MOTOR SPORT:JUST OVER four hours after he had roared off the start line Jenson Button staged a sensational smash and grab raid to steal victory from a seemingly comfortable Sebastian Vettel on the final lap of an incident-packed race here that saw the Canadian Grand Prix halted for more than two hours by torrential rain.
All morning long a light drizzle had fallen across the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve but in the hour or so before the race conditions improved, though not enough to prevent the start taking place under the safety car.
That left pole-winner Vettel in command when the pace car left the track after four laps and the German comfortably built up a four-second gap back to the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso and, behind him, team-mate Felipe Massa.
The comfort zone was expanded on lap eight when Lewis Hamilton exited the race, colliding with team-mate Button as the pair duelled for sixth.
“Going down the straight, I felt I was halfway up the outside of him, but he kept moving across,” Hamilton said. “Whether or not he saw me I don’t know. There was no room for me, no run off and I was in the wall. It was kind of lucky it didn’t take both of us out.”
Asked if he felt Button’s move was intentional, Hamilton replied: “I don’t think so, I know Jenson quite well. He wouldn’t do that. I thought I was alongside him, but it doesn’t matter now.”
Up front, Vettel was looking comfortable but then on lap 20 the rain came on with a vengeance and conditions became hazardous. It signalled the start of a long wait as weather forecasts initially indicated that the deluge would last for 30 minutes.
However, two hours passed with no sign of movement until eventually the rain cleared, officials passed the track fit for racing and Vettel took up station behind the safety car as a rolling start got the race underway again.
With the track drying quickly, half the field pitted for intermediate tyres as soon as the safety car left the circuit, believing them to be the quicker option. Initially it seemed not as Vettel went quicker and quicker but soon even the race leader was taking on the inters, though the German managed to do it without time penalty, diving towards pitlane when Button and Alonso collided and brought out the safety car yet again.
Vettel began to stretch his legs, pulling out a gap to the trailing cars but when second-placed Kamui Kobayashi and third-placed Massa tangled to allow Michael Schumacher past to claim second it set up an incredible finish.
Kobayashi and Massa, still on intermediate tyres were soon pressured and passed by both Mark Webber and a resurgent Button, who was flying on a set of supersoft tyres.
Webber attempted a pass on Schumacher but slid wide, allowing Button to steal third. Lapping two seconds quicker than the rest of the field, the McLaren driver soon bypassed Schumacher and set off after Vettel.
With three laps left and with Vettel responding to Button’s pace it looked like the champion would hold out, but half way round the final lap Vettel, under heavy pressure, made a mistake and slid wide and Button swept past to claim an incredible win, with Vettel second and Webber third.
1 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 4:04:39.537.
2 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) RedBull - Renault +00:02.709.
3 Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull - Renault 00:13.828.
4 Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes 00:14.219.
5 Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Renault 00:20.395.
6 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 00:33.225.
7 Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Sauber - Ferrari 00:33.270.
8 Jaime Alguersuari (Spain) Toro Rosso - Ferrari 00:35.964.
9 Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Williams - Cosworth 00:45.117.
10 Sebastien Buemi (Switzerland) Toro Rosso - Ferrari 00:47.056.
11 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 00:50.454.
12 Pedro de la Rosa (Spain) Sauber - Ferrari 01:03.607.
Championship standings: 1 S Vettel 161pts; 2 J Button 101; 3 M Webber 94; 4 L Hamilton 85; 5 F Alonso 69; 6 F Massa 32; 7 V Petrov 31; 8 N Heidfeld 29; 9 M Schumacher 26; 10 N Rosberg 26; 11 K Kobayashi 25.
