Jenson Button wins Australian GP

Jenson Button won his first victory of the season at the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park today in his McLaren-Mercedes, driving in commanding style over Robert Kubica in the Renault in second, and Felipe Massa in the Ferrari in third place.

After the race began in damp conditions, the reigning world champion switched to dry tyres early on putting him into second place, and when a brake failure ended polesitter Sebastian Vettel’s day in the gravel trap, Button inherited the lead and never looked back.

Kubica held off Massa, Fernando Alonso in the other Ferrari, and Nico Rosberg in fifth in the Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren and Mark Webber in the Red Bull-Renault had stopped for new tyres in the middle of the race, and stormed back to challenge Alonso until a tangle with two laps to go saw Webber touch Hamilton, causing both men to spin off and continue, the Australian having to pit for a new nose. Hamilton finished sixth, Vitantonio Liuzzi taking seventh in his Force India-Mercedes, followed by Rubens Barrichello in his Williams-Cosworth, Webber in ninth, and Michael Schumacher in his Mercedes in tenth, taking the last point.

The win is Button’s first for McLaren, and the eighth of his career.

Australian Grand Prix 2010 Results

Pos No Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 58 1:33:36.531 4 25
2 11 Robert Kubica Renault 58 +12.034 9 18
3 7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 58 +14.488 5 15
4 8 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 58 +16.304 3 12
5 4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 58 +16.683 6 10
6 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 58 +29.989 11 8
7 15 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 58 +59.847 13 6
8 9 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 58 +1:00.536 8 4
9 6 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 58 +1:07.319 2 2
10 3 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 58 +1:09.391 7 1
11 17 Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 58 +1:11.301 17
12 22 Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 58 +1:14.084 14
13 19 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 56 +2 Laps 19
14 20 Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 53 +5 Laps 22
Ret 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 41 Suspension 23
Ret 25 Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 27 Hydraulics 24
Ret 5 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 26 Brakes 1
Ret 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 9 Engine 10
Ret 12 Vitaly Petrov Renault 9 Spin 18
Ret 21 Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 4 Hydraulics 21
Ret 16 Sébastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 0 Accident 12
Ret 10 Nico Hülkenberg Williams-Cosworth 0 Accident 15
Ret 23 Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 0 Accident 16
DNS 18 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 0 Hydraulics 20

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