Button,F1 get it right

Formula One world champion Jenson Button timed his pitstop to perfection to chalk up his first win for McLaren in a rain-affected and entertaining Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Formula One world champion Jenson Button timed his pitstop to perfection to chalk up his first win for McLaren in a rain-affected and entertaining Australian Grand Prix on Sunday. The Briton,a winner in Melbourne with Brawn GP last year,took the lead when Red Bulls Sebastian Vettel,starting on pole position,was pitched into the gravel mid-race by a brake failure.

It feels so good8230; Guys,amazing job,I think we got that pitstop pretty much perfect, Button shouted over the team radio after beating Renaults Robert Kubica by 12.034 seconds. Fantastic job,this is a great way to start the year.

Polands Kubica was comfortably clear of Ferraris Brazilian Felipe Massa,who nosed out team mate Fernando Alonso for third after the Spaniard had roared back from a first corner spin that left him in last place.

With the race starting in wet conditions,Button was the first to pit for slick tyres and seemed to have got it wrong when he immediately skidded off into the gravel. It took only a lap for him to be vindicated,however,as the track dried.

After locking out the front row,Red Bulls race again unravelled with Vettel crashing out on lap 26 of 58 and Australian Mark Webber colliding with McLarens Lewis Hamilton on the penultimate lap while fighting for fifth place.

Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher finished 10th for Mercedes after being ruled out at turn one. Buttons left front tyre hit Alonsos right at the first corner,causing the Spaniard to spin and collide with Schumacher and break the Mercedess front wing.

Points for Liuzzi again

Vitantonio Liuzzi kept his cool in a rollercoaster of a race to finish seventh and win six points for Force India. Liuzzi had finished ninth in Bahrain. Team mate Adrian Sutil who started 10th on the grid had to retire prematurely,however.

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It was another great race and another great result for the team. Its a confirmation of the pace we showed in Bahrain and the work the team did over the winter, Liuzzi said.

Karun gives HRT 1st finish

MELBOURNE: Five laps behind the winner and three behind the second-last racer,Karun Chandhok steered his battered car past the chequered flag at the Australian Grand Prix to give new team Hispania HRT their first Formula One finish on Sunday.

The Indian drivers debut at the season opener in Bahrain two weeks ago lasted a lap before he retired when he hit a bump and went off the track,having driven the car for the first time in qualifying the previous day.

At Albert Park circuit,the 26-year-old Chennai native ran his car off the greasy track a couple of times to destroy the floor and harm its aerodynamics,but was relieved to hang on to finish 14th behind winner Jenson Button.

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Very pleased to have finished the race for the first time for the team, Chandhok said on his Twitter feed. Reward for the long hours the poor guys worked8230; Had a few issues with the car and were quite safe on tyre choices which hurt performance but right now we needed to finish. Feel great physically which is a big psychological boost for me did my best three laps right at the end of the race.

Team mate Bruno Senna moved up from 22nd on the grid to 14th but the Brazilians race ended after five laps with a hydraulic failure. Reuters