March 28, 2010

A brave gamble paid off for Formula One world champion Jenson Button as he seized his second straight Australian Grand Prix - but for Mark Webber the hoodoo still haunts him.

Button, driving in just his second race for new team McLaren, cruised to a 12-second win over Poland's Robert Kubica in a Renault with the Ferrari of Brazilian Felipe Massa third.

Webber, who started from second place on the grid with his best chance for a hometown victory to date, clashed twice with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, limping home in a dismal ninth spot.

His fifth on debut in 2002 remains his highest finish at home in nine starts, but he was defiant afterwards saying he "went down fighting."

"I wanted to get on the podium...I hope the fans were impressed with the way I fought," Webber said.

As the track began to dry the choice of tyres became critical as all teams started on intermediate wet weather rubber.

Webber pitted later than his rivals and rejoined the field in sixth before tangling with Hamilton on lap 16 and dropping to eighth, his race effectively over.

Any slim chance he had of making the podium evaporated when he and Hamilton again clashed on the second last lap.

Hamilton was clearly not impressed despite Webber issuing a post-race apology.

"I think that was one of the drives of my life, but unfortunately due to the strategy I was put further back than I deserved and then I was taken out by Mark Webber," the former world champion said.

Hamilton said that second collision with Webber was not his fault and blamed the Australian for hitting him from behind, costing him a higher finish.

"My move was not the trouble, I was not at fault and I could have cut back and got past Fernando Alonso, but Mark was not thinking clearly and he took us out," he said.

"Really, it was not cool. I think we could have had a one-two today."

Hamilton’s teammate Jenson Button survived a chaotic opening in steady drizzle when he clashed with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard spinning off seconds after the start.

Button then rolled the dice and selected slick tyres, before driving to victory – though he originally thought the tyre decision was “catastrophic.”

"It's a lot easier for the driver to feel the conditions and for me I didn't have a balance at all on the inters - I was really struggling and I lost a couple of places so I thought, let's get in and stick the slicks on," Button said.

"There was a dry line, a few places were a little bit wet, but when I went into the pit lane I thought I'd made a catastrophic mistake because it was soaking wet in the pit lane.

"But once I got it going and up to speed the pace was pretty good and I was able to put in some good laps and overtake three or four cars when they stopped and put their tyres on.

"It was the right call and I'm very happy that made it," he said.

Button steadily made his way through the field and inherited the lead when Vettel produced a rare unforced error and slid off on lap 26 while holding a five second lead.

Button sent out a clear warning to the field after his victory.

"It's a very special feeling and I feel that I'm just building in confidence and hopefully when we get to the next race we can do something similar because this was too good," he said.

However the 5pm (EDT) start again came under scrutiny.

Earlier in the week leading drivers complained about the glare from the setting sun last year, with Kubica calling the situation "extremely dangerous."

But it was the lack of light which was the problem on Sunday, according to Button.

"One thing that was pretty tricky in this race was the light," Button said

"I had a clear visor on at the end of the race and I was struggling to see in the last few laps.

"It seemed a lot darker than last year...that might be something we need to look at a little bit," he said.

Australian Grand Prix Results
1. Jenson Button (ENG/MLA) 1hr 33min 36.531sec
2. Robert Kubica (POL/REN) +12.034
3. Felipe Massa (BRA/FER) 14.488
4. Fernando Alonso (ESP/FER) 16.304
5. Nico Rosberg (GER/MER) 16.683
6. Lewis Hamilton (ENG/MLA) 29.898
7. Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA/FOR) 59.847
8. Rubens Barrichello (BRA/WIL) 1min 0.536
9. Mark Webber (AUS/RBR) 1min 7.319
10. Michael Schumacher (GER/MER) 1min 9.391
11. Jaime Alguersuari (ESP/TOR) 1min 11.301
12. Pedro de la Rosa (ESP/SAU) 1min 14.084
13. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/LOT) 2 laps
14. Karun Chandhok (IND/HRT) 5 laps
Not classified:
Timo Glock (GER/VIR) 17 laps
Lucas Di Grassi (BRA/VIR) 32 laps
Sebastian Vettel (GER/RBR) 33 laps
Adrian Sutil (GER/FOR) 49 laps
Vitaly Petrov (RUS/REN) 49 laps
Bruno Senna (BRA/HRT) 54 laps
Sebastien Buemi (SUI/TOR) 58 laps
Nico Hulkenberg (GER/WIL) 58 laps
Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/SAU) 58 laps
Jarno Trulli (ITA/LOT) 58 laps

F1 Drivers Ladder
1 Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari 39
2 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Ferrari 37
3 Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull 37
4 Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren 35
5 Nico Rosberg (GER) Mercedes GP 35
6 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren 31
7 Robert Kubica (POL) Renault 30
8 Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull 24
9 Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India 10
10 Michael Schumacher (GER) Mercedes GP 9
11 Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) Force India 8
12 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Williams 5
13 Jaime Alguersuari (ESP) Toro Rosso 2
14 Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Williams 1
15 Sebastien Buemi (SUI) Toro Rosso 0
16 Pedro de la Rosa (ESP) BMW Sauber 0
17 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) McLaren 0
18 Karun Chandhok (IND) HRTF1 0
19 Lucas di Grassi (BRA) Virgin 0
20 Bruno Senna (BRA) HRTF1 0
21 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Lotus 0
22 Timo Glock (GER) Virgin 0
23 Vitaly Petrov (RUS) Renault 0
24 Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) BMW Sauber 0

Team Pts
1 Ferrari 76
2 McLaren 66
3 Red Bull 61
4 Mercedes GP 44
5 Renault 30
6 Force India 18
7 Williams 6
8 Toro Rosso 2
9 BMW Sauber 0
10 Lotus 0
11 HRTF1 0
12 Virgin 0