The Complete 2006 Hungarian GP Review

No-one really understands the strange magic that has made the humble Hungaroring the scene of so many of British motorsport's greatest moments in the past decade-and-a-half, but it is obviously still alive.

Where else would have been a more poignant location for Jenson Button to finally, finally win his first Formula One race than the track where Nigel Mansell finally, finally became world champion in 1992, having driven one of his greatest ever races to win from 12th there three years earlier? And where Damon Hill topped the podium for the first time in 1993, and nearly did the same for Arrows in that remarkable 1997 race?

Although Button's long wait for victory had become a media preoccupation, he hadn't really endured any of the gut-wrenching, last gasp, disaster-while-leading, heartbreaks that Mansell and Hill had endured prior to their first successes. There had just been countless days when - however well Button drove - someone else always had a faster package.

This was the case in Hungary, too, where Alonso was quickest in the wet, albeit only by a tiny margin over Button for much of the afternoon, and Ferrari were surely capable of dominating in the dry. But Button had a competitive enough package, whatever the weather, was driving better than ever, and had luck on his side where Alonso - uncharacteristically - did not.

Honda have recovered a lot of ground in recent races after an abject mid-season period. It is important that they maintain this form in circumstances less weird than the Hungaroring weekend if Button is to avoid being one of those anomalous victors who only wins in bizarre races. Another Jean Alesi, Johnny Herbert, or Olivier Panis, to name a few recent examples.

But Button's current teammate Rubens Barrichello took his first win in fairly ridiculous circumstances - dodging rain, qualifying disasters and wandering protesters to win in Germany in 2000. And that result was far from a one-off, even if Barrichello had to wait a while for his second win.

With parent company president Takeo Fukui on hand, this was a perfect moment for Honda to demonstrate not only that their car had been hauled back on to the pace, but that they had got on top of the operational calamities that squandered so many chances early in the season.

"We've been a real thinking team today," said Button. "We haven't just gone out there and had the best car and won the race.

"We've won the race, not just through speed but also because of our strategy and the way of working within Honda."

Prior to the weekend, most suspected that the ongoing mass damper row or some similarly obscure new technical wrangle might dominate the weekend.

Then Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher's undisciplined moments in practice took precedence.

The title contenders' fluctuating fortunes in Hungary were truly remarkable. First Alonso appeared to throw away his increasingly slim advantage by losing his cool with Robert Doornbos. Then Schumacher let Renault off the hook with his own indiscretion on Saturday - perhaps provoked by Alonso's gamesmanship, perhaps just a moment of carelessness.

Still, Schumacher looked most likely to profit in the race, until Bridgestone's problems became apparent and Alonso romped to the front, and even lapped his rival.

Then the sun came out, a humble wheel nut sent the world champion into the wall, and Schumacher started striding to the front... only to get involved in some probably unnecessary (if very entertaining) muscular dicing with cars on far healthier tyres and end up out of the race and out of the points... until the stewards inadvertently did Ferrari a small favour by disqualifying Robert Kubica.

So, after the penalties, the weather, the controversy, the endless passing moves and incidents, Alonso and Schumacher are virtually back where they were at the start of the weekend.

But for Button and Honda, life is suddenly very different. They are winners, and spectacular winners at that. Now the challenge is to win in a 'boring' race, and beat the title combatants on sheer pace in more mundane circumstances. That probably won't happen in 2006, which made Hungary all the more refreshing.

Practice

The weather was the first clue that this would be a bizarre weekend. Normally Budapest in August means sweltering temperature and arid run-off areas, whereas this year the teams were greeted by conditions more akin to Snetterton in the autumn.

It looked like the cold and often damp weather - and the confusion this was causing both tyre companies, who had prepared for something significantly warmer - would be the key to the weekend.

But then Robert Doornbos obstructed Fernando Alonso on a flying lap in the afternoon and a whole new narrative began. So irked was the world champion that he not only waved his fist at Doornbos, but weaved in front of the Red Bull test driver and then underlined his displeasure with an flagrant brake test at Turn 1.

Alonso thought little of the incident, although many took it as further evidence of the Spaniard's increasingly flaky temperament.

The stewards viewed it (and an additional yellow flag infringement) rather more seriously, decreeing that a two second penalty would be added to Alonso qualifying times - not only his final result, but in each session.

Until that point, the news had been a little better than of late for Alonso, with Michelin appearing to be in good shape. Kimi Raikkonen was quickest on Friday morning, beating Anthony Davidson at the absolute last minute, and then Alonso took second in the afternoon - albeit 1.3 seconds slower than pacesetter Felipe Massa.

