Melbourne (dpa) - Brawn GP claimed a sensational one-two in their debut Formula One race on Sunday as Jenson Button won the Australian Grand Prix ahead of his team-mate Rubens Barrichello.

The two drivers finished in the order in which they started the race.

It was the first time since 1977, when South African Jody Scheckter won Walter Wolf Racing's first Grand Prix in Argentina, that a team won it's maiden race.

World champion Lewis Hamilton came third on the podium in a Mclaren-Mercedes from 18th place on the grid after the original third-place finisher Jarno Trulli in a Toyota received a 25-second penalty for overtaking in a late safety phase.

Ferrari met disaster as Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa had to retire.

Brawn GP was formed earlier this year when team boss Ross Brawn took over after the F1 withdrawal of former owners Honda. The team is supplied with Mercedes engines.

"This is a fairytale ending for the first race," saide Button.

Barrichello (and originally Trulli) benefited from a crash late in the race between Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and BMW's Robert Kubica, who were lying second and third, respectively.

With less than three laps remaining, Vettel pulled wide on a corner and as Kubica tried to capitalize from the mistake, the German crashed into him.

"I am an idiot. I am very, very sorry. I simply slid around on the tyres. I could not pull to the right, but I should have thought ahead and made way for Kubica," Vettel told his team over the team radio.

To add injury to insult, Vettel's team was fined 50,000 dollars by race stewards for causing the collision and continuing with a damaged car. Vettel will also be demoted 10 places on the grid in the next race.

Trulli was even worse off. The Italian slid off the track in the safety car phase which forced Hamilton to pass him. Trulli then moved ahead of the champion again, but the stewards deemed this move illegal under satefy car conditions.

However, Toyota confirmed later Sunday that they are to appeal the 25-second penalty imposed on Trulli, who eventually finished 12th.

Button claimed his second career win, the first being in Hungary 2006, in 1 hour 34 minutes and 15,784 seconds, with an average speed of 195,775kph over the 307.574 kilometres.

The Briton survived a horror pit stop to take the checkered flag and was honest after the race and said that he had made it difficult for the team.

"I really made a mistake in my pit stop. I was just confused with Massa ahead of me. It cost me a few seconds and I made it difficult for the team, but we got there."

Although the 29-year-old led from start to finish, he stated things "always looks easier than it is. When the safety car came out I struggled to get heat in the tyres and the light conditions made it difficult to see."

In contrast to Button, who had the best possible start to streak ahead of the rest of the pack Barrichello, who started alongside him on the grid, made a hash of his start.

The Brazilian crashed into the Red Bull of Mark Webber, who in turn then collided with Heikki Kovalainen in a McLaren-Mercedes. Also involved in the crash was BMW-Sauber's Nick Heidfeld.

Kovalainen had to retire as a result and said here was nothing he could have done, while Barrichello said that he was surprised how tough the car was.

"The car is very strong. I was hit from behind, I hit somebody upfront.

"I never thought I could finish on the podium after my start and after being hit I thought the car was done, but I managed to finish. I had a lot of mixed emotions during the race and am very happy to have finished second," said the Brazilian.

The safety car had to come out for the first time in the 20th lap after Williams' Kazuki Nakajima crashed into a wall, allowing the pack to move together again.

Button and Vettel, meanwhile, continued to dominate upfront, and even though Button's team seemed to have messed up their pit stop, the Brawn car was able to come out just ahead with 11 laps to go.

Hamilton said even before learning of his third-place finish that his team did the best possible job.

"If anybody had said to me that I would finish fourth, I would have taken it. I am very happy with the result."

Fourth place went to Timo Glock, who also had to start from the pit lane, while Fernando Alonso in a Renault took fifth. The final points positions belonged to Nico Rosberg in a Williams and the Toro Rosso duo of Sebastien Buemi and Sebastien Bourdais.

The next race is the Malaysian Grand Prix on April 5.