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A smooth drive from Briton Jenson Button saw him claim a dramatic weather-affected Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne with Renault's Robert Kubica second ahead of the Ferraris.

Pole sitter Sebastian Vettel crashed out halfway through the race with a brake failure, allowing Button to take the lead - and the reigning world champion never looked back.

His McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton suffered a late collision with Vettel's Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber after the pair had made up over 20 seconds on podium-placed Felipe Massa and the following Fernando Alonso.

Renault driver Kubica impressed as he kept the Scuderia pairing at bay in the final laps, although their extreme tyre degradation played a part.

Hamilton, who was openly furious with his two-stop strategy at the end, soldiered on to take sixth after the incident, which occurred when he looked to pass Alonso - and Webber ran into his rear.

Nico Rosberg was fifth while Michael Schumacher in the sister Mercedes snatched a point with 10th spot following a long battle with Jaime Alguersuari of Toro Rosso, who he finally passed before sneaking past Pedro de la Rosa on the final lap.

Vitantonio Liuzzi, Rubens Barrichello and Webber - who had to have his nosecone replaced - occupied positions seven to nine.

Alonso did not get away well on a damp track following rainfall prior to the race start, touched Button at turn one and spun into Schumacher - and the contact broke the Mercedes's front wing. Hamilton took evasive action, running over the grass.

Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi then smashed into the Toro Rosso of Sebastien Buemi and Williams of Nico Hulkenberg at turn six, bringing out the safety car.

Massa had moved all the way up from fifth to pass front row starter Webber, whom the home fans at Albert Park were desperate to see claim victory, and sit second behind the quick Vettel.

However Webber quickly reclaimed the position, with Kubica and Rosberg suddenly there to threaten Brazilian Massa.

Behind them were the McLarens. The bedrock of Button's first win for the team was the decision to go with slick tyres on lap six, taken soon after Hamilton passed him at turn three.

However it looked a risky strategy when soon after he briefly visited the gravel, again at turn three; despite that, his following lap-times improved greatly.

The entire field came in for slicks, although the front-running Red Bull RB6s stayed out longest in case of rain. When it came it only spotted, and they soon made the change.

The stops had allowed Button to snatch second and get right up behind Vettel, while Webber, who waited until lap 10, found himself behind Kubica, Rosberg and Massa.

Webber did not wait long to put a move on Massa, and Hamilton following got involved in a tussle with the Red Bull which allowed Massa to stay ahead of the Australian and 2008 world champion. Alonso had made up ground following his early woes and also got through.

However Hamilton was soon past Massa and threatening Rosberg; the Mercedes man could not hold him off for long, the Briton moving around the outside at the high-speed turn 11.

He may have retaken the position a couple of corners later, but the yellow flags had appeared for Vettel's crash.

The young German had looked comfortable up to that point and Button matched that assurance once he had taken over P1, looking after his tyres. Kubica was fending off Hamilton with Webber behind, having overtaken Massa.

Hamilton and Webber came in for fresh tyres while Button's strategists kept him out. The chase for Hamilton and Webber was on, eating into the 20-second-plus gap to the Ferraris at a rate of over a second per lap, while they in turn looked to get past the Renault of Kubica.

Button steadily built a lead which reached 17 seconds, only tailing off to 12 as he nursed the MP4-25 home over the final few laps. Hamilton and Webber caught Alonso with six laps remaining, but the dirty air prevented them from executing a pass.

As desperation set in, and with Hamilton having already complained over the radio about his two-stopper, he looked to get up the inside of Alonso but had to back off; Webber rather clumsily ran into him, taking both cars into the gravel.

Following the race, Hamilton reiterated his anger at his strategy, stating he would find out who was responsible - while before that Button thanked his team over the radio for their support in giving him a momentous victory.

Jonathan Symcox / Eurosport