A Painful Memory

It would have taken a brave man to bet on it: the three top drivers of this generation all having a fighting chance of a podium finish (if not victory) in Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix - and all three failing.

It was the first time since Monaco 2004 that a GP podium hadn't featured Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso or Kimi Raikkonen. Of the 129 podium positions on offer during that streak of 43 GP, the big three took 73 in total, 17 more than the rest of the field combined. They also took 35 of the 43 GP wins.

For McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, crashing out of second place wasn't a catastrophic failure. After a promising early lead, he'd looked increasingly uncomfortable on a dud set of tyres, and was about to be passed by teammate Pedro de la Rosa when a momentary lapse of concentration ended his race.

If Raikkonen had managed to avoid Vitantonio Liuzzi's Toro Rosso, who had (or so he thought) obligingly made way for the McLaren to pass, he might have hung on for an eventual third place. However, that was never going to be enough to brighten another disappointing McLaren season for Raikkonen. Well out of championship contention already, the Finn could afford to shrug it off as 'one of those things'.

For the remaining two of the big three, the Hungaroring failure will be a painful memory that could ultimately cost one of them the WDC title. The truly remarkable aspect is that the two most consistently reliable performers in the field simultaneously chose Hungary to go walkabout. It resulted in a comedy of errors in which both drivers acted like raw rookies, leaving spectators wondering if either driver really wanted the championship.

Even in the mounting pressure of a championship struggle drawing closer down the final stretch, it is a mystery how the normally unflappable Fernando Alonso got drawn into a pointless and petulant bout of weaving and brake-testing against Red Bull Racing's reserve driver Robert Doornbos. In fairness, though, Alonso's Friday blunder was his only mistake of the weekend.

The Spanish championship leader made amends come Sunday. The exceptional dryness of recent seasons meant that Alonso was crowned WDC without his wet weather skills being either tested or showcased. It was a potential chink in Alonso's armour, and a valid question mark against his credentials. He used the opportunity to put any doubts about his wet weather skills to rest.

From his lowly 15th grid position, Alonso was sensational over the opening stint. It wasn't just his raw pace, or his Schumacher-like ability to experiment with different lines in the wet and find the best grip in the most unlikely places. What impressed most of all was Alonso's courage in tearing through the field, subjecting himself to the risk of disastrous contact with each and every passing move.

In today's F1, drivers and fans alike are acutely aware of the allegations and investigations that will surely follow any race-ending contact between a championship protagonist and a rival. It's an inevitable by-product of the Adelaide '94 and Jerez '97 controversies involving Michael Schumacher.

Fernando Alonso seems blissfully unaware of the subtext, and will happily go wheel to wheel with anybody at any time, regardless of the risks or the championship situation. He came within a whisker of touching wheels with Ferrari's Felipe Massa at the first corner in France, and went at it again (passing various rivals) in Hungary.

It might give fans and team members heart palpitations, but doesn't seem to bother Alonso in the slightest. With the supreme confidence of youth, he backs his own ability to avoid contact - with the unquestioning faith that his rivals will perform to the same level.

If the rain had persisted, Alonso may well have lapped the entire field and set the same type of career-defining benchmark that Michael Schumacher had achieved in Spain '96. Even on a drying track, and with a huge mid-race lead wiped out by the safety car following Kimi Raikkonen's accident, he still looked well in control and set for victory.

The damaged Renault R26 of Fernando Alonso © XPB/LAT

Alonso's awe-inspiring reliability record was always going to end sooner rather than later. Even with today's technology, flawless reliability is a privilege, not a right. How ironic that, of all the high-tech finely engineered components that could have failed on his Renault, a simple wheel nut would prove his undoing.

And how typically cruel of F1 that it would happen while he was decimating the field in Hungary, rather than while struggling at Indianapolis or Hockenheim. If that nut had held for another 19 laps, the 2006 championship would effectively be over.

Alonso's retirement handed Michael Schumacher, for the second time over the weekend, a golden invitation to maximise the opportunity and take another hefty slice out of Alonso's dwindling championship lead. But Michael Schumacher was having the sort of weekend that he suffers once in a blue moon, when absolutely nothing will go right for him.

