Jenson Button Cruises to F1 Victory in Australian Grand Prix

Having led all the way, Jenson Button headed an extraordinary one-two for the Brawn team on their debut in the Australian grand prix. The race finished behind the safety car after a collision between Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica two laps from the end allowed Rubens Barrichello to move into second place. Jarno Trulli finished third for Toyota and Lewis Hamilton salvaged fourth place from a difficult weekend for the world champion.

Button made a clean start from pole position, unlike his team-mate. Barrichello was slow away from the front row and caused a multi-car collision when he ran into the side of Mark Webber's Red Bull at the first corner. Heikki Kovalainen was caught in the confusion but his McLaren team-mate, Hamilton, starting from 18th on the grid, made up seven places on the first lap.

Button extended his lead over Vettel to 4.5 seconds in the first 10 laps, just before the first pit stops began. When the Williams of Kazuki Nakajima crashed on lap 18, the Brawn team brought Button in for fuel and tyres, a clever move which allowed the Englishman to retain his lead before the safety car appeared for five laps.

At the re-start, Button once again pulled away from Vettel and maintained that advantage through the second round of scheduled pit stops. Any threat from Vettel disappeared as he dealt with Kubica, who had gradually closed in on the German. When Vettel ran wide, Kubica tried to seize his chance to take second, the two cars colliding after attempting to run side-by-side at the next corner. This allowed Barrichello, who had been as low as 12th, to move forward and give Brawn a one-two, the first clean sweep for a team on its debut since Mercedes-Benz in 1954.

Hamilton's attacking race also benefited from the Vettel/Kubica incident, the McLaren driver scoring five points on a day when both Ferraris retired.