McLaren strategy on the button for Jenson

Jenson Button raced sublimely to his first victory as a McLaren driver at a dramatic Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Despite qualifying in fourth Button was able to take advantage of events at Albert Park and in the end his inaugural triumph of the season was achieved with consummate ease. Having qualified on pole position ahead of his team-mate Mark Webber and looking to erase painful memories of the spark plug issue two weeks ago at Bahrain, Sebastian Vettel was once more the victim of reliability problems, this time careering of the race-track on lap 26 due to a problem with the left-front wheel. Vettel, who had been comfortably in the lead at the time, admitted his worries about the reliability of Red Bull's RB6 car, saying ""It'd be better to have 50 points instead of 12 but that's life, we can't change it, it's happened," adding ""If it continues we won't have good cards in hand for later in the season." Following complaints from many observers following the Bahrain Grand Prix that the sport had become boring, today's race dispelled any concerns, with just fourteen drivers finishing and an accident on the opening lap. Off the line it was Felipe Massa who gained the most, leap-frogging slower team-mate Fernando Alonso, who proceeded to tangle with Button at the first corner, a collision that sent him to the back of the field. Vettel managed to steer clear of the carnage, which was also beneficial to Hamilton, who moved up from his disappointing qualifying position of 11th to 8th. The key strategic decision of the race can on lap 6, when Jenson Button pitted for dry-weather tyres having seen his team-mate surpass him and move into sixth-place, a move that saw the reigning World Champion take two seconds of the previous fastest lap, posted by the leader Vettel, and move into second place as the cars ahead of him pitted a lap later. "It was my call, it is a lot easier for the driver to feel the conditions," Button stated on the timing of his first stop, but it was still Vettel in control of the race until his retirement on lap 26. Following this Button was able to build up a substantial lead over second-placed Robert Kubica, who drove excellently throughout the race, but it was Hamilton who caught the eye most at this point with a series of stunning overtakes. The first of which saw him ahead of Webber in fifth, before he was able to slip past Massa and launch a daring move on Nico Rosberg to claim third position. However Hamilton was then put back to fifth place following McLaren's decision to pit him for new tyres on lap 34, and despite having superior pace was unable to get past Alonso to threaten either Massa or Kubica. Hamilton's annoyance was compounded by Mark Webber, who was unable to stop in time and smashed into the McLaren at speed, putting himself down to ninth ahead of Michael Schumacher, who was once again disappointing, and causing Hamilton to be pipped to fifth by the waiting Rosberg. On the McLaren decision, Hamilton's discontent was clear to see, with the young Briton commenting ""It was one of the drives of my life. Unfortunately because of the strategy I got put back and then I drove my heart out today and I think I deserved better. Everyone else in front of me did one stop and I did two." The result leaves Alonso ahead on 37, Massa second with 33, and race-winner Button and Hamilton on 31 and 23 points respectively. With Formula One now an interesting sport once again, it will be crucial for Vettel and Red Bull to find some semblance of reliability, for as many drivers have discovered over the years, one cannot win the Championship on pole positions alone, whilst McLaren will be hoping that their lack of qualifying pace is solved sooner rather than later, in order that Button's charge may continue unabated.