JENSON BUTTON paid tribute to his team after his third victory in the Australian Grand Prix. "Every win means a lot," said the Englishman. "This one shows how good a winter we had in getting the new car ready for the season. The guys back at Woking did a wonderful job and I want to thank all of them for this voctory.
"You always worry when the safety car comes out because the field bunches up. I was on fresh rubber and the tyres were cold, so anything could have happened. It was a pretty amazing day all round really. We all think this could be a very special season, with six world champions on the grid. It's a great sport to be part of right now. I am very excited to be heading off to Malaysia for the next race, but first of all we will be celebrating this win with the rest of the team."
Martin Whitmarsh, the McLaren team principal, was delighted. "To get the first two places on the grid in qualifying was a fantastic performance," he said. "We were tight on fuel so had to monitor our cars closely throughout the race. We had a level of confidence that we would do well here but you cannot be certain until you compete in race conditions. No matter how good your car is, there are so many things beyond your control."
He was quick to pay tribute to Button. "Jenson did a wonderful job," said Whitmarsh. "People underestimate him. He has a real hunger within. We go away from here having proved to ourselves and everybody else that we have a great car and that we can challenge throughout the season."
Vettel, who started from fifth on the grid, and finished second, said: "The safety car helped me to get past Lewis [Hamilton], but I think we would have had a crack at him anyway. It was a great race. I got past Nico Rosberg with a really good passing move and then got up to the McLarens, although Jenson was uncatchable today. I am happy with the car, which seems to have plenty of potential.
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Hamilton was clearly disappointed with his third place. "Congratulattions to Jenson," he said. "I had a tough day out there but there are plenty of races left and I look forward to the next one in Malaysia. I tried my best to catch Sebastian and although I was unable to do so I was happy with the pace of my car."
Alonso admitted that he was pleased to have finished fifth in the Ferrari but added: "We have to improve the performance of our cars. We will do our best in Malaysia but obviously there is no time to make any improvement between now and then. Hopefully we will make some real progress after that." If they don't. expect heads to start rolling before the season gets very much older.