Briton Jenson Button won the Australian Formula One Grand Prix as his fledgling team Brawn GP debuted in remarkable one-two style last night.
Button survived an incident-filled race at Melbourne's Albert Park to convert pole position into just his second Grand Prix victory in 154 starts.
The 29-year-old was never
headed in the 58-lap race, beating teammate Rubens Barrichello and Toyota's Jarno Trulli.
Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton finished fourth in his McLaren.
Button said it was an emotional win for the relatively cash-strapped team. "It's not just for me but for the whole team. This is a fairytale ending to our first race ... We're going to fight every moment we can to keep this car competitive with the limited resources we have."
The race finished behind the safety car after Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel and BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica first collided, then crashed separately, when running second and third with three laps remaining.
The result was confirmation of the pace set by the Brawn cars in pre-season testing and justification for Button's race favouritism by bookmakers.
It was a triumph for technical guru Ross Brawn who arranged finance to resurrect the outfit from the embers of the folded Honda operation.
From pole position Button blasted away from the grid to open up a quick gap as Barichello, Webber and McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen got caught up in a first-corner sandwich.
Both Ferraris failed to finish, but defending champion Hamilton showed his class when, starting 18th as penalty for a broken gearbox in qualifying, he sliced his way through to fourth place.
- AAP