The presence of race drivers at the top of the lists might have had something to do with regular Friday star Robert Kubica's mysterious change of job description. Slotted into the BMW race team in place of the absent Jacques Villeneuve, for reasons that got no clearer as the weekend progressed, Kubica sat out Friday morning and then took ninth (a promising 0.2 seconds behind teammate Nick Heidfeld) in second practice.

Ferrari must have been feeling rather confident when dawn broke on Sunday. Their title rival now faced an extreme battle to make it even into the top 16 on the grid, and their number two driver had dominated the more meaningful practice session.

Then Jenson Button's Honda engine destroyed itself in messy fashion on the approach to Turn 4 on Saturday morning, causing a red flag.

As the field cruised to the pits, Michael Schumacher overtook both Alonso and Kubica. Had - as some insinuated - Alonso slowed excessively to prompt Schumacher into such an action?

Schumacher urged people to view the video evidence and draw their own conclusions, but Alonso briskly shrugged the allegations off.

"When you overtake on the outside of not only one car but two cars, it is because you decided to do it," he said.

This time, the stewards were in agreement with Alonso, and gave Schumacher the same two second penalty for qualifying.

That should have evened up the title situation, but with Schumacher leading a Ferrari one-two in final practice (ahead of Kubica), and Alonso 1.4 seconds slower in fifth, the feeling remained that recovering from the penalty would be rather more straightforward for Schumacher.

Almost forgotten amongst the furore surrounding the title contenders, Button resigned himself to receiving a penalty of his own after the engine failure. At least he would be in illustrious company in the midfield...

Practice round up

Sorted by total laps from all three sessions

Qualifying

Part one

Given how ludicrously close the first two parts of qualifying had been for much of the season, the penalised title combatants must have feared that their two second additions would see them sidelined within 15 minutes.

Schumacher didn't have to worry for long - his first flying lap was a pacesetting 1:19.440 and even with the penalty applied that was still sufficient for a safe 13th.

But Alonso needed a couple of shots at getting through, as improvements by the Toyotas and Mark Webber meant that his initial 1:20.470 translated to 18th place with two seconds added. A seven-tenths improvement was enough to get Alonso through at the next attempt.

That meant that Nico Rosberg was the most notable early departure. He was only 18th quickest, albeit just 0.06 seconds from safety, which was rather less than the six-tenths he felt he had lost with an error in the final sector.

The Super Aguri drivers were 20th and 22nd, with Sakon Yamamoto a respectable 1.1 seconds from Takuma Sato, and Christijan Albers sandwiched between them. For the second race in a row, the Dutchman had suffered an engine failure in free practice and was destined for the back, so was nonchalant about the mistakes that left him 21st in the times.

Albers' teammate Tiago Monteiro was enraged after being blocked by Scott Speed on his first flying lap, but his anger spurred him through to Q2, as his next lap was good enough for 15th.

Speed later had his best three times deleted as a punishment. Not that this made a great deal of difference on a day when Toro Rosso were struggling for pace. Despite having their V10 rev-limit eased a little for qualifying, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Speed only managed 17th and 19th places.

Part two

Schumacher and Alonso were first and second fastest in Q2, but despite squeezing every morsel of speed from their cars, the field was simply too close for them to progress once their penalties were added.

First and second became 12th and 15th, with Schumacher having been 0.5 seconds faster than Alonso, a margin that looked like it might be crucial in the race.

Monteiro never expected to get much beyond 16th, which was exactly where he ended up.

Having complained about being blocked by David Coulthard at the last two grands prix, it was ironic that this time it was Coulthard pointing the finger at Monteiro, and suggested that had he not been blocked by the Midland, he could have been seventh rather than 13th.

Christian Klien was a place behind Coulthard, citing a nervous car.

The final elimination was Nick Heidfeld, which was notable mainly because his new teammate Robert Kubica made it through to Q1 with a lap 0.4 seconds quicker than Heidfeld's. Any remaining questions about the Pole's talent were already being answered.

Felipe Massa was 'officially' fastest, as he had been in Q1, although Raikkonen was only two-tenths slower.

Part three

Was pole Massa's to lose? It looked that way given Ferrari's recent form and his team leader's constraints, and when the Brazilian beat Giancarlo Fisichella's provisional mark by 1.1 seconds on his first flying lap, it seemed that he had his first pole position in the bag.

Behind Massa, the order was constantly changing, with Rubens Barrichello and Mark Webber both appearing in second momentarily before Jenson Button grabbed the outside front row spot.

Massa had failed to improve on his second run, feeling that traffic on his out-lap had prevented him from sufficiently warming his tyres.

That left him vulnerable to any rivals making last gasp gains, and sure enough Raikkonen burst through in the final moments of the session to steal pole by 0.3 seconds.

Barrichello also improved on his last lap and took third, beating teammate Button by 0.007 seconds.

