Jenson Button admits he had a few harrowing moments when he thought he blew his Aussie GP with a bold tyre decision.
Button's race Down Under began on a damp track with a first-lap incident involving Fernando Alonso. However, seven laps later, with the rain abating, the reigning World Champ made an inspired decision to be the first to switch to slick tyres, a move that caught his team unaware and his mechanics napping on their chairs.
7.7s later he was back in the race and struggling to stay on the track as the damp circuit and his slicks didn't mix. The Brit, though, was soon up to speed and made up places while his rivals finally caught on and head en masse into the pits.
Lying second, Button was closing in on Sebastian Vettel before the Red Bull racer's grand prix came to an end in the gravel. From there it was left to Button to etch out a lead and secure his first race victory as a McLaren driver.
"I thought I had made a catastrophic decision, thought it was a mistake," he later revealed.
"Once I got up to speed, after a mistake at Turn 3, it felt pretty good and I was able to overtake a few cars as they stopped.
"It was a good call."
His team boss Martin Whitmarsh applauded the decision telling the BBC: "It was a fantastic race by Jenson, in truth he called that first stop and it got him the win, it was his bravery to make that call."
But while Button's may have been a good call, his team-mate Lewis Hamilton's race was undone by a bad one that came down from the McLaren pit wall.
Looking for a way onto the podium, Hamilton instead came into the pits on lap 36 for fresh rubbers, a decision not copied by those in front of him, including Button.
So while Hamilton had 22 laps on his second set of slicks, Button managed 51 on just one set of tyres - and yet it was the latter who claimed the victory while Hamilton's bid for a top-three finish was undone by the Ferraris and a coming together with Mark Webber.
Whitmarsh later conceded that perhaps McLaren had hurt Hamilton's chances: "With Lewis we made a team call which disadvantaged him but it was a fantastic job by Jenson, we're happy with that one.
"It's been a tough start to the year we knew we'd win some races and we won this one. He won that by his racing and his call on the tyres, he got it spot on."
Button also rubbed a bit of salt into Hamilton's wounds, revealing that pitting for a fresh set of rubber was never an option for him as it was a race that needed just one set.
"For me I never thought of putting on another set. It was to run the race on one set of tyres if we could. My pace was not great. Once I settled into the car I felt I was starting to damage the tyres. I settled into pace that would not destroy the rears.
"We could not have done a better strategy. My decision at the beginning was my call but with a lot of feedback from the circuit. I need to thank McLaren for all our hard work. It's good to see us get a result for the hard work."
As for his first win as a McLaren driver, the Brit says it was "very special. It has taken me a little while to get to grips inside the car, but the team has been fantastic and welcomed me in.
"It is difficult to put it into words, it is a very special feeling and we will take a lot from this. I feel I am building in confidence, and I hope in the next rate we can do something similar as this feels too good."
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