Another race in the 2011 season passes us by and another race gifts us with utterly breathless action. Jenson Button’s win at the Hungarian Grand Prix will go down as one of his finest, something Lewis Hamilton looked destined to be saying before his afternoon blew up in his face.

With so much action to sift through, formula1fancast is here to help and bring you five conclusions from a frantic afternoon at the Hungaroring.

Button the king in changeable conditions

Jenson Button admitted after the celebrations for his dramatic win at the Hungarian Grand Prix that he felt a little “delicate” after perhaps over-indulging a little too much.

But no one would begrudge the 2009 champion the taste of the winners champagne along with the numerous beverages that no doubt followed soon afterwards; this was vintage Button.

His four wins for McLaren have now all come in changeable conditions. There was a lovely symmetry to his second win of the season coming in his 200^th race on the same track he picked up his first ever win back in 2006 after 113 attempts.

“Button has the knack of appearing at the right place and at the right time, and as Hamilton let the door open slightly with his choice of tyre, Button ignored the radio transmission calling for a switch to the intermediates, went for primes a little later and never looked back.”

Both his and Lewis Hamilton’s driving styles were evident in how the race played out; Hamilton the aggressive yet ragged racer ploughing head first into the action with little thought for the consequence while Button carried on liquid smooth; aware of the all the carnage around him but motoring on regardless.

As those around him lost their head Button kept his – and this will no doubt go down as one of his sweetest ever victories. It was built upon an excellent qualifying performance that the Briton is often accused of lacking, and when he began to close in on the errant Hamilton as the heavens opened, there was a felling that this was going to be his day.

Button has the knack of appearing at the right place and at the right time, and as Hamilton let the door open slightly with his choice of tyre, Button ignored the radio transmission calling for a switch to the intermediates, went for primes a little later and never looked back.

It was an effortlessly cool and serene race victory; how far the man from Frome has come since picking up his first win here five years ago.

No win in three for Seb, but the championship is all but over

Sebastian Vettel went into this race with a 77 point lead, looked off the pace of both McLarens and struggled for grip on the intermediate tyre in the early stages of the race, running wide to gift Hamilton the race lead.

Yet somehow, his championship lead is bigger now than it ever has been. Of course the German benefitted hugely from the capitulation of Hamilton’s afternoon, and Alonso or Webber were never able to put any real pressure on him because of a series of errors from the Spaniard

While a McLaren crossed the line in first for the second time in a week, the irony was that the championship race was bought to an end  because it was the wrong McLaren.

Had Hamilton not opted for the super-soft that ruined his race, had he not gone for the intermediate just as the track started to dry, had he not spun and corrected it with Paul di Resta too close for comfort then Vettel would have likely finished 3^rd behind both Mclaren drivers.

That would have given Vettel 15 points, and Hamilton 25 instead of 12 and the gap between the pair would have been 65 points.

It’s not, the gap between Vettel and his closest rival Mark Webber is 85 and the damage has been done. Anything but a Vettel win from here would defy belief – champions are not made on what-ifs, something Hamilton has just learned once more the hard way.

Red Bull are you watching: racing your team-mate can be fun

Off the line they tussled; Button and Hamilton got a feel for each other’s tyres as they nudged Pirelli’s in the run down to turn two. Later in the race as the realisation that Hamilton’s super softs were the wrong tyre to be on, both men exchanged the lead time and time again (with fate transpiring against Hamilton as he was handed the lead which meant it was his call to move to intermediates as the slippery track dried out for a second time).

What a contrast with the events of the German Grand Prix when both Red Bull drivers told to stop scrapping for position – What a contrast to events earlier in the day at the Hungaroring as Felipe Massa conceded all too meekly to Fernando Alonso who had just lost the position because of a trip onto the slippery surfaces which surround the circuit.

The basis of McLaren’s philosophy has always been two of the best fighting it out on a level playing field; a glance back at Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost’s monumental scraps will tell you that team-orders is a rarely used phrase around the McLaren garage.

There was no talk of risk limitation, nor was there a mention of avoiding confrontation and settling for what they had. This was blow for blow, wheel to wheel racing that ended fairly and squarely with both men on the race track. When two high calibre racers are going at it like that, it makes you wonder just what Red Bull are so afraid of.

Hamilton ends difficult day on a positive note

How we would have loved to have heard the real thoughts of Lewis Hamilton as he came over the line in what must have been one of the most frustrating races of his career.

The wrong tyres, a spin, and another punishment meted out by the race stewards, would have put the Hamilton of earlier this season on the war path.

“His and his team’s call for intermediates was a 50/50 shout that went against him. There was rightly no bickering and pointing of fingers,  that is motor racing – all the technology in the world cannot make a decision for you, that comes down to gut instinct – which was wrong on this occasion.”

Instead we were confronted with an apologetic Hamilton, not the raging ball of fury that would have lambasted his team for the wrong tyre choice earlier in the season.

There was talk of misunderstandings and how he would re-group and come back, then there was a rather tender moment when he admitted he felt he had let his side down by throwing away a race victory that looked there for the taking.

His and his team’s call for intermediates was a 50/50 shout that went against him. There was rightly no bickering and pointing of fingers,  that is motor racing – all the technology in the world cannot make a decision for you, that comes down to gut instinct – which was wrong on this occasion.

This has been a season of ups and downs like no other for Hamilton, he has been on the receiving end of some harsh decisions, done some foolish things and had his integrity questioned.

But, even if he ends another season without the world championship, he looks to have learned to react and respond to hardship in the best, most professional manner. And it is hard to put a price on that.

Ferrari and McLaren can now beat Red Bull on a regular basis

Maybe not in qualifying, but Red Bull are no longer McLaren’s superiors on track. The sight of both Hamilton and Button flying past Vettel as Mark Webber’s admission that he had no chance of keeping up with the leading pack on Saturday proved true once more on race day was enthralling for fans of formula 1 starved of a variety of race leaders.

Vettel showed Red Bull’s one lap pace advantage remained but come the race, McLaren are invariably the team making the move up the grid.

The second half of the season should offer much more variety; Ferrari and Fernando Alonso have picked up the highest total of points in the last three races but need to work on their qualifying while McLaren need to put it all together on a consistent basis – even if the championship is all but over thanks to the early efforts of Vettel, there should still be plenty of reasons to watch F1 for the rest of the year.

Keep checking back to Formula1fancast for the latest reaction to the Hungarian Grand Prix, while if you are still hungry for more Jenson Button, check out our Gallery on the McLaren man – 20 facts you never knew about Jenson Button

Make sure you check out our  Tweeting Around The Circuit articles as well as Back In The Day  – Formula1fancast’s stroll down memory lane to bring you the best moments in F1?s history.

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