Britain’s Jenson Button was leading the first formula one race of the season from start to finish.
He beat the reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel by 2.1 seconds to win in Melbourne for the third time in four years. Button’s fellow Briton and teammate Lewis Hamilton, who started on pole, finished third behind the German to round out the podium while Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber was fourth. The top 12 finishers were separated by less than a minute, bearing out pre-season predictions of a hard-fought campaign in 2012.
FINAL PLACINGS
1 – Jenson Button (McLaren)
2 – Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
3 – Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
4 – Mark Webber (Red Bull)
5 – Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
6 – Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber)
7 – Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus)
8 – Sergio Perez (Sauber)
9 – Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso)
10 – Paul Di Resta (Force India)
11 – Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso)
12 – Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
13 – Pastor Maldonado (Williams)
14 – Timo Glock (Marussia)
Watch video below:
