Results from the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix
At last! Briton Jenson Button wins his first F1 race after 116 starts. In wet and drying conditions at the Hungaroring his team read the conditions perfectly in a remarkable race that saw the lead change several times, with Button advancing from 14th on the grid to take the first ever constructors win for a Honda team in over 40 years of F1 involvement.
Without a doubt the most exciting and drama filled race of the season saw three outsiders on the podium, with McLaren-Mercedes number two driver Pedro de la Rosa crossing 30 seconds behind Button, followed by Nick Heidfeld in the up and coming BMW Sauber. With showers before and during the race playing havoc with tyre selection, the drying out of the track towards race end placed the advantage on those teams who were planning to pitstop just when dry tyres were needed. It was a decision that ultimately cost Ferrari an enormous potential advantage in closing the gap on Renault, as their Bridgestones simply couldn't last.
In a further bonus for a team that has struggled this season, Rubens Barrichello finished fourth for Honda, ahead of Briton David Coulthard in the Red Bull and Ralf Schumacher in the Toyota. However, the wet conditions left almost every driver slipping and spinning between wet and dry sections of the track.
Title rivals Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso both endured equal doses of good and bad fortune to cancel each others victory bids out and leave the title race virtually unchanged. Both had started way down the grid after each were penalised in practice and had to fight their way up through the field while keeping an eye on each other's positioning.
Poor Kimi Raikkonen, enjoying his second pole in a row, was robbed of a likely victory after a misjudged overtaking maneouvre on back marker Vitantonio Luizzi. He flipped his McLaren out spectacularly, handing the race lead to Alonso on lap 25. The safety car deployment played into the Renault's hands, as they were about to pitstop to change tyres and refuel, gaining clear track advantage while rivals got stuck in the traffic.
But luck finally ran out for the Spaniard, as a poorly executed second pitstop left wheel nuts popping off his rear right wheel and forcing a retirement. This handed the lead to Button and decisive advantage to Schumacher who was now headed for a second place finish and eight point gain on the reigning champion. However, as the track dried, his hardier Bridgestone intermediate tyres took a pounding and the former champion soon gave up two places before retiring on the chequered flag lap to sneak home in ninth.
On his first F1 race, standing in Jacques Villenueve, Polish Robert Kubica impressed everyone to finish eight but was later disqualified for running an underweight car, handing Schumacher a consolation point. Just ahead of him was teammate Felipe Massa, while neither Renaults finished in a race that saw nine retirements.
Button's dubious honour of achieving the highest ever points accumulation in F1 without ever winning a race has now finally been frozen. But the standing for both trophies remain much the same, with Alonso (100) still enjoying a 10 point cushion over a resurgent Schumacher (90) and Ferrari for the title race. Meanwhile the gap for the Constructors' Championship has been closed to just seven, as Ferrari move up to 142 points while Renault remain on 149. Kimi Raikkonen, Filipe Massa and Giancarlo Fisichellla all remain within two points of each other for third. McLaren (85) and Honda (52) both trail in the team stakes with just five races remaining in 2006.
Results from Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday:
- Jenson Button (GB) Honda one hour 52 minutes 20.941 seconds
- Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) McLaren - Mercedes 30.837
- Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 43.822
- Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda 45.205
- David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull - Ferrari 1 lap
- Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 1 lap
- Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 1 lap
- Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 3 laps
- Tiago Monteiro (Por) Midland 3 laps
- Christijan Albers (Ned) Midland 3 laps
- Scott Speed (USA) Toro Rosso - Cosworth 4 laps
- Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 5 laps
- Takuma Sato (Jpn) Super Aguri - Honda 5 laps
R Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 19 laps 51 laps completed
R Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Toro Rosso - Cosworth 25 laps
R Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren 25 laps
R Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams - Cosworth 19 laps
R Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 18 laps
R Christian Klien (Aut) RedBull - Ferrari 6 laps
R Mark Webber (Aus) Williams - Cosworth 1 lap
R Sakon Yamamoto (Jpn) Super Aguri - Honda 0 laps