Button: Victory will spur McLaren on

The world champion outclassed the opposition with a well-timed early switch to slick tyres in the rain-affected race in Melbourne - before brilliantly conserving his rubber over the remainder of the race distance to grab the win.

And although Button is not shying away from the fact that McLaren still needs to improve its pace if it is to take the world title fight to Red Bull Racing, the Briton thinks that the Australian triumph will help motivate that push forwards.

"I just want to run around and scream because this is the most amazing experience," said Button on Sunday night as he prepared for some quiet celebrations with his team and family. "For this moment in my career, it is very special and hopefully this is something we can build on for this year.

"This has given us a bit of direction. We are very hungry for victory - and this one is just a taster. Hopefully with a few improvements, this is going to continue.

"The team has done a great job this weekend, we've made some good steps forward, but we are still not quick enough. We still want to be quicker than we are, but this is a great result and to win here with what we have is spectacular - and we have to keep building on this."

Button reckons that his first win for McLaren means just as much to him as his victory in last year's Australian Grand Prix when he was racing for Brawn GP.

"It is massive. It really is," he said. "It means so much to me because last year was a very special season. This winter has been very long getting to know the team, and they have been great.

"They've really welcomed me in, and it has been a big part of that. I thought I would struggle a little with it and haven't so far. The car is taking me a little bit longer to get used to than the team itself, but I am happy - and this wouldn't have happened if I wasn't happy in the cockpit."

The key to Button's victory was his early switch to slick tyres which, although viewed by some as inspired, the man himself reckons was a necessity.

"For me it was a must - I was losing places left, right and centre [on the intermediates]. They are normally conditions I really enjoy, but I didn't have a balance, and I thought I am going to end up sixth, seventh or eighth if I don't do something. I thought if I am destroying tyres this quickly it must be dry.

"When we put the tyre on it was always let's put them on to the end, as one stop is always the way at the moment. Then after seven or eight laps I had been pushing so hard to catch the cars that had just come out on slicks that the rears starting going off and I thought, 'oh no this could all end in tears'.

"I did everything I could then to change the settings on the car to give me understeer, and I got it about right. I had to conserve the tyres until the final 20 laps when I could kick it in."

He added: "We didn't have the pace of the quick cars on the front row in qualifying, but our race pace has been better over the past two grands prix. The conditions helped us today and we made some good calls - but F1 is not just about being the quickest out there. It is about making the right calls, conserving the car and the tyres, and I think we did everything right.

"I am very, very happy. The team has done a very good job - we should enjoy ourselves tonight. This is a special day for me."