Jenson Button wins in Melbourne

F1 lacked spectacle: everyone agreed the day after the Bahrain Grand Prix, the season opener. Everyone came up with their own idea to spice up the race. Ultimately, it was necessary to rely on a natural element present since the beginnings of the Formula 1 : the rain. Throughout the first half hour of the race, the change in grip conditions increased the number of fights in the peloton.

Fifteen minutes before the start of the race, the rain arrived. The teams had planned for this and fitted their cars with intermediate tires due to a wet track, but not too wet. For the formation lap, it is in these conditions that the drivers set off.

At the start, Felipe Massa (Ferrari), fifth, launches perfectly. He overtakes Jenson Button (McLaren), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) and Mark Webber (Red Bull) to climb to second place, behind Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), very well started.

In the first corner, first incident: Jenson Button brakes late, pushes Fernando Alonso, who hits the Mercedes de Michael Schumacher. Everything is going well for the Briton, unlike Fernando Alonso, who turns his back to the track, and Michael Schumacher, whose front wing touches the ground. Alonso leaves last, Schumi returns to the pits.

A few seconds after this incident, Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) makes a mistake and explodes his car on Williams de Nico Hulkenberg, Sébastien Buemi (Toro Rosso) also going off track. As in free practice, Kobayashi lost his front wing, a problem that becomes dangerous when it happens in the peloton. Following this incident, the safety car was deployed. Vettel leads ahead of Massa, Webber, Kubica, Rosberg, Button, Hamilton?

While Alonso and Schumacher, at the back of the pack, were gaining positions to get back to the front of the race, the light rain stopped and the track began to dry out. Webber passes Massa for second place and Hamilton overtakes Button. The latter, immediately, returns to the pits and puts on slick tires.

The risk is great for the Briton, as the track is still largely wet. Button skids at the exit of the pitlane, goes very wide a few seconds later but thinks he made the right choice. Indeed, with the gradual drying of the track, Button regains grip and is much faster than the other drivers, who are still on intermediate tires.

Everyone returns to the pits to change tires, after seeing Button's progress. Webber leads the race, Vettel returning to the pits before the Australian. But the latter, still on intermediate tires, lost precious seconds on a track that was now almost completely dry. After his pit stop, Webber left sixth.

At the front, Vettel lined up the best laps in the race while the fights multiplied behind him. Rosberg honks behind Kubica, surprising third behind Button. Hamilton overtakes Barrichello and joins Webber, who is waiting behind Massa. On lap 13, Webber finally passed Massa, and Hamilton took the opportunity to pass the Ferrari. On his way, the Briton tries to catch Webber but touches him (first collision), and the two men go off the track. Massa takes the opportunity to regain his place. Further back in the peloton, it is Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso) who must defend himself, in fine fashion, against Michael Schumacher, 21 years his senior.

First, Vettel still leads in front of Button, who took advantage of his daring strategy to make a spectacular comeback. Kubica and Rosberg follow. Behind, the places of honor are disputed between – in order, from 5th to 8th – Massa, Hamilton, Alonso and Webber. On the 22nd lap, Hamilton overtook Massa, Alonso had to slow down to avoid hitting the Brazilian and Webber took the opportunity to infiltrate between the two Ferraris.

But the most incredible thing happened on the 26th lap, Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) leaving the track while he was firmly in the lead. Jenson Button therefore inherits first place, proof of the effectiveness of his early pit stop at the start of the race. A boulevard then presents itself to Button. The soft tires should even be able to last the entire race, the rubber provided by Brisdgestone ultimately being very resistant.

In the peloton, overtaking is legion. Rosberg was overtaken by Hamilton, the Briton going so far as to threaten Kubica, still second. The Pole resists the 2008 World Champion and protects his position, while, further back, Webber passes Massa for fifth place. Alonso comes back to his teammate, tries to catch him but does not succeed.

The duettists Hamilton and Webber then return to the pits to put on new soft tires, while the drivers remaining in the lead (Button, Kubica, Massa, Alonso) try to reach the finish with the tires worn at the first stop. Hamilton and Webber seem to have made the right choice since, back on the track, they set the best times.

Fifth and sixth, the two men put together fast laps and quickly returned to Alonso's Ferrari. Throughout the end of the race, the Spaniard concentrated on not making any mistakes and not giving Hamilton an opportunity to overtake him. Two laps from the finish, the Briton tried his best for the lap, overtaking Alonso. He had to slow down and pull over before the turn but Webber came up behind and hit him, both cars going into the gravel.

They can leave but Webber must return to his pit to benefit from a new front wing. At the front, Jenson Button went it alone and, despite the wear of his tires, managed to set competitive times. After 58 laps, he can shake his fist and celebrate his victory, his first with McLaren. He is ultimately ahead of Robert Kubica (Renault), Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), Tonio Liuzzi (Force India), Rubens Barrichello (Williams), Mark Webber (Red Bull) and Michael Schumacher (Mercedes ).