Jenson Button has hailed his amazing Canadian Grand Prix win as possibly the best race of his Formula One career.
The McLaren driver had an eventful afternoon at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and was forced to fight from the back of the grid to claim victory and deny Sebastian Vettel a fourth consecutive win this season.
The win seemed a million miles away for Button during the early exchanges after he made contact with team-mate Lewis Hamilton on lap eight and was slapped with a drive-through penalty a few laps later for speeding under the Safety Car. His drive-through penalty - which was one of six visits to the pits - saw him drop to the back of the grid.
However, Button managed to make his way through the pack and found himself P2 after overtaking Michael Schumacher and Mark Webber during the final 10 laps. The McLaren driver put in some blistering times in the final five laps of the race and Vettel eventually cracked under the pressure on the final lap, running wide and allowing Button to pip him to P1.
"I really don't know what to say, it's been a very emotional three hours, or however long it's been since the start," Button said during the post-race press conference.
"Obviously the incident with Lewis, I couldn't see anything when he was alongside me. I couldn't see anything in my mirrors, it was one of those things and I've apologised to him. From then on it was really a fight, I got a drive-through for speeding behind the Safety Car and then I had to find my way through about three times.
"Eventually on the last lap I was chasing down Seb, he ran a little bit wide onto the wet part of the circuit and I was able to take the opportunity and take the win. For me, it was a fantastic race and I think even if I hadn't won today I would have enjoyed this race immensely. But yeah, amazing win and possibly my best."
McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh also heaped praise on Button after his win.
"We knew he had to put pressure on Sebastian, and Sebastian made a mistake," Whitmarsh told BBC. "From Jenson, that's the stuff of champions, that's the stuff of dreams."
