First victory for Button
Jenson Button has won the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix, taking both his and the Honda Racing F1 Team’s first Formula One victory. In changing track conditions, the 26-year-old Englishman drove a stunning race, charging through the field from 14th place on the grid.
Capping a fabulous race for the team – which was seen by the CEO and President of the Honda Motor Company, Takeo Fukui – Rubens Barrichello came home in a fighting fourth place.
The 70-lap race got under way in wet conditions, with Rubens making a great start to be second into Turn 1. Jenson, meanwhile, jumped from 14th to 11th on the opening lap and went on to overtake one car per lap for the next six laps to be fourth by lap eight.
Rubens’ strategy was compromised on lap five when he pitted for full wet tyres, having started the race on intermediates. He rejoined the race in 10th position.
Jenson was up to third position by the time of his first pitstop on lap 17, from which he rejoined in fourth place behind Pedro de la Rosa. Behind him, Rubens was charging through the field and by the time the Safety Car came out on lap 26, following an accident involving Kimi Raikkonen, he was in fifth place.
Rubens made his second pitstop during this Safety Car period, but Jenson stayed out, which left him in second place on the road. The race then re-started on lap 31 and Jenson set a string of fastest laps to close onto the tail of race leader Fernando Alonso.
Jenson pitted on lap 46 and emerged in second place. When Alonso crashed at Turn 2 on lap 51, Jenson was handed a convincing lead over second placed Pedro de la Rosa, which he was never to lose, even when he made his final pitstop on lap 54 for dry tyres.
In the closing stages, Rubens closed onto the gearbox of third-placed Nick Heidfeld, but he was unable to find a way passed.
The Honda Racing F1 Team now has a three-week break prior to the next round of the World Championship in Turkey, on August 27th.
Jenson Button “Wow! What a day! This is such an amazing moment for me and one that I have worked my whole motor racing career for. I always had faith that we would achieve our objective together and this victory is testimony to that belief. There are so many people to thank right now - everybody in the team, Honda Motor Company, our partners and, of course, all the fans. I would also like to pay a very special tribute to my family who helped me start out on the path to victory. To win such a tough and challenging race from 14th place on the grid is incredible for me and all the more important because I know I won on merit today. No one can dispute that today the Honda Racing F1 Team got everything right.”
Rubens Barrichello “I am truly happy for Jenson and the Honda Racing F1 Team today. It was a shame for me that we had the wrong tyres at the start or we could have both been on the podium. A huge effort from the team this weekend and we hope to carry that forward for future wins.”
Takeo Fukui, President and CEO of Honda Motor Co., Ltd "We are absolutely delighted with this victory today. We have been aiming for victory from the first race of this year, and to have finally reached our goal at the 13th race of the season makes us extremely happy. The drivers and all the members of the team have worked very hard and done a truly outstanding job. Today we share with all our fans the thrill of victory. Tomorrow we will once again be hard at work to achieve yet more Formula One World Championship wins. I would like to express my gratitude to all our fans for their continuing support. Thank you."
Nick Fry, Chief Executive Officer “There are hardly words to describe this moment. It is an historic day for Honda and the most incredible occasion for the whole team, its associates and fans all over the world. Everyone has worked so hard for so long to savour the taste of victory. Jenson has remained positive, as has the whole team, and I am immensely proud of everyone today, especially as the CEO of Honda Motor Company, Takeo Fukui, was here in Hungary to receive the trophy on our behalf. Now that we have reached this important milestone, we know we have what it takes to go on and do it again and again.”
Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director "This will always be an unforgettable day for the whole Honda team! This fantastic result is the culmination of several years of hard work, dedication and relentless pursuit of perfection by the many members of our team, and on this day everything came right. For Jenson, winning a race was just a matter of time and on a day like today where conditions were incredibly difficult gave him the perfect setting to show the world a talent and class that all of us in the team knew he had all along. Jenson drove the perfect race from start to finish; he was fast and flawless through out. Needless to say this race was very hard to manage from a strategic standpoint, right from the start when we struggled with what tyres to start the race on. With Rubens we decided to start on extreme wets and Jenson with wets which paid off early on for Rubens, but we had to pit him only after a few laps. The key part of the race came after Jenson caught up to the leader and we decided to split the last stint since we doubted the wets were going to be the right tyre for the conditions at the end but they certainly were when he came in for the second time on lap 46. In the end first and fourth is just reward for the whole team, not to mention Jenson and Rubens who have kept faith and focused through all the hard work. Turkey can’t come soon enough!"
