Jenson's just deserts

Jenson Button claimed his third win of the year in Bahrain. He started fourth and was immediately passed by Lewis Hamilton, but he held on tight to the McLaren driver's tail and managed to out-brake him into Turn 1. "That move made the race for me. I think it was the finest first lap of my career," he said afterwards.

With pole man Jarno Trulli embroiled in an epic fight with an aggressive Fernando Alonso, Button found himself in the lead after the pitstops worked themselves out. Sebastian Vettel could have been a threat but was released from the pits behind Jarno Trulli who, on hard compound tyres, was a second per lap off the pace but difficult to pass. By the time Vettel was able to overtake he was 13 seconds behind the race leader.

The greatest challenge Button faced, though, was from traffic. "At one point I lapped Robert Kubica, but he pressed his KERS button and unlapped himself. I'm sorry if my language over the radio was broadcast."

And backmarkers weren't the only pain in the backside for Jenson. "In this heat all the surfaces on the car and in the cockpit get incredibly hot. As I was getting out I burnt my left buttock on an electrical box," said Jenson, and he indicated that Vettel could massage it later.

The Brawns had suffered cooling issues in practice and Jenson was concerned that his car wouldn't make it to the finish. "For us it's very difficult because of the heat. We were a bit worried about the engine," he said. "I am absolutely chuffed to bits with this result because we just didn't have the pace here that we had in the first couple of races. The car feels a bit aged, but we have new bits to go on the car at the next race."

If Brawn can keep with the pace of development, Jenson will be a difficult man to catch.

RESULTS

1. Jenson Button - Brawn-Mercedes
2. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull-Renault
3. Jarno Trulli - Toyota
4. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes
5. Rubens Barrichello - Brawn-Mercedes
6. Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
7. Timo Glock - Toyota
8. Fernando Alonso - Renault
9. Nico Rosberg - Williams-Toyota
10. Nelson Piquet - Renault
11. Mark Webber - Red Bull-Renault
12. Heikki Kovalainen - McLaren-Mercedes
13. Sebastien Bourdais - Toro Rosso-Ferrari
14. Felipe Massa - Ferrari
15. Giancarlo Fisichella - Force India-Mercedes
16. Adrian Sutil - Force India-Mercedes
17. Sebastien Buemi - Toro Rosso-Ferrari
18. Robert Kubica - BMW-Sauber
19. Nick Heidfeld - BMW-Sauber

DNF Kazuki Nakajima - Williams-Toyota

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Jenson Button - 31 points
2. Rubens Barrichello - 19 points
3. Sebastian Vettel - 18 points
4. Jarno Trulli - 14.5 points
5. Timo Glock - 12 points
6. Mark Webber - 9.5 points
7. Lewis Hamilton - 9 points
8. Fernando Alonso - 5 points
9. Nick Heidfeld, Heikki Kovalainen - 4 points

7. Nico Rosberg - 3.5 points
8. Sebastien Buemi & Kimi Raikkonen - 3 points
9. Sebastien Bourdais - 1 point

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Brawn - 50
2. Red Bull Racing - 27.5
3. Toyota - 26.5
4. McLaren - 13
5. Renault - 5
6. Toro Rosso & BMW-Sauber - 4
7. Williams - 3.5
8. Ferrari - 3