Highlights

Ecstatic Button no longer the nearly-man

(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-08-07 16:41

So much so, he grew a beard and vowed not to shave it until he had won.

"I didn't think I would win a race this soon," he admitted. "I like it (the beard) but I think I'm going to have to shave it now. It's a bit Hippy."

Hungary, the first wet race in years, ripped up the form book with world champion Alonso and title rival Schumacher both retiring while McLaren's pole-sitter Kimi Raikkonen crashed out.

Button, carving his way through the field with real determination, made the most if it by picking off a competitor every lap.

His father John, swathed in a Union Jack and with a cigar clenched between his teeth, walked around in a beatific daze.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet, just incredible," he said. "And what a great race as well. Just amazing. He's always good in slippery conditions and the rain but he was just devastating out there," he said. "It's unbelievable.

"It's gone, done, dusted and finished," he said of the endless waiting for a win.

"People were saying he's got to get the monkey off his back. Well, he didn't have a monkey on his back. It was everybody else who had it on their back."

While Button senior could look forward to the party of his life in Budapest on Sunday night, his son's immediate reward was a long flight to Shanghai for a four-day PR trip before a Mediterranean holiday.

"I think the old boy will enjoy himself this evening," the driver said enviously. "I could see on his face while I was on the podium -- he's staying."