Jenson Button has taken victory in an extraordinary finish to a rain-delayed Canadian Grand Prix.
The 2009 World Champion made six pitstops, including a drive-through penalty for speeding under Safety Car during a race which included a two-hour rain delay and five full-course caution periods.
Sebastian Vettel had controlled the race for 69 of its 70 laps, before falling off the road on the final tour while under pressure from a charging Button.
Mark Webber passed Michael Schumacher for third place with just three laps remaining, while Vitaly Petrov and Felipe Massa rounded out the top six.
Kamui Kobayashi took seventh, ahead of Jaime Alguersuari, Rubens Barrichello and Sebastien Buemi.
The race started in full-wet conditions, with the Safety Car required to lead the field for the opening four laps.
When racing finally got underway, it took just one corner for Lewis Hamilton to find himself in trouble – turning Mark Webber around in front of the field.
The Australian spun back to 16th place, while Hamilton’s race lasted just three more laps before contact with his team-mate Button and the pit wall ended his day and required the Safety Car once again (CLICK HERE for separate story).
When racing resumed on Lap 8, Button trailed the Safety Car into pitlane for intermediate tyres, with the majority of the front-runners following a lap later.
Several drivers, including Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber, Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button returned to the pits when rain arrived on Lap 20 – with the weather intense enough to quickly bring out the Safety Car and then red flag.
When the standing water finally cleared, the Safety Car was again called upon to recommence proceedings, with green flag racing not returning until Lap 35.
The green flags triggered a scramble for intermediate tyres, with Button again among the first to move to the alternate rubber.
The Safety Car was out again just three laps later however, when Alonso and Button clashed in the Turn 3/4 chicane – ending the Ferrari driver’s race, and sending Button back to the pits to replace a punctured tyre.
Vettel, who took the Safety Car as an opportunity to pit for a set of inters of his own, once again led comfortably after the restart, pulling away from closest pursuers Kamui Kobayashi, Felipe Massa and Vitaly Petrov.
The race’s longest green flag spell saw 10 laps of running before Mark Webber initiated a move onto the Super Soft compound slick tyres.
The shuffling saw Schumacher, Webber and Button emerge in second through fourth positions by the time the final Safety Car was called for debris with 13 laps to run. The rubble had been left on the run to Turn 4 after a nose-to-tail collision between Kamui Kobayashi and Nick Heidfeld that saw the German pitched into the escape road with a broken front-wing.
Schumacher, Webber and Button scrapped for several laps after the restart, with Button eventually passing his rivals into the final chicane on successive laps (64 and 65) before setting his sights on Vettel.
Having finally made it inside the one-second DRS ‘zone’ on the penultimate lap, Button forced the German into a mistake into Turn 6 on the final tour to sweep through for a memorable victory.
The result sees Button leap from fourth to second in the points standings, 60 points behind Vettel and seven ahead of Webber.
Button was investigated post-race for his collision with Alonso, but no penalty was applied.
See below for the full result
Pos | Grid | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired |
1 | 7 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 70 | Winner |
2 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 70 | +2.7 secs |
3 | 4 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 70 | +13.8 secs |
4 | 8 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 70 | +14.2 secs |
5 | 10 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 70 | +20.3 secs |
6 | 3 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 70 | +33.2 secs |
7 | 13 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 70 | +33.2 secs |
8 | 18 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 70 | +35.9 secs |
9 | 16 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 70 | +45.1 secs |
10 | 15 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 70 | +47.0 secs |
11 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 70 | +50.4 secs |
12 | 17 | Pedro de la Rosa | Sauber-Ferrari | 70 | +63.6 secs |
13 | 21 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | HRT-Cosworth | 69 | +1 Lap |
14 | 23 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | 69 | +1 Lap |
15 | 24 | Jerome d’Ambrosio | Virgin-Cosworth | 69 | +1 Lap |
16 | 22 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 69 | +1 Lap |
17 | 19 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Renault | 69 | +1 Lap |
18 | 11 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 67 | +3 Laps |
Ret | 12 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Cosworth | 61 | +9 Laps |
Ret | 9 | Nick Heidfeld | Renault | 55 | +15 Laps |
Ret | 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 49 | +21 Lapss |
Ret | 2 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 36 | +34 Laps |
Ret | 20 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Renault | 28 | +42 Laps |
Ret | 5 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 7 | +63 Laps |
See below for the championship points after the Canadian Grand Prix
Pos | Driver | Points |
1 | Sebastian Vettel | 161 |
2 | Jenson Button | 101 |
3 | Mark Webber | 94 |
4 | Lewis Hamilton | 85 |
5 | Fernando Alonso | 69 |
6 | Felipe Massa | 32 |
7 | Vitaly Petrov | 31 |
8 | Nick Heidfeld | 29 |
9 | Michael Schumacher | 26 |
10 | Nico Rosberg | 26 |
11 | Kamui Kobayashi | 25 |
12 | Adrian Sutil | 8 |
13 | Sebastien Buemi | 8 |
14 | Jaime Alguersuari | 4 |
15 | Rubens Barrichello | 4 |
16 | Sergio Perez | 2 |
17 | Paul di Resta | 2 |
18 | Pedro de la Rosa | 0 |
19 | Jarno Trulli | 0 |
20 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | 0 |
21 | Jerome d’Ambrosio | 0 |
22 | Heikki Kovalainen | 0 |
23 | Narain Karthikeyan | 0 |
24 | Pastor Maldonado | 0 |
25 | Timo Glock | 0 |