Jenson Button wins crash-filled Australian F1 race

<p>There was mayhem in Melbourne, where the action-packed, incident-filled Australian Grand Prix provided the perfect antidote to the boredom in Bahrain, the dreadfully dull season opener that prompted calls for drastic measures to improve the F1 show.</p>

Published March 28, 2010

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There was mayhem in Melbourne, where the action-packed, incident-filled Australian Grand Prix provided the perfect antidote to the boredom in Bahrain, the dreadfully dull season opener that prompted calls for drastic measures to improve the F1 show.

The combination of a serious street circuit that punishes the slightest mistake and a track surface made treacherous by a rain shower at the start produced 58 laps of thrills, spills and chills.

"It was very exciting and hopefully we'll have more of the same soon, because this is what we all love," exclaimed the delighted winner Jenson Button, whose decision to switch from wet weather tires to slicks before anyone else was key to a victory in only his second race with the McLaren team.

Joining the reigning world champion on the podium was Robert Kubica, who termed his hard-earned second place in the sensational streetfight-of-a-race: "A fantastic result and a brilliant boost for the Renault team."

"I think the spectators in the grandstands and in front of their TV screens had fun today: you could hardly call it boring!," said Felipe Massa, whose third place was one better than his Ferrari team mate Fernando Alonso, the winner in Bahrain but this time a survivor of several wheel-banging episodes with the likes of Michael Schumacher (who finished tenth), Lewis Hamilton (sixth) and Mark Webber (ninth).