Button takes first podium

Button went on to finish behind Michael Schumacher's Ferrari and Juan Pablo Montoya's BMW Williams, but ahead of Rubens Barrichello, who chose a harder Bridgestone tyre than that used by the race-winning Ferrari.

Button, told a post-race media conference: "I'm ecstatic, as much for the team as for me. They've all worked so hard. It's not just the third place, I actually really enjoyed the race as well. When Webber didn't get away and I went around him, Trulli was on the left side and we hit wheels pretty hard. I was a bit worried that there would be a car problem after that, but everything was okay. Trulli and I had a good fight early on, which was good fun."

Button lost a podium finish in Malaysia two years ago when his Renault had a problem on the last lap and he was gobbled up by Michael Schumacher's Ferrari. This time he finished with Barrichello's Ferrari 2s behind.

"It was nice to have a gap to the car behind on the last lap, not like previous years!" he said.

Button explained that the BAR-Honda team had made strong progress since Melbourne, particularly in its understanding of the Michelin tyres. "Melbourne was obviously the first race on Michelins and we got a lot of information from that and realised what we were lacking," he said. "We just found it difficult to find a balance and if we had a bit of understeer it would lose us a lot of lap time, but I didn't want an oversteering car going into the race. We've done a great job over the winter and have made a really good step forward."

Button's performance was backed up by a strong showing by team-mate Takuma Sato. The Japanese driver had started from the back row and fought his way into the points before with three laps to go.

"Obviously it was extremely disappointing that we weren't able to finish the race," Sato said. "The car was very strong and we had good race pace. Unlike many of the drivers, we chose a two-stop strategy but it was working very well. I had a very good start and was determined to make up places off the grid. I was up to 11th by the end of the first lap and then obviously I wanted to keep pushing because I knew a points finish was within my grasp."