Pedro de la Rosa completed the top five, while Webber's unexpected sixth place was a very potent message to future employers, although he was concerned about a lack of pace on long runs.

Fisichella was another man who failed to gain at the second attempt, which left him between the Toyotas in eighth. While Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli were pleased with their positions, their main concern was the effect that the unexpectedly chilly weather was having on their Bridgestones.

"The tyre basically dissolves and you have a big grip problem," said Schumacher.

Kubica completed his first F1 qualifying session in 10th, and was disappointed to be so far off the pace - 2.5 seconds from pole, and 0.9 seconds from ninth-placed Trulli. But his team seemed content.

"His approach was the right mixture of aggression and understanding of what he had to do," said BMW team boss Mario Theissen.

Qualifying results

The times of Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso include a 2-second penalty each

The grid

The timing system calculated Schumacher and Alonso's penalties as qualifying progressed, so there was no change to their position on the published grid sheet, while Speed's drop from 19th to 20th for blocking and Albers' engine penalty taking him from 21st to 22nd were largely inconsequential.

Button's demotion from a resurgent fourth to an anonymous 14th was more significant, but he was optimistic about what he might achieve in the race.

"I'm going to go out there, enjoy the race, and see what we can do..." he said.

Pos  Driver                  Team
 1.  Kimi Raikkonen          McLaren-Mercedes
 2.  Felipe Massa            Ferrari
 3.  Rubens Barrichello      Honda
 4.  Pedro de la Rosa        McLaren-Mercedes
 5.  Mark Webber             Williams-Cosworth
 6.  Ralf Schumacher         Toyota
 7.  Giancarlo Fisichella    Renault
 8.  Jarno Trulli            Toyota
 9.  Robert Kubica           BMW Sauber
10.  Nick Heidfeld           BMW Sauber
11.  Michael Schumacher      Ferrari *
12.  David Coulthard         Red Bull-Ferrari
13.  Jenson Button           Honda **
14.  Fernando Alonso         Renault *
15.  Tiago Monteiro          MF1-Toyota
16.  Vitantonio Liuzzi       Toro Rosso-Cosworth
17.  Nico Rosberg            Williams-Cosworth
18.  Takuma Sato             Super Aguri-Honda
19.  Scott Speed             Toro Rosso-Cosworth **
20.  Sakon Yamamoto          Super Aguri-Honda
21.  Christijan Albers       MF1-Toyota ***
22.  Christian Klien         Red Bull-Ferrari ****

*    Two seconds added to his qualifying time
**   Penalised for impeding
***  Penalised for engine change
**** Starts from pitlane

The Race

What had already been a thoroughly strange grand prix weekend got even odder on race morning, as rain poured down on what is usually among the driest and hottest events of the year.

Although the precipitation had stopped by the time the race began and almost everyone chose intermediates, the track was still wet enough for Pedro de la Rosa to spin on the warm-up lap, although he got going without falling to the tail of the pack.

While Kimi Raikkonen made a perfect start from pole, his front row partner Felipe Massa - such a hot tip for victory after qualifying - slithered down into the pack and would not feature amongst the leaders again.

The wet-shod Rubens Barrichello moved up to second, followed by Pedro de la Rosa. Amazingly, Michael Schumacher had risen to fourth within the space of a single lap, using his Bridgestone wets to surge around the pack into the first corner with minimal drama.

By contrast, Fernando Alonso seemed to spend the entire opening lap squeezing between cars or going around the outside in a ball of spray. He completed the lap by squeezing inside Massa into the final corner to claim sixth, behind teammate Giancarlo Fisichella.

At first Barrichello inched closer to Raikkonen, before the intermediate tyres began to work more effectively on the very slightly drying track and the McLaren pulled away, leading by four seconds after three laps.

Schumacher's opening flourish was brief, for it was clear within a couple of laps that Bridgestone's products were inferior to Michelin's in the conditions. Alonso was capable of lapping several seconds faster than his rival, and was soon probing every possible passing angle - including one moment where he tried to turn the outside line at the tight penultimate corner into an inside pass at the final hairpin, only to almost end up heading inadvertently into the pit lane.

Finally Alonso made it past with a sumptuous outside pass at Turn 4 and then disappeared off in pursuit of what was now a McLaren one-two, as Barrichello decided to pit for intermediates on lap five, dropping to 10th.

Button's charge began a little later, as he had fallen further into the midfield with another poor start. But he was soon lapping on a par with the top three, and quickly despatched David Coulthard, Massa, Fisichella and even Schumacher (with an assertive Turn 1 dive), appearing in fourth place by lap seven.

