Formula One / Joe Dyer / 18 March 2012 /

It was a great opening race for Jenson Button and the McLaren team with first and third places. The British team now occupy favouritism for the Constructors' Championship and look set to play a big role in the Drivers' competition...

Jenson Button is [3.65] second favourite for the F1 Drivers' Championship after winning the season opener in Melbourne.

Starting second on the grid, the British driver overtook team-mate Lewis Hamilton at the first corner and drove on to an untroubled victory. Hamilton finished third, the victim of unlucky timing when the safety car was deployed which allowed Sebastian Vettel to gain vital seconds and eventually force himself between the McLaren drivers on the podium.

At [3.65] Button, backed at [13.0] to win the title, is now slightly shorter than McLaren rival Hamilton ([4.0]). Vettel retains favouritism at [3.05] but it's some way off his market low of [1.99]. Button finished runner-up to Vettel in last year's Championship.

McLaren's strong showing in Melbourne has also seen them assume favouritism in the Constructors' Championship, where they can be backed at [1.76]. Red Bull, for whom Mark Webber was fourth are available to back at [2.56].

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