Melbourne, Australia (Sports Network) - Reigning Formula One world champion Jenson Button, in his second start with McLaren, benefited from Sebastian Vettel's mishap to win Sunday's Australian Grand Prix for the second year in a row.

Vettel started on the pole and dominated the first 25 laps, but the Red Bull driver experienced brake issues and drove off into the gravel before retiring with a 17th-place finish. Button took the lead and held it for the remainder of the 58-lap event, finishing 12 seconds ahead of Renault's Robert Kubica for his eighth career F1 victory.

Button also capitalized on a pit strategy in the early going. The Briton started the race under rainy conditions with wet tires, but pitted first for intermediate tires and quickly charged towards the front.

"I don't know what to say really, because it's very difficult to put into words," Button said. "It's a very special feeling, and we'll take a lot from this. I feel that I am just building in confidence, and hopefully when we get to the next race [Malaysia], we can do something similar because this feels to good."

Last year, Button won the Australian GP and then recorded five more victories to claim his first F1 world championship with then Brawn GP. Button moved over to McLaren and teamed up with Lewis Hamilton at the conclusion of the season.

"It's taken me a little while to get to grips with the inside of the car," Button said. "The team has been fantastic and has welcomed me in, but it's taken me a little bit of time to adapt to the cockpit."

On the opening lap, Button, Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher were involved in a collision on the first turn. Button bumped into the back of Alonso, who turned around and then ricocheted into Schumacher.

Alonso, who won the season-opener two weeks ago in Bahrain, rebounded for a fourth-place finish, while his Ferrari teammate, Felipe Massa, took the third spot. Nico Rosberg from Mercedes GP was fifth. Alonso leads the championship standings with a four-point advantage over Massa. Button moved to within six points of the leader.

"It's just fantastic to finish second [in Bahrain] and third; we know how important this is for the championship," Massa said.

Hamilton and Aussie Mark Webber from Red Bull made contact twice. Both drivers got together on the second-to-last lap, forcing Webber to pit unexpectedly. They also tangled earlier in the race. While Hamilton managed to finish sixth, Webber, who started on the outside pole, wound up with a disappointing ninth- place run in front of his home crowd.

Schumacher finished 10th after his first-lap crash forced him to pit for a new front wing.