Hingham's Team Lotus endured a tough weekend as Jenson Button won a thrilling – and rain-interrupted – Canadian Grand Prix.

With two starts under the safety car and a two-hour stoppage for rain, the Brit sent his McLaren flying past long-time leader Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull on the last lap after the German made a mistake.

Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber took the final podium place from Mercedes' Michael Schumacher.

But for Norfolk's Formula One constructor, the interrupted race around Circuit Gilles Villeneuve was a frustrating affair.

With another Q1 exit in qualifying on Saturday, Heikki Kovalainen's Montreal race ended on lap 19 with a drive shaft failure soon after the red flag restart.

Jarno Trulli did at least make the chequered flag, but 17th – behind the Hispanias of Vitantonio Liuzzi and Narain Kathikeyan, as well as Virgin Racing's Jerome d'Ambrosio and Timo Glock, from 13th down.

'After a very strong weekend that was not the sort of race we wanted to have,' said Norwich-born chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne. 'We lost a number of places after a problem in the first stops and then unfortunately Heikki had a drive shaft failure after the race restarted.

'Jarno has been strong all weekend and put in a fine drive this afternoon. He was able to pick up all the places he lost after the first pit stop and would have had a strong finish, but when he came in for the second time the front inerter failed and dropped down around his feet in the cockpit.

'We considered retiring the car but Jarno did an awesome job to not only bring the car to the end but also to catch the cars in front of him. He nearly passed them in the last couple of laps, despite the very large handicap he had, so sincere thanks to him for keeping his foot down in what was a very difficult situation.

'Despite all that, we did have a strong weekend in terms of the car's performance so while that was not the best race we will ever have, I think we can see it as another stepping stone in the development of the team.'

Button's clash with team-mate Lewis Hamilton on lap seven in shocking visibility saw his fellow Brit retire early.