By Gary Rose, Press Association Sport, Shanghai

Jenson Button secured his second victory of the season as he led a McLaren one-two ahead of Lewis Hamilton at an incident-packed Chinese Grand Prix today.

The reigning world champion had started fifth on the grid but profited from an early safety car deployment and a flurry of early pit stops by the leading pack due to rain to move into pole early on.

Hamilton, meanwhile, had started sixth but once again drove superbly to secure his best finish of the season while Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg took third for the fourth podium finish of his career.

The result means Button now leads the drivers’ standings and also marked McLaren’s first one-two of the season.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who had surged into the lead on the first lap but was handed a drive-through penalty for jumping the start, secured fourth with Renault’s Robert Kubica fifth.

Pole-winner Sebastian Vettel failed to follow up his Malaysian Grand Prix victory as the Red Bull driver finished sixth while Renault’s Vitaly Petrov secured his first points of the season with seventh place.

Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber endured a race to forget as he took eighth while Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher of Mercedes completed the top 10.

Like in his victory in Australia, Button made the correct call on tyres after showers had fallen at the start of the race with the 30-year-old having opted to stay on the slicks while others pitted for intermediates.

“This victory is special and means a lot,” said Button. “It is not just about being quick it is also about reading the conditions.

“The tricky conditions have helped me but it was not luck we came out on top today, we chose correctly.

“My first few months with the team have been extraordinary and I really feel part of the team.”

A dramatic start set the tone for the rest of the race as Alonso, who had started from third, surged ahead of the Red Bulls before turn one but replays later showed that he had jumped the start and the Spaniard was consequently handed a drive-through penalty by race stewards.

The safety car was also deployed before the end of lap one when the Force India of Vitantonio Liuzzi spun into Sebastien Buemi’s Toro Rosso and Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi, ending all three drivers’ races.

With the rain getting heavier, many drivers chose to make a quick stop in the pits to switch tyres before the safety car left the circuit after the third lap – but Button opted to stay out on his slicks.

Pole-sitter Vettel had dropped to 15th while Hamilton was 16th after six laps following their pit stops, but both were quickly making their way back up the field. Alonso had also headed down the pit lane for his drive-through penalty and re-emerged in 16th.

Hamilton was soon closing in on Schumacher, who had started from ninth on the grid, and was right on the German’s tail after 15 laps, waiting for any opportunity to overtake, and one presented itself on lap 17 as a superb drive out of turn 13 by the 25-year-old allowed him to climb into fifth.

Button became the new race leader two laps later when Rosberg briefly ran wide, allowing the reigning world champion to move into first. He then entered the pits again on lap 21 and was quickly followed by Webber, Hamilton and Vettel.

Meanwhile, Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari lost his front wing when he entered the pit lane before the safety car was again deployed, seemingly to allow for the debris from that incident to be cleared.

That played into Hamilton’s favour as it enabled the 25-year-old to close the gap on the leading cars while Alonso was in 10th – just ahead of Massa, having earlier cheekily overtaken his team-mate on their way into the pits.

The safety car left the circuit on lap 26 and immediately Schumacher and Hamilton were battling again before the 2008 champion regained fifth with a brave move on turn eight. He then got the better of Petrov for fourth with just Kubica, Rosberg and Button ahead of him.

Hamilton then climbed into the podium places after lap 30 as he passed Kubica on the outside at the hairpin while Button and Rosberg – first and second respectively – entered the pits to switch to intermediates on lap 38.

Button retained his place at the front when he returned to the circuit but Rosberg was back out in third, behind Hamilton.

From then on the pair remained unchallenged and though Hamilton was closing in on Button, in the end he ran out of laps as he crossed the finish line just 1.5seconds behind his team-mate.

“I had quite an eventful race,” said Hamilton. “Congratulations to Jenson, he did an incredible job and made a better choice on tyres.

“It was tough at the beginning, the weather was not easy for making the call to change tyres. I chose very late when I was halfway around the corner and clearly it was not the right choice.

“We both did a tremendous job, and it’s down to the awesome job the team are doing. We are working very well and it’s great for the team.”

Like in his victory in Australia, Button made the correct call on tyres after showers had fallen at the start of the race with the 30-year-old having opted to stay on the slicks while others pitted for intermediates.

“This victory is special and means a lot,” said Button. “It is not just about being quick it is also about reading the conditions.

“The tricky conditions have helped me but it was not luck we came out on top today, we chose correctly.

“My first few months with the team have been extraordinary and I really feel part of the team.”

A dramatic start set the tone for the rest of the race as Alonso, who had started from third, surged ahead of the Red Bulls before turn one but replays later showed that he had jumped the start and the Spaniard was consequently handed a drive-through penalty by race stewards.

The safety car was also deployed before the end of lap one when the Force India of Vitantonio Liuzzi spun into Sebastien Buemi’s Toro Rosso and Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi, ending all three drivers’ races.

With the rain getting heavier, many drivers chose to make a quick stop in the pits to switch tyres before the safety car left the circuit after the third lap – but Button opted to stay out on his slicks.

Pole-sitter Vettel had dropped to 15th while Hamilton was 16th after six laps following their pit stops, but both were quickly making their way back up the field. Alonso had also headed down the pit lane for his drive-through penalty and re-emerged in 16th.

Hamilton was soon closing in on Schumacher, who had started from ninth on the grid, and was right on the German’s tail after 15 laps, waiting for any opportunity to overtake, and one presented itself on lap 17 as a superb drive out of turn 13 by the 25-year-old allowed him to climb into fifth.

Button became the new race leader two laps later when Rosberg briefly ran wide, allowing the reigning world champion to move into first. He then entered the pits again on lap 21 and was quickly followed by Webber, Hamilton and Vettel.

Meanwhile, Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari lost his front wing when he entered the pit lane before the safety car was again deployed, seemingly to allow for the debris from that incident to be cleared.

That played into Hamilton’s favour as it enabled the 25-year-old to close the gap on the leading cars while Alonso was in 10th – just ahead of Massa, having earlier cheekily overtaken his team-mate on their way into the pits.

The safety car left the circuit on lap 26 and immediately Schumacher and Hamilton were battling again before the 2008 champion regained fifth with a brave move on turn eight. He then got the better of Petrov for fourth with just Kubica, Rosberg and Button ahead of him.

Hamilton then climbed into the podium places after lap 30 as he passed Kubica on the outside at the hairpin while Button and Rosberg – first and second respectively – entered the pits to switch to intermediates on lap 38.

Button retained his place at the front when he returned to the circuit but Rosberg was back out in third, behind Hamilton.

From then on the pair remained unchallenged and though Hamilton was closing in on Button, in the end he ran out of laps as he crossed the finish line just 1.5seconds behind his team-mate.

“I had quite an eventful race,” said Hamilton. “Congratulations to Jenson, he did an incredible job and made a better choice on tyres.

“It was tough at the beginning, the weather was not easy for making the call to change tyres. I chose very late when I was halfway around the corner and clearly it was not the right choice.

“We both did a tremendous job, and it’s down to the awesome job the team are doing. We are working very well and it’s great for the team.”