Button wins first Grand Prix in incident-packed race

By Volker Gundrum Aug 6, 2006, 15:47 GMT

Winning British Formula One driver Jenson Button of Honda F1 team (R) celebrates, spraying champagne with runner-up Spanish Formula One driver Pedro De La Rosa of the McLaren Mercedes team on the podium after the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring race track near Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, 06 August 2006. EPA/RAINER JENSEN

Budapest - Britain's Jenson Button on Sunday won the first Grand Prix of his career when he raced from 14th place on the grid to victory in an incident-packed Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Honda driver won a rain-marred race ahead of McLaren-Mercedes' Pedro de la Rosa and Nick Heidfeld in a BMW-Sauber.

Button needed one hour 52 minutes 20.941 seconds for the 70 laps of 4.381 kilometres for 306.663 kilometres.

Fourth place went to Button's team-mate Rubens Barrichello, who finished ahead of David Coulthard in a Red Bull. BMW's Robert Kubica, who was driving in his first Grand Prix was sixth, while Ralf Schumacher in a Toyota was seventh.

The last championship point went to Ferrari's Felipe Massa who finished eighth.

Button joked afterwards that it felt as if it was just a normal day. 'Winning is a terrific experience. It nearly feels normal.

'It was a crazy day, but to go from 14th to first is terrific, I want to thank everybody. The car was fantastic and it is wonderful to see that it is so strong. Now we have finally arrived.'

He said that the team had chosen the right tyres. 'We had good tyres and closed in on Alonso. Our strategy was spot on and the way we all worked together was just amazing.

'The last ten laps I just wanted the race to continue as I was enjoying it so much. I had a comfortable lead and could just slow down then and carry it home.'

World championship leader Fernando Alonso, who was leading for parts of the race, had to retire in the 52nd lap with a driveshaft problem, while Michael Schumacher had to retire three laps from the end with tyre problems as he was lying third.

Both Schumacher and Alonso, who had to start from 11th and 15th place on the grid respectively after being given two-second penalties, had an ideal start and managed to make up ground on the first lap.

At the end of the lap the Ferrari driver was up to fourth place, while Alonso was sixth, while Schumacher's team-mate Felipe Massa had fallen back from second to seventh.

In the first few laps the two McLarens of Kimi Raikkonen and de la Rosa were managing to put some distance between themselves and the chasing pack.

Schumacher however was struggling with the grip of his intermediary Bridgestone tyres in the wet conditions prevailing on the Hungaroring and first had to let Alonso pass and then saw Jenson Button overtake him as well.

On lap 17 Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella clipped the German's front left wing during an overtaking manoeuvre and Schumacher had to complete virtually the entire lap without it before being able to go into the pits.

Fisichella soon afterwards slipped off the track and although he managed to get back into the race his car was obviously damaged and he had to pull out a short while later.

On lap 27 Raikkonen, who at that stage was behind Alonso as the Renault driver had not yet been to the pits, slammed into the back of Vitantonio Liuzzi's Toro Rosso as he was attempting to lap the Italian.

Although the McLaren was so badly damaged that the safety car had to come out the Finn was not injured.

'I looked into the rearview mirror and just then Luizzi braked and I went into his back,' Raikkonen said afterwards.

Alonso made the best possible start when the safety car withdrew after a few laps and soon managed to build up a considerable advantage.

Midway through the race Schumacher's tyres seemed to have adapted to the conditions and he put pressure on the leading drivers with fast lap-times.

Alonso lost the lead when he went into the pits on the 52nd lap. He came out with slicks and within a few hundred metres had spun off the track. He managed to get back on, but spun off soon afterwards again and had to retire, leaving Button in first place.

'I noticed immediately after the pit stop that things were not right and I wanted to go back into the pits, but I could not,' Alonso said.

His team later said that it was a driveshaft problem that caused his retirement.

Heidfeld, who was second, then had to go into the pits and Schumacher suddenly found himself in second place, with de la Rosa third, but with the McLaren, which was on slicks, making up ground with each lap.

De la Rosa soon overtook the German and Heidfeld then moved into third as Schumacher retired and the leading three held onto their places for their final laps.

De la Rosa said he knew that he was going to overtake Schumacher sooner or later. 'I knew what I was doing and I could just sit back and wait for the right time. It is a terrific day. Jenson winning his first race and I getting my first second.'

Heidfeld said he felt the German touch him in the back. 'I think that is when he must have damaged the car. I also had some problems afterwards, but managed to hold on.'

Schumacher dismissed questions that he had gambled on too much. 'It is easy to say that afterwards. Yes, I could have held back and finished fourth or fifth, but that is not the way I race,' he said.

Alonso maintains his 11 point lead over Schumacher with five races remaining. The next race is the Turkish Grand Prix on August 27 in Istanbul.