After clinching the drivers’ title in Brazil, Button arrived on Yas Island with nothing to lose.
On lap two, the Briton managed to get ahead of his Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello before getting embroiled in an exciting battle with Toyota new boy Kamui Koabyashi after his first stop of the day.
'It was a fun race and for me, the prime tyre wasn’t my favourite, I must say, as I had a lot of understeer in the car,' said Button.
'Kobayashi was on a one-stopper and I had already pitted.
'The first big stop is at tuen eight and it’s always very difficult to judge your braking point down there and I slightly outbraked myself, locked both my front and rear brakes, ran out wide and he passed.
'In reality it didn’t make a difference to my race because he was quicker than me at that point and I was struggling a little bit with the prime tyre, but I tried to make the best of it.'
After his second stop, the Brawn driver switched onto the softer option tyre and he was able to close up on second place man Mark Webber at a rate of knots.
However, after several lunges, Button was forced to settle for third place and an additional six world championship points.
'After my second stop, I found I had very good grip with the option tyre and I got back the front grip I lacked with the prime, I had very good initial turn in, which meant I could carry a lot of speed through and that’s why I was able to close down on Webber,' said Button.
'The last couple of laps were a lot of fun for me, but I couldn’t make the move stick.
'I was very excited about that battle and I thought I could pull it off, but Mark is always a very difficult person to overtake and we were fair but on the edge, so it was perfect.
'It’s disappointing not to get that second place, but I really enjoyed the fight it was a bonus for me after winning the championship in Brazil and I really enjoyed driving last weekend, because my car has been very competitive.
'I need to thank Brawn and Mercedes for all their hard work.
'After Brazil it would have been easy to just enjoy ourselves and not concentrate on Abu Dhabi, but we didn’t and we came away with a podium, which is a nice way to end the year and we should be very, very proud of themselves after what we have achieved.
'I should also congratulate Seb - he did a sterling job and we didn’t have the legs on them this weekend.
'But, overall, I think the first Abu Dhabi grand prix was a good one and I’m looking forward to going back.'
'It was a fun race and for me, the prime tyre wasn’t my favourite, I must say, as I had a lot of understeer in the car,' said Button.
'Kobayashi was on a one-stopper and I had already pitted.
'The first big stop is at tuen eight and it’s always very difficult to judge your braking point down there and I slightly outbraked myself, locked both my front and rear brakes, ran out wide and he passed.
'In reality it didn’t make a difference to my race because he was quicker than me at that point and I was struggling a little bit with the prime tyre, but I tried to make the best of it.'
After his second stop, the Brawn driver switched onto the softer option tyre and he was able to close up on second place man Mark Webber at a rate of knots.
However, after several lunges, Button was forced to settle for third place and an additional six world championship points.
'After my second stop, I found I had very good grip with the option tyre and I got back the front grip I lacked with the prime, I had very good initial turn in, which meant I could carry a lot of speed through and that’s why I was able to close down on Webber,' said Button.
'The last couple of laps were a lot of fun for me, but I couldn’t make the move stick.
'I was very excited about that battle and I thought I could pull it off, but Mark is always a very difficult person to overtake and we were fair but on the edge, so it was perfect.
'It’s disappointing not to get that second place, but I really enjoyed the fight it was a bonus for me after winning the championship in Brazil and I really enjoyed driving last weekend, because my car has been very competitive.
'I need to thank Brawn and Mercedes for all their hard work.
'After Brazil it would have been easy to just enjoy ourselves and not concentrate on Abu Dhabi, but we didn’t and we came away with a podium, which is a nice way to end the year and we should be very, very proud of themselves after what we have achieved.
'I should also congratulate Seb - he did a sterling job and we didn’t have the legs on them this weekend.
'But, overall, I think the first Abu Dhabi grand prix was a good one and I’m looking forward to going back.'
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