Jenson Button, McLaren, Canada, 2011 - Photo © McLaren

Jenson Button has won today’s rain-affected Canadian Grand Prix four hours after it began after a dramatic last-lap mistake from Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel. The German had to settle for 2nd place, with Mark Webber just holding off Michael Schumacher for the last step on the podium.

Button’s win was even more impressive considering that after a collision with his teammate early on he was last of everyone in the Grand Prix.

The race sadly started under a safety car, and when racing finally commenced at the start of lap five, we certainly weren’t short of interesting action.

Fernando Alonso nibbled all over the back of leader Sebastian Vettel but to no avail, with the German able to keep the twice-world champion just behind him.

Meanwhile there was contact between Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber causing the latter to spin, although a stewards enquiry adjudged neither driver to be at fault.

Hamilton was the subject of a further stewards enquiry on lap 8 under much more controversial circumstances, when he made contact with teammate Jenson Button.

Hamilton got a better run out of the final chicane and made a move on Button on the straight, although the latter shut the door causing a collision. The safety car came out once more and Hamilton was ruled out of the race.

Button pitted under the safety car and took a gamble on switching to intermediates, the first man to do so. For a while it seemed like the move had paid off, with him charging up the field. However a drive-through penalty for the Brit meant that his work was undone and McLaren’s day went from bad to worse.

The weather also went from bad to worse, and there was much yo-yoing between drivers who were on the inters back onto full wets.

After complaints from drivers as the torrential rain fell on the circuit, the race was red flagged with Vettel leading 25 laps in, and took over two hours before it resumed, under the safety car once more.

After nine laps under the control of safety car driver Bernd Maylander, we continued the racing with numerous drivers who had yet to pit benefitting massively from the stoppage, none more so than Kamui Kobayashi who resumed the racing in 2nd.

However we got just four laps without the safety car before Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button came together after pitting, leading the former to be ruled out of the race and leaving the latter with a puncture before the Mercedes was called out again.

After the racing resumed, it didn’t take long for things to really get exciting, with a drying track meaning tyre strategy began to play a vital role on how the racing played out.

Before the mass change to slicks from the field, a charging Michael Schumacher performed a dramatic double-overtake on both Kamui Kobayashi and Felipe Massa, as he jumped up to 2nd place.

Felipe Massa squeezed by Kobayashi for 3rd, but his race went pear-shaped on lap 54 when he aquaplaned on the new slick tyres and collided with a wall, meaning he fell out of the points-paying positions after pitting for a new front wing.

With just under 15 laps remaining clumsy driving from Nick Heidfeld in 6th place meant that he went into the back of Kamui Kobayashi, dislodging his front wing and sending him spinning down a run-off corridor and out of the race.

The debris on track meant that the safety car was brought out again once more, but this time it was a positive, as it meant for a very exciting finish with Vettel having to try and hold off the charging pack of Schumacher, Webber and Button behind.

It didn’t disappoint either, with Mark Webber and Jenson Button both attempting to pass Schumacher and both succeeding after numerous failed attempts, meaning it wasn’t going to be a first podium since the seven-time world champion’s return.

However it was the battle for the win which appeared to be settled, which has stolen all the headlines. A charging Jenson Button was incredibly reeling Sebastian Vettel in lap-by-lap, and eventually on the final lap of the Grand Prix, the pressure told.

Vettel put a wheel off-line and half-spun, giving enough of a gap for Button to take advantage of and win the Grand Prix in extraordinary circumstances, with Vettel 2nd and Mark Webber narrowly beating Michael Schumacher to the line. It was a Grand Prix which will live long in the memory, and was well worth the wait.