Melbourne: McLaren driver Jenson Button has won the Formula One Australian Grand Prix, in an incident-packed race. World champion Button won by 12 seconds from Renault's Robert Kubica, with Ferrari's Felipe Massa third.
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel started from pole position and led for the first 25 laps before going off the track into a gravel trap, ending his race due to what he thought was brake failure.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was fourth and Mercedes' Nico Rosberg fifth. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton survived a late collision with Red Bull's Mark Webber to finish sixth, while Webber slipped down to ninth as a result.
Alonso leads the championship with 37 points, ahead of Massa on 33 and Button on 31.
Meanwhile, Vitantonio Liuzzi kept his cool in a roller-coaster of a race to finish seventh and win six invaluable points for Force India while Karun Chandhok was among the 14 drivers who lasted the distance.
Liuzzi bettered his ninth place finish in Bahrain Grand Prix with yet another mature performance to ensure Force India didn't return empty-handed from the race.
The Italian's composed performance at Albert Park somewhat alleviated the outfit's disappointment after Adrian Sutil -- who started 10th on the grid and looked primed for his maiden points of the season -- had to retire from the race prematurely.
Hispania driver Chandhok survived numerous intrigues and managed to bring his car to the chequered flag as the 14th and last driver to do so but it was no mean achievement for the rookie Indian.
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