Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel has admitted that there was nothing he could have done to prevent Jenson Button from winning the opening race of the season in Australia yesterday.

Button led the race from start to finish, while Vettel battled his way from sixth on the grid to claim second place.

Having had trouble during Saturday's qualifying session, Vettel has conceded that he was "very happy" to have finished one place behind Button.

"Jenson deserved to win, he was out of reach for us, unbeatable," said Vettel. "I'm very happy with second, especially after the difficult day we had on Saturday.

"At least it was good to finally go racing again and stop all the talk, to see some results.

"In winter testing we said McLaren looked very strong. They had a very solid winter with no issues with the car."

Next weekend the drivers will compete in Malaysia.