In race that started with Red Bull on pole and ended in bitter recrimination, championship leader Mark Webber and team-mate Sebastian Vettel collided 18 laps from the finish while first and second to gift McLaren the one-two instead.
"It was a disaster," Australian Webber, unsmiling and clearly smarting despite finishing third to extend his overall lead, said in typically blunt fashion.
Webber, who had been heading for his third win in a row after starting on pole position, leads the championship by five points from Button.
The McLaren duo moved up the standings with Button on 88 points and Hamilton third with 84.
McLaren ousted Red Bull from the top of the constructors' standings by a single point.
The day's big loser was Vettel, the 22-year-old German who had started the afternoon level on points with Webber but paid the price for trying to pass down the inside on lap 40.
The two cars collided, Vettel's right rear tyre deflated and he spun off into retirement while Webber went off track but managed to come back.
Vettel slumped to fifth overall, 15 points behind Webber.
Red Bull's Mark Webber celebrates on the podium after a third place finish
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