |
| 24 | J. Trulli | Lotus | DS |
(All timing unofficial) DS = Didn’t start
