BUDAPEST, (Reuters) – McLaren’s Jenson Button celebrated his 200th Formula One start by winning the Hungarian Grand Prix yesterday after a thrilling race decided by tyre choices in the slippery, wet conditions.
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was second despite an error-strewn race to increase his championship lead over team mate Mark Webber to 85 points and move him closer to defending his title with eight races left after the mid-season break.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was third.
Briton Button sealed his second victory of the season after being wheel to wheel with Lewis Hamilton only for his team mate to drop back to fourth after a choosing the wrong tyres and then serving a drive through penalty following a spin.
“A wonderful race, it’s just perfect for my 200th grand prix. This is where I first won in Formula One. I’m going to enjoy this evening,” Button, who won here in 2006 also in the wet, told a news conference.
“It was good fun, one of my most enjoyable races, but I’d like to win one in the dry.”
The Briton has now won 11 grands prix in a career that started with Williams in 2000.
“Congratulations to Jenson, he was pushing me hard the whole race and the better man won today,” said Hamilton, who led before it all went wrong.
“Of course we would have loved a one-two, I feel like I let the team down a little bit but we’ll bounce back at the next race.”
The biggest example of the wet conditions was when Virgin’s Jerome D’Ambrosio came into the pits almost sideways as he slid all over the place, causing mechanics to dive for cover. Luckily, nobody was hurt.
As the drizzle and tyre strategies came and went, the less than capacity crowd at the ageing Hungaroring were treated to a string of overtaking moves at a twisty circuit where passing had been difficult in the past.