To put Bridgestone's plight in context, while the top four regularly lapped in the 1:33s, Schumacher could only manage 1:37s - although in fairness this was roughly on a par with the rest of the field, who could not get close to the pace exhibited by the McLarens, Alonso and Button.

Ferrari's situation improved a little as harder rain fell after a dozen laps, but by that time Schumacher was already over half a minute adrift and remained under huge pressure from Fisichella.

They banged wheels at the final corner without damage on lap 15, then Fisichella went down the inside into Turn 1 and got ahead. Schumacher tried to cut back inside but slid a little sideways on the marker line and tagged the rear of the Renault, breaking his front wing.

The subsequent pit stop put Schumacher back to ninth, while the unfortunate Massa had lost more ground with a spin and was now a lap down in 12th.

Fisichella's race came to an end shortly after his pass on Schumacher. The Renault spun into the Turn 8 wall but was able to continue - at least for a lap before the rear wing fell off and pitched Fisichella into retirement.

But for his teammate, life seemed to be getting easier and easier, as the McLarens came in for their first stops on laps 16 and 17 and handed the lead to Alonso. Button also stopped at the same time, but retained fourth.

Now Alonso really went into imperious mode, regularly lapping three seconds faster than the rest of the field. By lap 26 he was 40 seconds clear of the field, clearly planning to pit less than his rivals, and looking absolutely unstoppable.

Then the weekend took another curious twist. Raikkonen was coming under pressure from both de la Rosa and Button, and was about to lap Vitantonio Liuzzi. The Toro Rosso slowed to let the McLaren through, but caught Raikkonen by surprise.

The McLaren clipped the rear of Liuzzi's car and rode up over the top of it, peppering the track with debris.

"I think it was unlucky for both of us," said Raikkonen. "Liuzzi wanted to let me past but I didn't expect him to slow there and I was also looking to let Pedro past, so there was a lot going on."

It was yet another undignified retirement for the luckless Raikkonen, and clearly severe enough to warrant a safety car.

Two laps before this, Alonso had lapped the struggling Schumacher. But as the Renault pitted under caution, the Ferrari was able to rejoin the lead lap rather than being trapped amongst the midfield for the rest of the race.

Alonso retained his lead despite Button choosing not to pit at this stage, with de la Rosa dropping to third after stopping.

Steady and sensible driving from Barrichello, Nick Heidfeld and Coulthard brought them up to fourth, fifth and sixth by this stage, with Schumacher now seventh and last of the unlapped cars.

After a three lap pause, Alonso got on with dominating the race at the restart, while Button lost a lot of ground behind the lapped Massa.

But as the track dried, the conditions seemed to be coming to Button, who was admittedly slightly lighter on fuel but still consistently eroding the leader's advantage.

A series of fastest laps from the Honda meant that the original eight second gap separating Alonso from his pursuer was down to just 0.8 seconds by lap 43.

Then suddenly it was Schumacher turning the timing screen purple with his speed. He had lost even more ground by spinning at Turn 2 after the restart, but as the water drained away, the Bridgestones sprang into life, allowing Schumacher to take up to three seconds per lap out of Alonso, and rather more out of the drivers immediately around him. Coulthard and Heidfeld were both overtaken - although the latter put up quite a fight - before Schumacher pitted for fuel only on lap 46.

Button came in on the same lap, and also opted to stick with his worn intermediates for now. A dry line was clearly evident, but Scott Speed had kindly demonstrated the folly of 'slicks' at this stage by spinning on his out lap after changing tyres. He would soon return for more intermediates.

But by lap 50, it was becoming almost impossible to find sufficient water on track to cool the intermediates, and Alonso decided that a change was inevitable.

In the intervening period, Button's pace had been such that he was able to take the lead when Alonso stopped, but as he would also have needed to come in for dries at some stage, victory still seemed to be in Renault's grasp.

That was until an apparent wheel nut problem led to Alonso's first DNF since Montreal last June. There was clearly something unhealthy at the rear of the Renault as it twitched in the pit exit and lurched awkwardly around Turn 1. By the time it reached Turn 2, the car was uncontrollable, and Alonso spun into the barriers and out.

This bad news for Renault was compounded by Schumacher's increasingly productive progress. A combination of the Ferrari's sheer speed on worn intermediates in the now nearly dry conditions, and the likes of de la Rosa, Heidfeld and Coulthard pitting for dry tyres meant that Schumacher was second behind Button by lap 56.

Button's advantage was such that he could stop for dries without losing the lead, and when Schumacher's worn intermediates became so worn that they were virtually without tread, the Honda started pulling away at three seconds per lap.

Third-placed de la Rosa was homing in on the limping Ferrari at the same pace, and was soon all over the back of Schumacher, who had to rely on a straightline speed advantage and sheer determination to stay ahead in a car that was clearly in no condition to fight for the podium.

