Button leads McLaren one-two in Chinese Grand Prix

Gary Rose
Sunday 18 April 2010 10:43 BST
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Jenson Button secured his second victory of the season as he led a McLaren one-two ahead of Lewis Hamilton at an incident-packed Chinese Grand Prix today.

The reigning world champion had started fifth on the grid but profited from an early safety car deployment and a flurry of early pit stops by the leading pack due to rain to move into pole early on.

Hamilton, meanwhile, had started sixth but once again drove superbly to secure his best finish of the season while Mercedes' Nico Rosberg took third for the fourth podium finish of his career.

The result means Button now leads the drivers' standings and also marked McLaren's first one-two of the season.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who had surged into the lead on the first lap but was handed a drive-through penalty for jumping the start, secured fourth with Renault's Robert Kubica fifth.

Pole-winner Sebastian Vettel failed to follow up his Malaysian Grand Prix victory as the Red Bull driver finished sixth while Renault's Vitaly Petrov secured his first points of the season with seventh place.

Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber endured a race to forget as he took eighth while Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher of Mercedes completed the top 10.

Like in his victory in Australia, Button made the correct call on tyres after showers had fallen at the start of the race with the 30-year-old having opted to stay on the slicks while others pitted for intermediates.

"This victory is special and means a lot," said Button. "It is not just about being quick it is also about reading the conditions.

"The tricky conditions have helped me but it was not luck we came out on top today, we chose correctly.

"My first few months with the team have been extraordinary and I really feel part of the team."

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