London: Boring? Who said anything about boring? Formula One rediscovered its vroom Down Under on Sunday as Formula One's "cool guy" Jenson Button claimed his maiden victory for McLaren in an incident-packed, rain-affected Australian Grand Prix.
An inspired call from the Briton to switch to dry-weather tyres on lap six, one lap before the rest of the field, paid off as he moved from seventh place into second.
Sebastian Vettel's apparent brake failure midway through the race completed the job as Red Bull were once again left ruing their lack of points on a weekend in which they had the fastest car.
As thousands of race fans trudged off into the Melbourne rain, chattering excitedly about the thrilling drama they had just witnessed, back in the paddock McLaren's luminous orange victory shirts lit up the night sky as Button celebrated wildly with his team.
This was the eighth victory of the world champion's career but arguably the most important given the "Lion's Den" he was presumed to have entered at McLaren; the house that Ron Dennis built around Lewis Hamilton. Poor Hamilton.
A wretched weekend, in which he was nabbed by Melbourne traffic police for performing "burnouts" before struggling to 11th in qualifying, was nearly consigned to history with a magnificent drive that saw him climb as high as third at one point.
"It was probably the drive of my life," he said. A poor call from McLaren to bring him in for a change of tyres backfired and he eventually finished sixth after a shunt from home favourite Mark Webber.
Unaided call
It was tough luck on Hamilton, although his outburst at the team's "terrible" decision to bring him in only highlighted the fact that Button made his call unaided.
Button's experience showed on this occasion, although he admitted he thought his "game-changing" call might have backfired badly as he struggled to stay on the track immediately after switching rubber.
"When I went into the pit lane I thought I had made a catastrophic decision as it was soaking wet," he said. "I then had a little off at turn three but generally the pace was good and I was able to overtake three or four cars when they stopped."
Button's win was his second in succession at Albert Park after his emotional victory on his debut for Brawn GP last year, but the 30 year-old said it was impossible to make comparisons.
"The emotions are completely different," he said. "But this is very special. "It has taken me a little while to get to grips with the car but the team have been fantastic. They have really welcomed me in. I am just building in confidence and hopefully when we get to the next race we can do something similar as this feels too good."
Button's team principal Martin Whitmarsh was similarly thrilled, saying his new acquisition had made a "fantastic call" to come in early. "He's got to take the credit. He was the cool guy," said Whitmarsh who also defended Hamilton, a man he had described as "fragile and distracted"
24 hours earlier
"If Lewis didn't feel disappointed and frustrated, I'd be worried," he said. At least Hamilton later recovered his poise to give his teammate a generous hug.