One example was Australia '99, when a series of technical glitches (including a puncture and a faulty steering wheel) caused unscheduled pitstops, dropping him to a frustrating eighth place while teammate Eddie Irvine scampered away for the win.

On that occasion, at least Schumacher had the consolation of knowing that the problems were not of his making. In Hungary, he had only himself to blame. Even with the qualifying time penalty for passing under red flag conditions in free practice, the Sunday rain putting the Bridgestone intermediates at an unexpected disadvantage, and his Ferrari surviving a light brush with Giancarlo Fisichella's Renault, Schumacher could (and should) have done better.

There have been times when the German's 'never say die' spirit has netted him some unexpected points. And perhaps it's indicative of his respect for Alonso that he viewed Hungary as a 'now or never' opportunity to close the championship gap.

Yet, when he looks back and recognises that he could have had a guaranteed four-point haul from the race, even if he'd let de la Rosa, Heidfeld and Barrichello through unimpeded over the closing laps, it will be a painful memory. Perhaps not as painful as Spa '98, when he lost a guaranteed ten points over arch-rival Mika Hakkinen - but there were extenuating circumstances at Spa.

Blinded by spray, Schumacher could claim that he had little chance of avoiding the contact with David Coulthard's McLaren at Spa. In Hungary, he chose to defend desperately against his pursuers, inviting the contact with BMW's Nick Heidfeld that ended his race and let Alonso off the hook.

It was ostensibly a parallel of the situation that Kimi Raikkonen faced at Nurburgring last season - risk it all and go for the maximum, or play it safe and settle for a smaller reward. However, Raikkonen was facing a 22-point championship deficit, Schumacher's is exactly half of that. Raikkonen had Alonso following him on the track, Schumacher had Alonso retired and back in the pits.

The racer in Raikkonen may have urged him to choose valour; the championship campaigner in Schumacher should have swung him towards discretion. He may yet end up winning the title, but his mistakes in Australia, Monaco and now Hungary aren't making it any easier for him.

Jenson Button and Honda chief Takeo Fukui © LAT

Where there is pain, there is also gain. The misfortunes of the big three left Honda's Jenson Button as an unexpected and delighted benefactor. After 112 GP starts without success, nobody could begrudge Button his maiden victory. Although luck played a part, the Englishman fully deserved his long-overdue triumph.

Winning from 14th place on the grid is special at any circuit, and almost unheard of at 'no passing' circuits like Hungary. Additionally, Button won against a teammate who not only started five rows ahead of him on the grid, but who is also acknowledged as a wet weather specialist.

The maiden victory is unlikely to unleash Button in the same way that it did for Alonso and Raikkonen - the Honda simply doesn't have the legs to win regularly yet. However, it's vindicated Button's patience and self-belief. The win is particularly poignant, coming just two races after the departure of Juan Pablo Montoya to NASCAR.

Button entered F1 shortly before Montoya, but saw his limelight (and his Williams seat) taken by the arrival of the Colombian, who immediately grabbed a win, a further three podium finishes and three pole positions in his first season.

Button's path to success was far longer and rockier (Montoya had won three GP by the time Button scored his first podium finish), and at times he must have despaired of ever emulating even one of Montoya's seven GP wins. He will take an extra measure of satisfaction from the rewards of his perseverance.

As important as Button's maiden win was, he will only have the three-week summer break as the centre of attention. By the time the field convenes in Turkey to resume the season, all eyes will be back on the Alonso-Schumacher duel.

Despite Alonso's bold assurances that Renault has reclaimed the top spot, it would be foolish to dismiss Schumacher's qualifying form in Hungary. The intermediate Bridgestones may not have worked well but, in the dry, the Ferrari again looked superior.

Alonso will be hoping for at least a couple more wet races before the season's end. For possibly the first time in his career, Michael Schumacher will be praying for the rain to stay away. Either way, they both exhausted their stock of 'Get out of jail free' cards in Hungary. Next time either makes a mistake, the other will surely take full advantage.