McLaren's Jenson Button hails Canada Grand Prix win
Highlights - Canadian Grand Prix
Jenson Button believes his dramatic Canadian Grand Prix win, in which he came from last to take the lead on the last lap, was the best of his career.
The McLaren driver was also involved in incidents that ended the races of Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
"It is the most action I've seen in a grand prix win and I've come away with a win," he said.
"To fight my way through from last is definitely my best race. It was a very special race to win from where I was."
Button, making good use of McLaren's effective Drag Reduction System, picked his way through the pack before forcing an error from previously-serene race leader Sebastian Vettel within sight of the chequered flag.
"Even if I hadn't won this race I would have enjoyed it immensely, but it was an amazing win," Button added.
"Fighting your way through the field is almost as good as winning the race - to be on the podium was a pretty exceptional result.
"I will remember this for a long time."
Button was McLaren's only driver for much of the race after clashing with Hamilton on lap eight, as his younger team-mate attempted to dive down the outside into the first corner of a saturated Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Hamilton had claimed that the move was legitimate and Button explained that he had taken the blame for the coming-together during a two-hour break forced by heavy rain at the Montreal circuit.
"I couldn't see anything when he came alongside me. I couldn't see anything in my mirrors, it is just one of those things and I have apologised to him," said Button.
McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh was confident that the incident that would not unsettle relations within the team and was delighted by Button's win.
Martin Whitmarsh delighted with Jenson Button's heroics
"Coming through [the pits] six times and fighting back from 21st to win like that is incredible," he said.
"The car was good in those conditions, but you have to give it to Jenson; he had the confidence and he just attacked and attacked. What a fantastic driver and what a fantastic result for him and the team."
Button faced a stewards' investigation into his clash with Alonso, but Whitmarsh was rightly optimistic that his driver would escape any blame.
"I think Jenson was on the inside there and Alonso shut on him," he said.
The victory was Button's first in over year, since his triumph in China last season, and it had looked unlikely as championship leader Vettel established a commanding advantage after the race restarted.
By contrast Button was relegated to the back of the pack after picking up a drive-through penalty for speeding on one of the safety car's five appearances in the race.
And Vettel admitted he miscalculated what he need to do when it returned to the pits for the final time to allow competitive racing to resume for the last nine laps.
"I was probably too conservative when I was in the lead after the last safety car," he said.
"I didn't open the gap enough as I was trying to hold the gap on the cars behind.
"Then I saw Jenson coming through and I was pushing and I thought it would be enough to take me to the end but obviously it was not as I made a mistake.
"It is clearly down to me. I locked up the rear, when there is only one line and you end up on the wet it made it quite easy for him to pass.
"If you have it in your hands and give it away it is not the sweetest feeling, but all in all it was a good race for us."
Vettel's Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber, who praised Button for a "deserved" victory, finished third to deny veteran seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher his first podium finish since his return to the sport for the 2010 season.
The Australian revealed that the varying track conditions later in the race had made it difficult to overhaul the Mercedes driver.
"It wasn't too hard until the dry line appeared on the racing line and it was slippery off line," he said.
"It was then very hard to clear some of the guys, as it meant there was such a narrow window to get down the inside of people. When you have experienced guys like Michael and Nick Heidfeld)to pass, well those guys know what they're doing."
Schumacher admitted that the result led to conflicting emotions.
"I am leaving this race with one eye laughing and one eye crying," he said.
"I am not sure if I should be excited or sad about it. Having been in second place towards the end, I would obviously have loved to finish there and be on the podium again.
"But even if it did not work out in the very end, we can be happy about the result and the big fight we put in."
Credit: BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)
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