De la Rosa got down the inside into the first chicane on lap 64, but still Schumacher did not back down. They banged wheels slightly, and the Ferrari cut the corner and remained ahead - leaving de la Rosa deeply unimpressed. A similar move two laps later succeeded, again with Schumacher taking to the run-off.

"He was defending his position a little too much for his pace," de la Rosa reckoned.

Heidfeld was about to have a similar experience, swarming all over the Ferrari for two laps before going wheel to wheel with Schumacher into the first chicane. There was more contact, but this time Schumacher came off worst, breaking a track rod and having to crawl back to the pits and retirement.

"Did we take a risk staying out on track with intermediate tyres and in the fight with my rivals?" he pondered. "That's the way I am. I always want to fight for the top which is why I have won so often."

All of this excitement had left Button with a 30 second lead and - in the end - a relatively easy cruise to his first Formula One victory, after 113 races and six-and-a-half years of trying. He couldn't stop his relief and delight from seeping out before he reached the flag - punching the air as he accelerated out of the final corner.

Button topped one of those anomalous but very refreshing podiums that are thrown up on an almost annual basis. While he celebrated his first win and Honda's first triumph in their current guise with no lesser figure than Honda Motor Company president Takeo Fukui, de la Rosa was thrilled with his first grand prix podium, and Heidfeld took BMW to the podium for the first time since their takeover of Sauber.

Barrichello couldn't quite complete Honda's celebration with a podium of his own, finishing just behind Heidfeld in fourth after being jumped during the final pit stops.

Coulthard was a lapped but relieved fifth, amazed at his car's resilience after contact with Robert Kubica, Schumacher and Barrichello at various stages. Teammate Klien barely featured - he was pushed off the grid with a fuel leak and then moved from last to 16th before spinning off on lap seven.

The other major Bridgestone teams had struggled even more than Ferrari during the wet stages, with the Toyotas and Williams plummeting swiftly towards the midfield. Mark Webber crashed out as early as lap two, with Nico Rosberg lasting until lap 18 before a shunt caused at least in part by electrical problems.

But Toyota did manage to salvage some respectable points as Ralf Schumacher made the most of his early switch to dry tyres and advanced to sixth in the closing laps.

He had made better progress than teammate Jarno Trulli, who was nevertheless heading for ninth when his engine erupted rather dramatically on lap 65.

Schumacher's final pass was on Kubica, whose grand prix debut was an eventful but highly promising affair. These were not the ideal conditions for an F1 beginner, and it was little surprise that the Pole spun twice early on, removing his front wing on the barrier during the second incident.

But he recovered well, setting some impressive lap times in the middle of the race and determinedly barging past Massa for eighth on lap 36. Kubica couldn't help losing out to Schumacher in the final laps as he struggled on wilting intermediates, but seventh was still a fine way to announce his arrival in F1. His subsequent disqualification for being underweight did not take the shine off his scruffy but admirable drive.

Kubica's removal was a bonus for Ferrari, as it elevated Massa - who was by far the fastest man on the track at the end after floundering for most of the afternoon - to seventh and allowed Schumacher to be classified eighth. Despite retiring three laps from the end, he had still covered more ground than final finishers Tiago Monteiro, Christijan Albers, Speed and Takuma Sato.

The Midlands had been drastically short of pace on wets in the opening laps and looked set to finish behind Sato until a clutch problem caused a temporary loss of drive on the Super Aguri. The Russian-owned cars ultimately beat Speed as well - Toro Rosso's premature tyre choice having cost the young American a huge amount of time.

Finally, Sakon Yamamoto continued his unfortunate record of extremely brief grands prix, by stalling the car in the Turn 1 run-off after outbraking himself while trying to make up places at the start.

Race results

70 laps; 306.663km;
Weather: Wet, then dry.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Button        Honda                (M)  1h52:20.941
 2.  de la Rosa    McLaren-Mercedes     (M)  +    30.837
 3.  Heidfeld      BMW-Sauber           (M)  +    43.822
 4.  Barrichello   Honda                (M)  +    45.205
 5.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)  +    1 lap
 6.  R.Schumacher  Toyota               (B)  +    1 lap
 7.  Massa         Ferrari              (B)  +    1 lap
 8.  M.Schumacher  Ferrari              (B)  +    3 laps
 9.  Monteiro      MF1-Toyota           (B)  +    3 laps
10.  Albers        MF1-Toyota           (B)  +    3 laps
11.  Speed         Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)  +    4 laps
12.  Trulli        Toyota               (B)  +    5 laps
13.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda    (B)  +    5 laps

