Button wins Malaysian GP

SEPANG,-- Torrential rains, scattered thunderstorms and a water-logged circuit helped Briton Jenson Button of Brawn GP, clinch the Petronas Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit after the race was stopped in the 31st of the 56-lap race.

It was the second consecutive victory for the Briton who had also claimed the season opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne last week.

Button said: "What a crazy race, it really was. During the heavy down pour, I couldn't see the circuit well. My start was really bad, I had a lot of over steer and maybe I didn't get enough heat in the rear tyres."

BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld took second place while Panasonic Toyota Racing Team driver Timo Glock finished third when the decision was announced about an hour after the initial race was red-flagged.

Jarno Trulli of Panasonic Toyota Racing Team finished fourth ahead of Rubens Barrichello from Brawn GP F1 Team.

The race that started off at 5pm under perfect weather conditions, suddenly transformed into a nightmare for drivers as a sporadic drizzle at certain sections of the track set the tone for what was to come.

And just as feared, when the race was picking up pace, the sky opened up and drenched the circuit while heavy rain and thunderstorm limited visibility of the drivers, forcing the safety car to be deployed and at 6.02pm the red flag was out to stop the race.

Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes could only manage seventh place while his team-mate Heikki Kovalainen crashed out early in the race.

Button, though declared winner, he received only half of the 10 points normally awarded to the winner. He leads the drivers standings with 15 points while his Brazilian team-mate Barrichello is second with 10 points while Trulli is third with 8.5 points.

Hamilton is in 10th spot with just a single point while Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen have yet to collect any points.

Meanwhile, Heidfeld said: "We decided to go on full rain tyres but the tyres wore down quickly because the heavy rain didn't come, however, the team kept telling me to stay out as heavy rain expected but the tyres felt almost like slicks.

"The decision to stop the race was right because it was absolutely impossible to drive in such conditions."

-- BERNAMA