Button wins Australian GP

Jenson Button won the Formula One season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, beating his teammate Rubens Barrichello and giving Brawn GP a 1-2 finish in its debut race.

Button led from start to finish, with the race finishing under safety car conditions following a late accident.

Barrichello recovered after being slow off the start, while Toyota's Jarno Trulli performed impressively after starting from pit lane, finishing third.

It was the first time since 1977 that a team had won its debut F1 race, and the third time that a team had finished first and second at its first attempt. Alfa Romeo did it in the first ever grand prix in Britain in 1950, and Mercedes did it at the French GP in 1954.

It was only the second GP win for Button, who is in his 10th year of F1.

The win capped a remarkable turnaround for the former Honda team which was at real risk of extinction in the offseason when the Japanese automaker pulled out of F1. Team principal Ross Brawn took over the team, which has benefitted greatly from 2009 development spending by its former owner last year.

"This is a fairytale ending for the first race," Button said. "Some people may say its a pity the race finished under the safety car but I don't care, I won the race and that's all I care about."

Further boosting Brawn GP spirits was the knowledge that the past three winners of the Australian GP went on to win the championship.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and BMW's Robert Kubica collided while running second and third with only four laps to go, ending their races and bringing out the safety car.

Reigning champion Lewis Hamilton was fourth for McLaren after starting 18th on the grid, finishing ahead of Toyota's Timo Glock, Renault's Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg of Williams and Red Bull's Sebastien Buemi, who got one point in his first grand prix.

For the second year running, Ferrari finished without a point in the season opener. Felipe Massa was running in third place before sustaining a steering failure on lap 45, three laps after Kimi Raikkonen spun out.

There was a crash at the first corner that ended the race for McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen, and forced BMW's Nick Heidfeld, Red Bull's Mark Webber and Force India's Adrian Sutil to immediately pit, effectively ending their chances.