Fastest lap: Massa, 1:23.516

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Alonso        Renault              (M)    52
Liuzzi        Toro Rosso-Cosworth  (M)    26
Raikkonen     McLaren-Mercedes     (M)    26
Rosberg       Williams-Cosworth    (B)    22
Fisichella    Renault              (M)    23
Klien         Red Bull-Ferrari     (M)    7
Webber        Williams-Cosworth    (B)    2
Yamamoto      Super Aguri-Honda    (B)    1
Kubica        BMW-Sauber           (M)    DQ


World Championship standings, round 13:

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Alonso       100        1.  Renault              149
 2.  M.Schumacher  90        2.  Ferrari              142
 3.  Massa         52        3.  McLaren-Mercedes      85
 4.  Raikkonen     49        4.  Honda                 52
 5.  Fisichella    49        5.  BMW-Sauber            26
 6.  Button        31        6.  Toyota                26
 7.  Montoya       26        7.  Red Bull-Ferrari      16
 8.  Barrichello   21        8.  Williams-Cosworth     10
 9.  Heidfeld      19        9.  Toro Rosso-Cosworth    1
10.  R.Schumacher  16
11.  Coulthard     14
12.  Trulli        10
13.  de la Rosa    10
14.  Villeneuve     7
15.  Webber         6
16.  Rosberg        4
17.  Klien          2
18.  Liuzzi         1

Team-by-Team

A 'road rage' incident with Doornbos in Friday practice earns Alonso a two second penalty in qualifying, leaving him 15th on the grid. But in the wet race he is easily able to overcome this disadvantage, storming through the field despite a heavy fuel load, and taking the lead when Raikkonen pits on lap 17. Builds a 40 second advantage before the safety car, but is under pressure from Button afterwards. Still potentially in line for the win when a suspected wheel nut problem causes him to crash out immediately after his pit stop for dries. Fisichella qualifies eighth, has a long and physical dice with Schumacher, but then crashes out on lap 17.

Verdict: Crazy weekend could have ended with Alonso's best win yet. But it didn't, so the title battle is still on.

Raikkonen grabs a second consecutive pole and leads the early wet laps. Early pit stop drops him behind Alonso, and he is coming under pressure from de la Rosa and Button when a misunderstanding in traffic causes a spectacular tangle with Liuzzi. De la Rosa earns at least another two races with McLaren after matching Raikkonen for much of the weekend (despite qualifying 0.6 seconds behind in fourth). Drifts away from Alonso and Button while nursing a heavy fuel, and then loses out to Schumacher when he stops for dries. Comes back at the struggling Ferrari and eventually grabs second after a thrilling dice.

Verdict: Justified delight with de la Rosa, but could Raikkonen's misfortunes get any odder?

Schumacher and Massa are the class of the field in practice, but Schumacher is given a two second penalty for qualifying after overtaking following a red flag. He therefore starts 11th, while Massa is beaten to pole by Raikkonen. The Brazilian falls back early in the wet race, and also has a spin, but eventually comes good on the dry track, setting fastest lap and grabbing seventh. Schumacher charges to fourth on the first lap then fades badly as the tyres struggle. Loses his front wing dicing with Fisichella, is briefly lapped, and even spins on the restart lap. Somehow, he stays in contention and flies up the order as the track dries, running second in the final laps. Tries to continue on worn intermediates and comes under huge pressure, eventually retiring after contact with Heidfeld. Classified eighth.

Verdict: Could have been so much better, but obviously not destined to win this one.

Schumacher and Trulli qualify sixth and eighth despite concerns about tyres not working in the temperatures. They struggle badly in the wet race and tumble down the order, before reviving a little as the track dries. Schumacher is the first man to make 'slicks' work and is therefore able to charge to sixth. Trulli is bound for ninth until a huge, late, engine failure.

Verdict: Three points well salvaged from what could have been an embarrassing day - especially with Honda winning.

The departing Webber qualifies a very strong sixth but loses a heap of places on the first lap then crashes out on the second. Rosberg qualifies only 18th after errors on his best laps, then struggles around near the back before electrical problems contribute to a crash on lap 20.

Verdict: Possibly the nadir of a desperately disappointing season.

Success at last, and in remarkable style. An engine penalty drops Button from fourth to 14th, and he loses more places at the start. But he is second only to Alonso for panache and daring in the wet first half of the race, and is soon up to fourth. Moves up to second after de la Rosa pits and Raikkonen crashes, then takes the fight to Alonso. Leading when Alonso retires, so is able to pit for dries without losing a position. Button then pulls away from remaining rivals to score an unforgettable win. Barrichello starts third, chases Raikkonen at first, then realises his choice of wet tyres is too conservative. Pits early and falls to 10th, gradually creeps back up to finish fourth.

Verdict: A majestic answer to the critics.

