Sebastian Vettel won a rain-affected Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai from team-mate Mark Webber as Red Bull Racing claimed a one-two finish to mark their first victory.

Heavy rain throughout the afternoon forced organisers to start the race behind the safety car but when it peeled off after eight laps the Red Bull duo showed superb pace to fend off the challenge of Brawn GP.

The efforts of Red Bull denied championship leader Jenson Button a third successive victory as the Briton finished third with team-mate Rubens Barrichello fourth.

There was joy for McLaren as they put their recent troubles behind them with fifth place for Heikki Kovalainen and Lewis Hamilton in sixth.

Toyota's Timo Glock took seventh place while Toro Rosso rookie Sebastien Buemi completed a superb performance to claim eighth place.

Fernando Alonso, who had started second on the grid in his Renault, was ninth while Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen completed the top 10.

The sheer dominance of the Red Bulls was all the more impressive after driveshaft problems in both cars had wrecked their final practice session yesterday.

As a result they were cautious in qualifying as Vettel had just one run in each session but did enough to secure pole while Webber claimed third.

Despite running without the controversial 'double-decker' diffuser or KERS, Red Bull dominated as Vettel claimed his second grand prix win.

Felipe Massa, who missed out on the title to Hamilton by just a point last year, failed to finish, meaning Ferrari are yet to pick up a single point this season.

"I am extremely happy," said Vettel.

"The car was fantastic. The team did a really good job in preparing the car. We were struggling a bit with reliability but fixed it overnight.

"Both cars finished the race and a double win for Red Bull is incredible."

Vettel led the way after the first lap as the pack fell into line behind the safety car off the start due to heavy rain.

As a result, the usual first-corner scramble failed to happen as the cars pulled away in starting order, leaving Vettel at the front with Alonso second and Webber third.

BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica and Toyota's Glock decided to start from the pit lane in a bid to tweak their set-ups for the race.

Alonso entered the pits on the eighth lap to take on fuel and fresh tyres and re-emerged at the back of the grid just before the safety car left the circuit, allowing the race to finally get fully under way.

Button moved past team-mate Barrichello on lap 12 to go third before Hamilton, who had made good progress through the field, spun at the final turn to drop to 10th.

Buemi, meanwhile, was thriving as he climbed from 10th to sixth while Massa was making similar headway as he stormed through the field to seventh.

The safety car was again deployed on lap 18 after Kubica ploughed straight into the back of the Trulli on the entry to Turn 16, leaving debris littered across the track.

But there was disaster for Massa on lap 21 when the Brazilian's engine appeared to lose power, forcing him to the side of the circuit and ending his race.

The safety car returned to the pits at the end of lap 22 before Buemi saw his charge disrupted when he spun on the following lap and dropped to eighth.

Hamilton, meanwhile, was clearly enjoying a much improved performance from his modified McLaren as he climbed up to fourth place while Vettel had built a lead of almost six seconds over Button by lap 24.

Button ran wide at Turn 13 on lap 30, allowing Webber to move into second and the Briton resumed in third.

Webber then ran wide to allow Button back in before the Australian again reclaimed second place as he went outside Button to maintain a Red Bull one-two by lap 32 with Vettel some 18 seconds ahead of his team-mate.

A spin at Turn 13 for Alonso meant he dropped to 13th while Vettel returned in third before Webber, who had taken over from his team-mate at the front, made a pit stop on lap 39 to hand the race lead to Button.

The rain was finally starting to ease but the circuit was still very drenched as Button pitted on lap 42 to switch to full wet tyres.

Buemi was again flying as he climbed into fifth with Button returning in fourth behind Barrichello while Force India's Adrian Sutil was making an impressive challenge for a finish inside the points and was eighth by lap 44.

Williams' Kazuki Nakajima retired two laps later after two quick spins had seen him drop to the back of the field.

There was also heartbreak for Sutil when he crashed out of sixth place on lap 53 to end his race.

The following lap Vettel visibly eased off in the closing laps and the 21-year-old cruised home to his second win in the wet following his triumph for Toro Rosso at Monza last year.