Jenson Button Wins 2006 Hungarian GP

Jenson Button finally won his first Formula 1 Grand Prix, in the rain, in Hungary today after 113 attempts. Of course, strange things often happen in wet races but few races have been as strange as this one.

Championship leaders–and regular pole contenders–Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher started in 15th and 12th places respectively after being given dubious two second qualifying penalties for “offences” that occurred in prior practice sessions. Alonso received one second for dangerous driving and another for passing under a yellow flag. Schumacher received two seconds for passing under a red flag. Button qualified 4th but was moved down 10 places for an engine change after his original engine grenaded during a practice session on Saturday.

Starting outside the top 10 was probably a blessing in disguise for these drivers as they could adjust their fuel strategies in light of the pre-race rain storm. Either way all three, plus both McLarens, were in the top five after a handful of slow laps in the lightening rain.

On the 25th lap Kimi Raikkonen crashed into the rear of Vitantonio Liuzzi’s Toro Rosso after Liuzzi had apparently slowed down to let him pass. Game over for both of them and a mess of debris on the track brings out the Safety Car. Alonso is leading and Schumacher is a lap down after making an extra stop to replace a front wing that was damaged in a tangle with Giancarlo Fisichella. Renault and Alonso are looking good to stop Ferrari’s recent resurgence and increase their points lead once again.

Twenty-five laps later Alonso spun off the track after what may have been either a driveshaft failure or a loose wheel nut, depending on who you listen to. Schumacher is up to third and looking to chip away some more points from Alonso’s lead.

With only a few laps to go Schumacher ran wide and shortcut the chicane a couple of times trying to stop de la Rosa from passing him. This may have damaged his car, or it could be because his car was already damaged, but anyway Schumacher pulled into the pits and retired. Though he was classified in ninth he was out of the points and there was no change in the gap to Alonso.

An interesting race at an event that is usually not much to talk about ended with not only Jenson Button’s first win, but also Pedro de la Rosa’s first podium and Nick Heidfeld’s first for BMW. Robert Kubica, sitting in for Jacques Villeneuve, made the first start ever for a Polish driver and scored two points for BMW on his first attempt while neither of the title protagonists scored any points at all.

Let’s hope for more wet races in the weeks to come…

Complete GP of Hungary results.