13 Hungary - Jenson Button takes his first Grand Prix win
A dramatic and unpredictable Hungarian Grand Prix saw Jenson Button and Honda take the chequered flag and the victory on a day when Championship leaders Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher both failed to go the distance.
For Button, the win has come at a most unexpected time as he started the 70-lap race from 14th position on the grid following an engine change penalty. His victory is also the first British win since David Coulthard took the flag in Australia in 2003.
Only four cars completed all 70-laps in an incident filled race that saw action from the outset all the way through to the penultimate lap.
The 22 drivers awoke with the sound of rain tapping on the hotel windows. Rain continued to fall until 20 minute before the start of the race. On the grid, all bar Schumacher and Barrichello seemed to take the intermediate tyre option. The race would be on of attrition, tyre choice and a little good fortune.
Through it all came Button, who drove a perfect race for Honda taking the chequered flag 31 second ahead of Pedro de la Rosa in his McLaren Mercedes. For the Spaniard, the second position was also a very special result as it marked his first podium position of his career. Nick Heidfeld drove a great race for BMW Sauber and claimed third position.
For both de la Rosa and Heidfeld, the final lap were all about hauling in Michael Schumacher and making the pass. Schumacher looked set for a certain top four position but with the circuit bone dry almost two hours after the start of the race, he was on a recovery drive after all sort of problems and was not an easy man to pass.
De la Rosa and Heidfeld got the job done and Schumacher, so vigorous in his defence, was classified in ninth position after he and Heidfeld made contact in the very final stages of the race in what was a racing incident. With hindsight, Schumacher, classified ninth, should really have let the faster car though and taken the points on offer.
Rubens Barrichello started third and finished fourth having gambled on full wet tyres for the start of the race. It was the wrong decision and as a result, fourth position is a good result as he chased Heidfeld across the line.
David Coulthard drove a strong race to finish a lap down in fifth position. In contract Christian Klien took the spare car from the pit lane and crashed out very early on in the race.
Ralf Schumacher struggled for much of the day and will be most happy with sixth position while team-mate Jarno Trulli exited the race in the final laps with an engine failure.
Robert Kubica had a very tough debut in the BMW Sauber and despite two spins and a pit stop for a new front wing, drove a good race to score two points on his debut. The final point went to Felipe Massa who had a nightmare of a day and was never a factor despite starting on the front row of the grid.
It was certainly a race that Michelin shone as the Bridgestone runners fell away dramatically when the race was at its wettest. Only in the final third of the race when the circuit dried, did Bridgestone begin to look on the pace.
Starting 11th, Michael Schumacher was immediately up into the top six on lap one, but behind him, Fernando Alonso was also on a march.
Alonso was the man really on the move as he carved his way through up the order and then went wheel to wheel with Schumacher before making the pass stick with a lovely move around the outside. Schumacher was clearly struggling with the Bridgestone rubber.
Alonso ran second to Kimi Raikkonen until the Finn pitted. There was no luck today for Raikkonen who dominated the opening stages of the race. Coming up to lap Tonio Liuzzi, the Finn misjudged the gap slightly and struck the right rear of the Toro Rosso and that was his race over there and then. The consolation for McLaren Mercedes would be de la Rosa's second position.
This handed the lead to Alonso who at the time was in a class of his own. With the safety car deployed due to the Raikkonen/Liuzzi accident, Button lined up behind Alonso and despite some less than helpful tactics from the lapped Takuma Sato was able to keep the pressure on as the circuit continued to dry.
Alonso, now under threat from Button pitted and seconds later found his Renault in the barriers. Exiting the pits the car seemed to crab to the side and by the next corner the right rear wheel nut had popped off as the R26 suffered a driveshaft failure. No points for Alonso after a very impressive race.
Of the rest, Tiago Monteiro kept it together and finished tenth, albeit three laps down in his MF1 Toyota ahead of team-mate Christijan Albers. Scott Speed finished in 12th position in his Toro Rosso having moved to slick tyres ten laps too early and then lost further time by returning to the pits for intermediate tyres. Takuma Sato was classified 14th in his Super Aguri Honda, five laps down.
Both Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber spun off for Williams, Giancarlo Fisichella had a poor race for Renault again as he too spun off and made contact with the barriers. Sakon Yamamoto continued his difficult start to his career as his race lasted just seconds again before he retired.
An incident filled race after an incident filled weekend. There are lots of questions still un answered from this weekend as Button celebrated his first and very well deserved Grand Prix win.