Australian Grand Prix 2012

McLaren's Jenson Button won the Australian Grand Prix in a thrilling start to the season Sunday as he held off two-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel in second place. Button took full advantage of an error by pole-sitting team-mate Lewis Hamilton to lead from the start of the race. Hamilton finished third with Vettel s Red Bull colleague, Mark Webber, fourth. Button, the 2009 champion, finished second to Vettel in last year s standings but way ahead of Hamilton in fifth, and the affable Briton will be delighted to throw down the gauntlet to both rivals in the year s first race. Vettel, 24, is aiming to become just the third man to win three championships in a row, while Hamilton is determined to bounce back from his poor showing in 2011.