A low key start to the weekend, with Coulthard and Klien only 13th and 14th in qualifying. It gets worse for Klien, as he has a fuel leak on the grid so has to start from the pits, then crashes early. Coulthard survives various knocks and drives a solid, consistent and mature race to fifth.

Verdict: Coulthard did everything right on a day when so much could have gone wrong.

Kubica's surprise grand prix debut starts with an impressive 10th on the grid, then features two spins, a mangled front wing, several assertive passes, and seventh on the road... and then he gets disqualified for being underweight. Heidfeld is overshadowed in qualifying, but makes effective progress from 11th to run fifth after the safety car. Wins a tough wheel to wheel scuffle with Schumacher to secure third and BMW's first podium as a works team.

Verdict: Very rough around the edges, but a superb race overall.

Albers get his second engine penalty in as many days and only qualifies 21st anyway, but Monteiro reaches Q2 again and starts 16th. Both drivers are a long way off the pace in the wet, with Monteiro and Albers finishing a distant 10th and 11th. Their pace improves in the dry, but it's too late.

Verdict: Couldn't capitalise on circumstances in which minnows should thrive.

Both drivers struggle for pace in qualifying, Liuzzi taking 17th and Speed 19th before a penalty for blocking puts him back to 20th. Speed has the better race, moving up to 10th by the middle of the race, but then changes to dries too soon and loses a lot of time with spins and an additional pit stop. Finishes 12th. Liuzzi makes a good start, then spins early and runs into the midfield until a dramatic tangle with Raikkonen takes both out.

Verdict: See Midland, but at least Toro Rosso's misfortunes were attention-grabbing.

Sato qualifies 20th and gets a few big names behind him briefly at the start again. Looks set to beat the Midlands until clutch problems cause the engine to cut out and cost him a lot of time. Finishes 14th and last. Yamamoto is slowest in qualifying, and only gets as far as Turn 1, lap 1, before running wide and stalling.

Verdict: On such a fine day for Honda, it would have been great to see Sato in the top ten.

Lap-by-Lap

Pre-race: Change in climatic conditions confirmed, following a morning of persistent drizzle. Drivers commence their installation laps on wet-weather tyres. During one of these, Felipe Massa spins at Turn 12.

Warm-up lap: Pedro de la Rosa spins but resumes in time to take fourth place on the grid - the best qualifying performance of his Formula One career.

Lap 1: On pole position for the second time in as many weekends, Kimi Raikkonen makes a good start. Front-row starter Massa is swamped and Rubens Barrichello claims second, from de la Rosa.

Kimi Raikkonen leads the field into turn 1 © Reuters

Up from 11th on the grid, Michael Schumacher profits from the outside line at Turn One and is up to fourth by the end of the lap, from Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso - who makes tremendous progress from 14th, Massa ends the lap seventh, ahead of Robert Kubica, David Coulthard, Nick Heidfeld, Jenson Button, Ralf Schumacher, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Jarno Trulli, Scott Speed, Takuma Sato, the slow-starting Mark Webber, Tiago Monteiro, Nico Rosberg, Christian Klien (who qualified 13th but started from the pits) and Christijan Albers.

Sakon Yamamoto pulls off and has still to complete a Formula One racing lap at speed.

Lap 2: Raikkonen extends his lead to 2.4s. Alonso passes Fisichella for fifth. Kubica spins from eighth to 16th at Turn 7. Button passes Heidfeld for ninth. Webber stops at Turn 11. Klien passes Monteiro and Rosberg.

Lap 3: Alonso is all over Michael Schumacher. Button passes Coulthard for eighth.

Lap 4: Alonso passes Michael Schumacher for fourth and immediately begins to catch the McLarens. Button passes Massa for seventh, Liuzzi spins and loses three places.

Lap 5: Barrichello pits. Klien passes Sato for 16th. Alonso sets the fastest lap: 1m34.109s.

Lap 6: Button passes Fisichella for sixth.

Lap 7: Button passes Michael Schumacher for fourth. Massa spins at Turn 13 and falls behind Coulthard.

Lap 10: Button posts fastest lap: 1m33.664s.

Lap 12: Massa pits.

Lap 14: Monteiro pits.

Lap 15: Fisichella and Michael Schumacher touch at the final corner while disputing fifth.

Lap 16: De la Rosa pits.

Lap 17: Fisichella passes Michael Schumacher at Turn One. The two cars touch at the exit and the German suffers a damaged front wing. He pits at the end of the lap. Leader Raikkonen and Button, third, pit too.

Renault ready themselves for a Fernando Alonso pitstop © LAT

Lap 18: Fisichella spins at Turn Eight. Kubica spins and wipes off his nose wing. He pits for repairs.

