Button takes sixth win of season

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Jenson Button continued his domination of Formula 1 with his sixth victory of the season in Turkey.

A mistake from Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello off the line, and an error from pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel in his Red Bull on the opening lap allowed Button to cruise to the line in the Turkish Grand Prix.

It was the 29-year-old's fourth consecutive success, the first time that has been achieved by a Briton since Nigel Mansell went on to take the title in 1992.

Turkish GP in pictures

Button now has a 26-point cushion over Barrichello at the top of the standings as the Brazilian retired on lap 49, with Vettel 32 points adrift as he finished third behind team-mate Mark Webber.

After crossing the line, Button was told over the pit-to-car radio he had produced an "awesome drive," to which he replied: "Thankyou. You've built me a monster of a car. You guys are absolute legends."

And rightly so because only five times in Formula One's 60-year history has any driver won six out of the first seven races, notably Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Jim Clark and Michael Schumacher (twice).

Button could not have asked for it to be any easier, either, thanks to Barrichello initially as he stalled from his third place on the grid, relegating him down to 13th by the end of the first lap.

As for Vettel, whose two previous victories had come from pole, the young German ran wide onto a painted kerb coming out of turn nine.

That forced him into running onto the grass approaching turn 10, which was all the invitation Button needed to take the lead, and ultimately the victory.

Not even switching Vettel to a three-stop strategy then worked for although he ran behind Button's exhaust at the midway point of the race, his failure to pass the championship leader also cost him.

It was not even good enough for the runner-up spot as Webber did enough in his stints to take the line just 0.7secs clear of the 21-year-old.

Toyota's Jarno Trulli finished fourth, followed by Nico Rosberg in his Williams, matching his best performance of the season.

Winner of this race from pole for the last three years in Felipe Massa in his Ferrari was sixth, with BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica finally ending his points duck with seventh.

The second Toyota of Timo Glock completed the top eight, with Lewis Hamilton 13th in his pitiful McLaren, finishing 80.4 seconds adrift of runaway winner and championship leader Button.

As for the constructors', Brawn's first failure of the season means Red Bull have closed the gap by four points to 39.5.

In the build-up immediately before the race at Istanbul's Otodrom, there had been wild rumours the FOTA eight would boycott it at the end of the formation lap.

It had been suggested as a protest to their ongoing feud with the FIA over the budget cap, but as expected it failed to materialise, thankfully so for Button who marches on.

An emotional Button said: "It's the best the car has felt all year. "It's previously been a bit loose and not really suited my style, but today it was just incredible, and that's thanks to everyone in the team.

"I wish I could have have had all the boys on the podium with me, but in the end I could only have one of my engineers."

Looking ahead to the next race at Silverstone in a fortnight, Button said: "The British Grand Prix is always great.

"To lead the championship by 26 points is quite a nice feeling, so we'll see what happens."

A happy Webber, second for the second time this year, said: "It was a good afternoon for me. I had to hang in there at the start.

"I knew top spot was taken, so it was just a question of the other podium places.

"The second stint was crucial for me. I did enough in that to get the jump on Sebastian and finish second."

Vettel owned up to his mistake at the start, but despite that felt he would not have been able to have held off Button in any case.

"The start worked out okay, but then I lost the car at turns nine and 10, I think due to a bit of a tail wind," reflected Vettel.

"But it wouldn't have made a difference because Jenson was just too good today, so I think we can be satisfied with second and third."