Button celebrates after 'crazy' race

The event was abandoned after 32 of the scheduled 56 laps as the weather conditions made it impossible for drivers to stay on track, even behind the safety car.

When the race was stopped, Button had already made four pitstops and, despite that, the Brawn GP driver emerged on top to give his team a dream start to the year.

"What a crazy race," said Button, who had won the Australian Grand Prix behind the safety car.

"My start was pretty bad. I don't think I'd got enough heat in the tyres and had a lot of oversteer. But I went back to fourth, got up to third, eventually got back up to the front, and I was pretty happy with that, our pace was pretty good.

"Choosing the tyres was very difficult, because normally here when it rains it pours, but it didn't to start with. We went for the full wet tyre and it destroyed itself, and then I saw Timo (Glock) flying up behind us with the inter, so we put the intermediates on.

"Just as he came by I saw his tyres were bald and it was raining out the back, so he was struggling quite a lot and had to pit.

"I got one lap in on the inter at a reasonable pace and was able to get in and put the wet tyre on and get back in front."

Half points were awarded for the race, leaving Button on top of the standings with 15, five ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello, fifth today.