Lap 19: Fisichella retires at Turn Three.

Lap 20: Rosberg spins into retirement.

Lap 23: Ralf Schumacher pits.

Lap 24: Trulli pits.

Lap 25: Alonso laps Michael Schumacher.

Lap 26: Raikkonen hits the lapped Liuzzi, rides over the Italian's car and spears off the track. Alonso passes the pit exit before the Safety Car comes out. De la Rosa, Coulthard and Heidfeld come in for fuel and tyres. Liuzzi pits to retire.

Lap 27: Alonso pits and rejoins without losing the lead. Button - who didn't pit under the Safety Car - is second, from de la Rosa, Barrichello, Heidfeld, Coulthard and Michael Schumacher. Ralf Schumacher, Massa, Kubica, Speed, Sato, Albers and Monteiro have all been lapped - more than once, in some cases.

Lap 32: Race restarts. Alonso streaks away as the rest try to pass the lapped Sato. He is 8.8s clear of Button by the end of the lap. Ralf Schumacher almost spins at Turn One as Massa passes him. Michael Schumacher spins at Turn Two but keeps seventh place because he's the last of the unlapped cars.

Lap 33: Alonso laps in 1m32.342s.

Lap 34: Alonso slows briefly and drops three seconds to Button, who posts a 1m32.954s.

Lap 35: Alonso is back up to speed: 1m32.470s. It's still only half-distance.

Lap 36: Button laps in 1m32.440s. A dry line is beginning to appear. Kubica passes Massa for eighth.

Lap 38: Button laps in 1m31.928s and continues to catch Alonso but Michael Schumacher posts a 1m31.787s. Speed pits and rejoins on dry tyres. He slides straight off the road at Turn One.

Lap 41: Michael Schumacher laps in 1m29.053s - 2.6s quicker than the leader. He trails Alonso by 34.2s. Massa pits and rejoins on treaded tyres. Speed comes back in and refits wets.

Lap 42: Button closes to within 0.8s of the leader. Michael Schumacher and Heidfeld are tussling hard for fifth.

Michael Schumacher tries to hold off Pedro de la Rosa while on intermediates © XPB/LAT

Lap 44: Michael Schumacher passes Heidfeld around the outside of Turn One. He laps in 1m28.985s. Alonso sets a personal best: 1m31.668s. Kubica pits from eighth.

Lap 45: Michael Schumacher laps in 1m28.548s.

Lap 46: Button and Michael Schumacher pit - for fuel only.

Lap 47: Alonso posts a personal best: 1m30.658s. Button still runs second, 19.8s in arrears. De la Rosa, Barrichello, Heidfeld and Michael Schumacher complete the top six. Ralf Schumacher pits.

Lap 48: Trulli pits and fits dry tyres.

Lap 49: Button laps in 1m28.077s.

Lap 50: Button goes faster again: 1m27.884s. Barrichello pits for dries.

Lap 51: Alonso pits for dries and slides wide as he rejoins. De la Rosa pits for dries, too.

Lap 52: Alonso stops as his right rear wheel works loose. He's out.

Lap 53: Button leads by almost half a minute from Heidfeld, Michael Schumacher, de la Rosa and Barrichello. Sixth-placed Coulthard pits.

Lap 54: Button pits and retains his lead. Dry-shod de la Rosa laps in 1m27.540s.

Lap 55: Heidfeld pits. De la Rosa laps in 1m25.614s. Michael Schumacher is second but lapping 2.7s off the pace.

Lap 57: Button laps in 1m25.143s.

Lap 59: Massa pits for dries.

Lap 62: Button leads by 26.9s. Michael Schumacher is coming under increasing pressure from de la Rosa.

Lap 64: Massa laps in 1m24.198s.

Lap 65: De la Rosa and Michael Schumacher are side by side at the chicane. The German cuts across the corner and retains second.

Pedro de la Rosa, Jenson Button, Nick Heidfeld on the podium © LAT

Lap 66: De la Rosa passes Michael Schumacher at the chicane. The German bounds across the kerbs again. Heidfeld is now right with them. Trulli retires with engine failure.

Lap 67: Heidfeld tries to pass Michael Schumacher at Turn One but is repelled. He gets through at the chicane and Schumacher goes straight on for the third consecutive lap. The German regains second on the circuit, but slows up immediately and crawls to the pits with apparent front suspension damage.

Lap 70: Button scores his maiden Formula One victory, beating first-time podium visitor de la Rosa by 30.8s.

Heidfeld is third from Barrichello, Coulthard, Ralf Schumacher, Kubica and Massa. Michael Schumacher is classified ninth, ahead of Monteiro, Albers and Speed. Alonso still leads the world title race by 11 points.