Button wins epic Hungarian Grand Prix

Jenson Button celebrated his 200th Grand Prix in style, winning an epic Hungarian Grand Prix ahead of Vettel and Alonso.

This success was pretty reminiscent of Button’s 2006 victory at the same track… in conditions quite similar. Button mastered the changing conditions brilliantly and made the right calls to cruise to his second win of the season.

Second place was a good result for Vettel who further increases his lead in the championship.

How the race unfolded :

Conditions were unusually cool and damp for an end of July weekend in Hungary.

Morning showers meant the track was still damp when the cars lined up on the grid. The teams were once again faced with some decisions to make on tyres and strategy. Drivers were reporting the track to be very slippery.

Light rain was falling over the track with just a few minutes to go before the start, making it a no-brainer: intermediate tyres it would be.

Sebastian Vettel had a clean start from pole position while both McLarens battled for 2nd through the opening corners. Hamilton eventually held on to his place. Nico Rosberg was up in fourth place ahead of his teammate, both Ferraris and Mark Webber.

Hamilton immediately tried to put intense pressure on Vettel in the lead and they slightly pulled away from Button. On lap 3, Hamilton tried a move on the leader but couldn’t make it stick. Behind them, Alonso passed Rosberg for fourth.

With DRS now enabled, the McLaren driver tried his chance once again on lap 4 but Vettel defended well. Rosberg reclaimed 4th place from Alonso as the Spaniard ran wide. As Hamilton attacked him again on lap 5, Vettel ran a bit wide, leaving the door open for the Briton to take the lead.

The Red Bull driver fell within Button’s grasp but managed to build a small gap. The battle for 4th place was still raging between Rosberg, Alonso and Massa. The Spaniard ran wide on lap 7 while his teammate spun on lap 8. He rejoined with a damaged rear wing.

Alonso overtook Rosberg on lap 9 and immediately upped the pace. He set a new fastest lap of the race as he set off to chase Jenson Button. Vettel also found more speed as he got the measure of the tricky track conditions.

Massa and Webber pitted on lap 11 and gambled on super soft slick tyres. Button came in next time round as Hamilton, Vettel and Alonso improved their personal best times. The three of them pitted on lap 13. Rosberg did the same and Michael Schumacher inherited the lead. He handed it back to Hamilton not long after as he dived in the pitlane.

Enjoying warmer rubber, Jenson Button disposed of Vettel on lap 14 and it was a McLaren one-two at the front. On lap 15, Webber – now up in fourth place - ran wide trying to lap an HRT. He couldn’t quite shake Alonso off his back… nor could Button edge away from Vettel.

Clearly enjoying the conditions, Hamilton set an impressive pace at the front and was almost 10 seconds clear of his pursuers on lap 21. 2nd-placed Button had now managed to get rid of Vettel and had an almost two second advantage over the Red Bull driver.

As the track was drying quickly, Hamilton was told by his team to look for damp patches to heep his tyres cool.

On lap 25, Nick Heidfeld had a problem in the pits and was forced to retire at the exit of the pitlane. The rear of his Renault caught fire but track marchals were quickly in scene to extinguish it.

Webber and Alonso stopped for fresh tyres on lap 26. Hamilton came in on the following lap as both Button and Vettel pressed on. The Briton stopped next time round while Vettel decided to stay out a bit longer. He stopped one lap later for another set of super soft tyres.

He rejoined in third place, 14 seconds off the lead. Once his tyres warmed up, he set a new fastest lap of the race and slightly closed the gap to Button in front of him. Meanwhile, his teammate Webber was coming under pressure from Alonso again. The Spaniard had a look at Turn 1 on lap 34 but couldn’t make it.

At the midway point, Hamilton had a 6.7s lead over his teammate Button. Vettel was third with Webber fourth and Alonso fifth. Massa, Rosberg, di Resta and Barrichello were in the top ten. Three drivers had retired: Schumacher, Heidfeld and Trulli.

Alonso came in the pits for the third time on lap 37. RBR didn’t respond to Ferrari’s move and called Webber in some laps later. The Australian stopped for a set of soft tyres on lap 40. He rejoined behind Alonso.

Hamilton pitted on lap 40, for more super soft tyres. Vettel stopped on lap 42 and, like his teammate, went for some soft tyres. He too rejoined behind Alonso. Button came in next time round and also took on some yellow-ringed rubber. He came out ahead of Alonso. So the top five drivers went for various strategies with Alonso and Hamilton sure to stop one more time while Button and the Red Bulls could try and make it to the finish with their soft tyres.

Vettel attacked Alonso on lap 45 and passed him for 3rd. The gap to the leads was pretty much the same as it was before the stops, with Vettel 3.6s behind Button and Hamilton a further 6.3s up the road.

Rain made its appearance on lap 47, catching the leader out. Button passed his teammate and took the lead as Alonso stopped for soft tyres. Button initially eased away but lost time a couple of laps later and Hamilton closed in on him. In third place, Vettel took it cautiously and didn’t try to follow the pace of the McLarens.

Hamilton retook the lead on lap 52. Webber pitted for intermediate tyres. Hamilton copied the Australian on lap 53. The Red Bull driver stopped again on lap 54, for another set of slick tyres! Hamilton did the same at the end of the lap, having lost third place to Alonso. Things went even worse for the Briton who was handed a drive through penalty for forcing another car – di Resta’s Force India – out of the track as he tried to recover from his spin earlier on.

After these twists and turns, Button was leading Vettel by 4.6s. Alonso was 13 seconds adrift off the German. Hamilton served his penalty on lap 57 and rejoined behind Massa and Webber. The Australian passed the Ferrari on lap 58 and Hamilton followed seconds later. At the same time, Alonso spun and safely rejoined.

In the lead, Button had Vettel well under control. Both were pretty safe as they had a 17 second margin over third-placed Alonso with 9 laps to go. The Spaniard in turn had a 28 second lead over Webber and Hamilton.

The McLaren driver took advantage of huge traffic ahead of them to pass Webber for fourth place on lap 64. The Australian couldn’t respond and dropped one second behind his rival. Nonetheless, he was not done yet and closed in on the McLaren in the penultimate lap.

Button cruised to the finish and his second win of the season. Vettel took an excellent 2nd place championship-wise. Alonso took the last podium spot. Hamilton held off Webber for fourth place.