Button wins first race as top two fail to finish
The 26-year-old Honda driver worked his way through the field after starting from 14th place on the grid and took full advantage of the misfortunes of several other leading drivers.
Both championship contenders, defending drivers champion Spaniard Fenando Alonso of Renault and seven-times champion German Michael Schumacher of Ferrari, failed to score points after appearing, at different times, poised to win the race.
The Honda driver’s victory ended the longest winless drought for British drivers in Formula One history, stretching back 63 races.
“What an amazing day,” said a grinning Button, after winning at the 113th attempt.
“Of course, the weather made it very difficult for everyone today, but to do it from 14th on the grid like this. I don’t think I could have done it any better way.
“If my voice sounds funny, it is because I have been screaming so much. It was so much fun to close down Alonso in that race and we made a great choice of tyres.
“We won not just because we had a great car and speed, but because we had great strategy and tyres and we won as a thinking team. The last ten laps were amazing and I just did not want the race to end. It was that good. I am so glad at last to have won my first Grand Prix.”
Button said it was just great to have got the monkey off his back of never having won a Grand Prix.
“For me, the best thing is that there are going to be no more interviews about how it feels to have gone 100, or 112 or 113 races without a win. I am so glad that is over now.”
De la Rosa was second in a McLaren and Nick Heidfeld of Germany was third in a BMW Sauber.
Button’s father John was moved to tears.
“I can’t describe it, it is better than sex,” he said. “This will move him up a notch.”
Button will hope that he goes on like another British driver who recorded his first ever win in the same Grand Prix, Damon Hill in 1993.
Pole-sitting Finn Kimi Raikkonen, in his McLaren Mercedes-Benz, led for a long period from the start but failed to score after crashing. Alonso crashed out, too, and Schumacher abandoned the race with four laps remaining when he was second due to mechanical problems.
Alonso was philosophical about his failure to finish.
“It was drive shaft failure. I felt it straight away after the pit stop, the second corner was too much. But mechanical problems always happen to teams.”
It was Button’s proof, at last, that he and Honda have the potential to deliver the results they have been promising for months, if not years.
Button, 26, came home 30.8 seconds ahead of De La Rosa with German Nick Heidfeld third for the BMW Sauber team.
For de la Rosa it was an equally important finish as he seeks to make the drive his own for next season following the departure of Juan-Pablo Montoya to NASCAR racing in the United States.
“Yes so much happened, but I forgot it and concentrated on my own race. I had a good start, I tried to stay calm and then it was fine. We made a great choice of tyres. I am very pleased, too, for Jenson,” said the Spaniard, who was celebrating his first ever podium finish.
Brazilian Rubens Barrichello was fourth in the second Honda and 35-year-old Briton David Coulthard fifth for Red Bull Ferrari. Apart from Schumacher, 37, the Scot is the oldest driver in the sport. Ralf Schumacher was sixth for Toyota.
Poland’s Robert Kubica finished seventh on his Formula One debut in the second BMW Sauber to take two points, a remarkable performance for someone in their first outing, and Brazilian Felipe Massa scored a solitary point for Ferrari by finishing eighth.
The race was dominated by changing weather and unexpected incidents that saw pole-sitter Raikkonen lead and then crash out when he drove into Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi’s Toro Rosso car and subsequent leader Alonso lose control and hit the barriers with 18 laps to go.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
