Button wins as torrential rain hits Malaysian GP
Button wins Malaysian GP after race was suspended due to rain
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Sunday, 05, Apr 2009 09:35
Jenson Button has won the Malaysian grand prix in bizarre circumstances after the race was suspended after 32 laps due to torrential rain.
BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld was second while Toyota's Timo Glock was third. However, all the drivers will only get half points because less than 75 per cent of the race was completed.
Rain was predicted at the start of the race but the sheer force of the downpour meant the race had to be suspended after an hour of racing.
Confusion then reigned as to whether the race would re-start or not with the rain having eased towards the end of the session, but rules dictate that a race can only be two hours long.
So with the cars still waiting to go back on the track, Button was declared the winner.
The order of the drivers at the end of the winners' last completed lap count as the official standings, meaning that although Glock was ahead of Heidfeld when the red flag came out the order from lap 31 put him behind his compatriot.
At the start of the race Nico Rosberg raced to the front of the field, overtaking Jarno Trulli and Jenson Button into the first corner.
Fernando Alonso also made a great start pushing Button down to fourth place briefly before the Briton managed to get past the Renault towards the end of the first lap.
Rosberg's downfall came on lap 15; he was the second man to pit and put on slick tyres despite being able to see the storm clouds gathering.
Button at that point put in some flying laps and managed to still come out in second place after his first pit spot.
When lightning and rain hit the track all the cars had to stop to put intermediate tyres on in what was a mad scramble to gain track position.
Glock was leading the race at the start of lap 30 as he was the first to put the intermediate tyres on two laps before the rest of the field.
However, Button was chasing the German hard and gaining ground on him. The Toyota driver chose to pit once more as the rain quickly got heavier by the end of lap 30.
Button chose to stay out and tip-toed around the circuit as visibility dropped to virtually nothing due to the rain that was falling and the spray from the back of the cars.
The safety car came out on lap 32 and after just one lap of the circuit the race was suspended.
That led to an hour of calculations and prognostications as confusion over whether the rest of the race could be completed under the safety car.
But not even that was possible, handing Button his second successive win of the 2009 season.