Button seals last-lap triumph

Jenson Button
12 April 2012

Jenson Button secured arguably the greatest win of his Formula One career at the end of an epic Canadian Grand Prix.

It was a rain-hit race that had everything, but it boiled down to the last lap just as the clock had also hit the two-hour limit.

Reigning champion Sebastian Vettel was hounded into making an error by Button, sliding wide at one stage to open the door, with the 31-year-old needing no second invitation. Button then made it to the line for a sensational victory, the 10th of his career, and first since last year's Chinese Grand Prix now 14 months ago.

Mark Webber completed the podium places with renowned wet-weather expert Michael Schumacher finishing in fourth.

How Button managed such a win is a remarkable story as he pitted six times in total, five occasions for tyres and once for a drive-through penalty for speeding behind the safety car.

In particular, though, he was also involved in an accident with McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton, resulting in his retirement.

As the early part of the race unfolded it was not long before it had to be halted as the rain hit, resulting in a two-hour wait.

A crash involving Renault's Nick Heidfeld on lap 56 of 70 brought out the safety car for a fifth time. It bunched up the field and led to a fight to the finish between Vettel, Schumacher in his Mercedes, Webber and Button, who was running fourth.

A mistake from Webber, cutting a chicane, allowed Button to claim third before he then made a move on Schumacher to take second. At that stage there were five laps or five minutes to run, and the drama continued until the dying seconds courtesy of Vettel's error.

Renault's Vitaly Petrov finished fifth, whilst Felipe Massa in his Ferrari stunningly pipped Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi on the line for sixth.

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