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Jenson Button revels in 'best' Formula 1 victory
Closing laps were tricky - Button
McLaren's Jenson Button described his Chinese Grand Prix victory as the "best" of his Formula 1 career.
The defending world champion held off a late challenge in wet conditions from team-mate Lewis Hamilton and took the world championship lead.
"For me it is my best victory," said Button. "Every time that you win I think it becomes your best victory.
"But this one was very special as it was very tough conditions and the great thing is our pace was good today."
The victory was Button's second of the season - he also topped the podium at the Australian Grand Prix last month.
It was the first one-two for British drivers in F1 since Ferrari driver Eddie Irvine beat McLaren's David Coulthard in the 1999 Austrian Grand Prix.
Button resisted the temptation to switch to intermediate tyres when rain began to fall at the start of the race while the majority of the field opted to change from slicks.
We have proved that our car is good over the race distance
Jenson Button
And he capitalised as his tyres found sufficient grip and speed in the light drizzle before heading to the pits on the 19th lap to change to intermediates as the rain became heavier.
"Staying on the drys was the right thing," said the former Brawn driver, who started the race from fifth.
"You wouldn't think it driving around as it was raining quite a bit, but we got a lot of grip from those tyres.
"We just had to be a little bit careful as every time you arrived at a corner as it was a different condition to the previous lap, either better or worse, so it was pretty tricky.
"But it was definitely the right call as we knew how quickly the soft [intermediate] tyres were going to destroy themselves."
Button also paid tribute to the work of McLaren's engineers for providing a reliable and fast car in wet conditions.
"The pace was very good in those conditions. The team, towards the end of the race, said 'you are two seconds quicker than most people except for Lewis who was doing the same time as you'," he said.
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"We still don't know where we are in the dry but we are going to forget about it at the moment as we are just going to enjoy this victory in the wet.
"We have proved that our car is good over the race distance."
The 30-year-old is now 10 points clear in the championship, with Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, who was third in China, second. The German is one point ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Hamilton, who is classified behind the Spaniard because Alonso has won a race this season and Hamilton has not.
Hamilton's second-place finish ensured McLaren top the constructors' world championship with 109 points, a 19-point advantage over Ferrari.
And Button said he was looking forward to the three-week break before the Spanish Grand Prix.
"It is a nice position to be in after four races," he added. "Three-week break now, I am going to enjoy that very much and I am looking forward to Barcelona."
