Jenson Button was hailed as “unbeatable” by world champion Sebastian Vettel as he stormed to victory in Australia.
The 24-year-old double champion opened his title defence with a strong performance as he roared from seventh on the grid to overtake Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton and finish second.
But he was sporting enough to admit that he had been beaten fair and square by the men in red & silver.
“All in all, congratulations to McLaren,” said Vettel.
“Jenson drove a fantastic race. He was unbeatable today.
“I’m pleased to come away with second. A lot of people would not have expected that.
“I was slightly fortunate with the re-start.
“I wanted to have a go at Jenson but he was too quick. Just two corners and he was gone.
“It was easy to keep ahead of Lewis but Jenson was out of sight – he completely deserved the win today.”
And he said he could have overtaken Hamilton even without the help of the safety car.
"I had a crack without the safety car but it would have been close,” said the German.
"Nevertheless it would have been a great race.”
He refused to accept the champion’s start to the year had been a disaster.
“My target was to win, I came second.
“The winner totally deserved to win so this was our maximum and I’m totally happy with this.”