Budapest, 6th August 2006

Jenson Button scored the first Grand Prix win of his career in extraordinary conditions at the Hungaroring on the outskirts of Budapest on Sunday, heading home Pedro de la Rosa who also scored his best ever Grand Prix finish. Making an unfamiliar podium, Nick Heidfeld finished third in an amazingly action-packed race.

Neither the penalised championship rivals Fernando Alonso nor Michael Schumacher finished the 70 lap race, although Michael was up to fourth from eleventh on the first lap and Alonso was up to third after five laps. But Alonso retired with a rear end breakage on lap 52 just after pitting from the lead, and Michael suffered a track rod breakage when being overtaken by Heidfeld for third place. Felipe Massa finished a lowly eighth, which means that Renault's lead is down to nine points in the Constructors' championship and there's no change in the Drivers'.


The circuit was still very damp as the cars took up their grid positions, so much so that both Massa and de la Rosa had already had spins. At the start, Raikkonen went straight into the lead but Massa was swamped and Rubens Barrichello slotted into second from de la Rosa in third. Michael made an amazing start around the outside of everyone at the first corner to claim fourth, ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella and Alonso, another to make a great start. Massa ended up seventh at the end of the lap, from newcomer Robert Kubica. David Coulthard, Heidfeld and Button completed the top eleven.

While Raikkonen disappeared at the front, Button made extraordinary progress, as did others on a track infamous for an inability to overtake. Alonso overtook Fisichella on lap two, Button disposed of Heidfeld, then Coulthard followed by Massa and then Fisichella and even Michael Schumacher so that on lap seven, as rain briefly returned, Raikkonen led by 10s from de la Rosa after Barrichello pitted. Then came Alonso who had overtaken Michael, Button in fourth, then Michael pushed by Fisichella, Coulthard, who had passed the spun Massa, now pushed by Heidfeld.

Alonso was soon on de la Rosa's tail, while Fisichella was trying very hard to pass Michael and the pair even touched in the final corner on lap 15. A lap later, de la Rosa made his first stop, while teammate Raikkonen came in on the next lap, as did Button and Michael Schumacher, who needed a new front wing after his touch with Fisichella. A lap later, however, Fisichella spun out of the race after losing his rear wing.

Alonso, who had yet to stop, led by 24s on lap 20, from Raikkonen and de la Rosa and then came Button, a big gap to Coulthard and then Barrichello and Heidfeld. Michael came next ahead of Ralf Schumacher, while the rest were lapped.

On lap 22, Barrichello moved up to fifth ahead of Coulthard, while on lap 24, Alonso lapped Michael Schumacher, clearly struggling on his wet tyres. Great drama came on lap 26 when Liuzzi slowed as he was being lapped by Raikkonen, and the Finn slammed into the back of the Scuderia Toro Rosso and put them both out of the race. The safety car was deployed.

De la Rosa, Barrichello, Coulthard and Heidfeld immediately pitted while Alonso came in on the next lap. But by the time the safety car went in again, Alonso's lead to Button had shrunk to 3.2s, with de la Rosa another 2.2s behind, then Barrichello followed by Heidfeld challenged hard by Coulthard and Michael Schumacher.

The lead gap leaped to nearly 10s as Button negotiated backmarkers, and then began to shrink again, coming right down again to less than a second when Button pitted on lap 46. Michael, having overtaken Heidfeld, also pitted on that lap.

Barrichello came in on lap 50 followed by Alonso a lap later and de la Rosa. But while one Spaniard rejoined without problems, Alonso only got as far as turn two before spearing off into the tyres and out of the race. Although a wheelnut was seen to come off, the team suggested that something had broken at the back of the car.

This left Button in the lead, which he held onto when he pitted on lap 54. Heidfeld lost second place when he did the same a lap later, so that Michael held second from a rapidly gaining de la Rosa. When the McLaren driver caught the slowing Michael, the pair slowed so much that Heidfeld also closed in. De la Rosa eventually overtook on lap 66 with Heidfeld promptly following through, only for Michael's track rod to break which caused him to collide with the back of Heidfeld and retire.

But the first three were settled: Button taking a popular win from de la Rosa and Heidfeld. Barrichello was next and the final unlapped runner from Coulthard's damaged Red Bull Racing, then Ralf Schumacher, Robert Kubica scoring points in his first Grand Prix, just ahead of the charging Massa who set fastest lap five laps from the end.