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Button storms to victory in Australian GP opener
Source: Agencies |
March 19, 2012, Monday
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MCLAREN driver Jenson Button won the Formula One season-opening Australian Grand Prix yesterday, taking the checkered flag at Albert Park in Melbourne for the third time in four years and signaling a tight season ahead.
Button won by 2.1 seconds from reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull, with the race turned into a 17-lap shootout following the late emergence of the safety car.
Pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton of McLaren was third, just ahead of local hope Mark Webber of Red Bull.
The result indicated that McLaren has closed the gap on the Red Bull team which dominated 2011, and set the stage for a more competitive season. The top 12 finishers were separated by less than a minute, bearing out preseason predictions of a hard-fought campaign in 2012.
"It was an amazing day," Button said.
"Starting the year strong for this team is really important. The past two years have been tricky for us coming into the first race. It points us in a great position for the next few races and on the right foot."
Fernando Alonso of Ferrari was fifth, with Williams' Pastor Maldonado crashing heavily into a wall on the final lap while on the tail of the Spaniard.
Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi inherited sixth from Maldonado, and teammate Sergio Perez was eighth after starting 22nd and last on the grid. They were separated by Lotus' Kimi Raikkonen.
Toro Rosso's Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo took ninth place to claim points in his first home race, overtaking his teammate Jean-Eric Vergne on the final sequence of corners. Vergne was shuffled down to 11th, with Force India's Paul di Resta snatching the last points-paying position in 10th.
Button got off the line better than Hamilton and immediately took the lead, extending the gap on his teammate to a maximum of 11.8 seconds on lap 23 of 58. However, that buffer was negated when the Caterham of Vitaly Petrov stopped on the main straight and brought out the safety car.
Button mastered the restart, opening a 3.5-second lead on Vettel after just one lap and then holding on for victory.
Vettel leapfrogged Hamilton thanks to a clever piece of Red Bull strategy, holding off on a pit stop as Hamilton went in, thereby taking second place behind the safety car. The German was tacked onto the back of Button, and it appeared he could pull off a victory that was McLaren's for the taking.
Button won by 2.1 seconds from reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull, with the race turned into a 17-lap shootout following the late emergence of the safety car.
Pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton of McLaren was third, just ahead of local hope Mark Webber of Red Bull.
The result indicated that McLaren has closed the gap on the Red Bull team which dominated 2011, and set the stage for a more competitive season. The top 12 finishers were separated by less than a minute, bearing out preseason predictions of a hard-fought campaign in 2012.
"It was an amazing day," Button said.
"Starting the year strong for this team is really important. The past two years have been tricky for us coming into the first race. It points us in a great position for the next few races and on the right foot."
Fernando Alonso of Ferrari was fifth, with Williams' Pastor Maldonado crashing heavily into a wall on the final lap while on the tail of the Spaniard.
Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi inherited sixth from Maldonado, and teammate Sergio Perez was eighth after starting 22nd and last on the grid. They were separated by Lotus' Kimi Raikkonen.
Toro Rosso's Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo took ninth place to claim points in his first home race, overtaking his teammate Jean-Eric Vergne on the final sequence of corners. Vergne was shuffled down to 11th, with Force India's Paul di Resta snatching the last points-paying position in 10th.
Button got off the line better than Hamilton and immediately took the lead, extending the gap on his teammate to a maximum of 11.8 seconds on lap 23 of 58. However, that buffer was negated when the Caterham of Vitaly Petrov stopped on the main straight and brought out the safety car.
Button mastered the restart, opening a 3.5-second lead on Vettel after just one lap and then holding on for victory.
Vettel leapfrogged Hamilton thanks to a clever piece of Red Bull strategy, holding off on a pit stop as Hamilton went in, thereby taking second place behind the safety car. The German was tacked onto the back of Button, and it appeared he could pull off a victory that was McLaren's for the taking.
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