Klayton said:
I don't want to spread a bad mood but what does make you think he could've won the race without all those (for Button) happy fortuities? Räikkönen was unstoppable until he retired, same story for Alonso. I can't imagine how he could've won without the chaos of the rain and wet track. But that's racing business. Nevertheless he drove a fantastic race and deserved the win.
I think Button could have won the race even if Raikkonen and Alonso hadn't retired. Kimi had built a commanding lead earlier on, but before he crashed out he was moments away from being passed by Pedro De La Rosa. Pedro ended up taking 2nd place, finishing well back of Jenson so I figure that Jenson would have taken care of Kimi at some point down the road had Kimi stayed in the race.
If Alonso's pit crew and his car hadn't let him down, it could have been a fight to the finish, but with the way Jenson was hunting down Alonso during the 2nd stint of the race (when both were on the same tires), there's a great chance that Jense would have gotten by Alonso at some point near the end. The fact that Jenson ended building a 40 second lead on De La Roa before he dialed back the revs at the end also showed the pace of him and his car at the finish. Finally, I'd have to assume that if a situation developed where Jenson's Honda was obviously much quicker and fighting to get by Alonso towards the finish, Fernando and Renault would have played it safe (unlike Michael & Ferrari) and would have yielded 1st place so they could at least guarantee 8 points from finishing 2nd.
Jenson sliced his way through the field today and was having a magnificent race. He's a very good driver that drove a faultless race, he had a great car on Sunday, drove on great tires, and the team strategy was perfect. I think with the circumstances as they were, it really was just his day to win no matter how you look at it.
I've been waiting for this day for a long time, and in the end I couldn't really believe what I was seeing all day. After Saturday's qualifying, I thought that Rubens had put his car in a great position to possibly snatch Honda's first F1 victory. I was excited. I didn't think we'd really be able to pull it off, but I knew at least that this was the closest we've been to possible victory since 2004. My thinking on Saturday was: Alonso & Schumi were in the mid-field and couldn't challenge for the win due to the slow nature of the Hungaroring. Kimi is on pole and he's of course incredibly fast, but his car is unreliable. Massa was 2nd, on the dirty line, and hasn't proven himself to be a reliable race driver. If Barrichello got a good start (big if), then anything was possible.
Everything changed on Sunday when the race coverage started and the track was soaking wet. At first I couldn't believe how quickly Schumacher had sliced his way through the field on the opening lap. Then equal disbelief in how quickly Alonso followed through and did the same thing. Disappointment set in after Barrichello's pace on full wets and early stop for tires, but then another moment of disbelief when I realized that Jenson was working his way through the mid-field in the same way Schumi and Alonso had before him. For a Honda fan, it was almost like a dream during the stint where Button was hunting down Alonso at the pace he was going. And after Alonso had crashed out, I realized for the first time a win was really possible. I was in full prayer mode after that. We've been disappointed so many times before, so part of me wondered if maybe Ferrari was going to be able to pull off something incredible, but then it was like magic to watch Button build on his lead, lap after lap before finally bring home the checkered flag.
Usually the Hungarian GP is somewhat of a bore, but what a great weekend this turned out to be! :biggrin:
Absolutley nobody challenged the legitimacy of that penalty--not even his own team because the telemetry proves--yes--proves he cheated. Or, more accurately, it proves his inputs into the car were inconsistent from his actions at that corner all day--possibly his whole career--and just happened to benefit him at the time! His talent makes it impossible for him to make it look like was inadvertent!
