Look back

Button celebrates his first Grand Prix victory

It took Britain's Jenson Button a long time before he finally found the top step of the podium in Formula One. He was into this sixth season by the time he clinched victory on his 113th Grand Prix, winning the Hungarian Grand Prix on this date, August 6, in 2006 - the first British winner since David Coulthard in March 2003, and the first English driver to win since Johnny Herbert in 1999.

Button had started from 14th place on the grid in his Honda, but rain upset proceedings and it was Button who read the conditions perfectly to allow him to pull out a 30 second advantage over McLaren's Pedro de la Rosa and Sauber's Nick Heidfeld.

"Wow! What a day!," he said afterwards. "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."

Button would go on to win 14 more races and of course claimed the 2009 Formula One world championship. He'll make his 300th start next month if all goes to plan, but whether he'll be back on the grid again in 2017 remains to be seen.

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

Recent Posts

Perez reveals how he became Force India's unlikely saviour

Sergio Perez has revisited one of the most extraordinary off-track stories of his Formula 1…

13 hours ago

FIA expands straight-line mode at Spa – as Alonso sounds warning

Formula 1’s return to Spa-Francorchamps this weekend will introduce a striking new element to the…

14 hours ago

McLaren set for Mercedes engine upgrade at Spa and rear-wing trial

McLaren will arrive at the Belgian Grand Prix with a fresh opportunity to reset its…

16 hours ago

Michael bows to Mika on British GP podium

On this day in 2001 at the British GP at Silverstone, Formula 1 fans were…

17 hours ago

Bearman moved to tears after driving Senna’s iconic Lotus

The Silverstone pitlane has borne witness to countless moments of motorsport history, but recently, it…

18 hours ago

Steiner: Time for McLaren to ‘grow up’ and build its own engine

McLaren’s search for answers in Formula 1 has once again turned the spotlight onto its…

20 hours ago