The F1 Pit Box

With the fast approach of Hungary 2009, where Jenson Button's World Championship challenge could potentially begin to unravel, let's take a look back at his first Grand Prix win, where although Formula One was a very different beast, Jenson appeared to be the same man he is today.

It's best to set the scene first. Formula One, Hungary, 2006. Michelin tyres shod Jenson's Honda, Mark Webber was in a Williams, Kimi Raikkonen was in a McLaren, Ralf Schumacher was in a Toyota, Michael Schumacher was in a Ferrari, Fisichella was in a Renault and a V10 could be found in the rear of every car. Aside from Ralf, de la Rosa, Scott Speed, Klien and Liuzzi are drivers we no longer see lining up on the grid, along with the Super Aguri team.

An engine blow-up saw Button's Honda fill the 14th slot on the grid, with Kimi on Pole. The rain started in earnest a few laps into the race, but Button had progressed to an impressive 4th position after 15 laps, however his pit stop a few laps later dropped him to 6th. The wet track was proving a challenge, and everyone from Michael Schumacher downwards slipped off the track, however it was Kimi in his McLaren who changed the race when he drove into the back of Liuzzi.

As carbon fibre fell on the track with the raindrops, a safety car was introduced, and Button's assured driving had put him second behind race leader Alonso. The safety car disappeared and with 29 laps to go, Button began to hunt down Alonso. His pit stop sees a twist of wing, a tank of fuel, but no tyres. He returns to the track.

Alonso's stop doesn't go quite to plan, as a faulty wheel nut on his freshly dry-tyred Renault halts his progress a few corners after exiting the pits, and Jenson Button finds himself half a second ahead of the rest of the field, on a drying track, with a pit stop to go.

You know the rest. Button's elation is clear as he dares to punch the air in celebration the corner before he crosses the finishing line, this was a race he drove better than any other driver; he didn't slide off the road, he didn't hit another car and he overtook Michael Schumacher in a straight fight. It was Button's day.

In the post race interview, he says the win is the 'first of many' and he was right, but did he really think he would have to wait another two whole seasons for it to happen again? Just like Mark Webber's maiden win was a popular one, Jenson Button taking the 2009 Driver's World Championship would be too, but to achieve it, he has to reaffirm Brawn's dominance this weekend. Drive it like 2006, Jenson, and you'll be fine.

In a wholly unsurprising move, Toro Rosso have announced the replacement of Sebastien Bourdais with Jaime Alguersuari, making him the youngest ever F1-driver at just 19-years old. ?Hailing from Spain, he holds the British F3 title and currently drives in the World Series by Renault for Carlin Motorsport.

It's tough enough entering F1 for the first time, but even tougher in the middle of a season and against a team mate who has driven the guy you're replacing out of a job! ?It will be very interesting to see how he performs at his debut race in Hungary.

To see a look at Jaime's career so far, including a stunt which would greatly upset the FIA, watch the video below.

It's only seven points and we all know last year he had an even bigger margin and still managed to lose the Championship, but can it really happen twice?  Let's look at the situation.  The first non-driver influence is McLaren, who have been aching for a new World Championship win and after last years issues, seem to be in far better shape.  The absence of hostility between the drivers must go some way to achieving this, however perhaps it's the opposite, with Heikki appearing not to be pulling his weight.  In fact, Heikki is rapidly becoming Rubens Barrichello to Lewis's Schumacher - too little luck and possibly too little team support.

So, we can be assured that McLaren are highly unlikely to leave anything to chance in Brazil, highlighted by the cool, calm post-race radio messages to Lewis, emphasizing how important it was to take it all nice and easy.  The first car concern is the engine in the back of Lewis's car.  Brazil will be its second race distance and although he presumably turned the engine down towards the flag at Shanghai, he was giving it plenty for the rest of the time.  Let's hope this doesn't put an end to the world title.

Lewis himself was the picture of relaxation last weekend, the opposite of his Fuji persona, so whatever he has been doing will be repeated until the next race, with only the escalating pressure to worry about.  However, with the lead cemented and increased, surely he will be feeling a little easier about everything?  Or will the creeping stress force unfortunate mistakes under the inevitable Ferrari onslaught.

This onslaught is the other problem for Lewis and McLaren.  Massa has to win at Brazil, regardless of the fact it's for the Championship, and Kimi has to come second.  If Alonso and Kubica (or Vettel) comes third and fourth, there is the chance Hamilton won't take the title, but it's a big, big ask.  Hamilton is going to want to win and snatch the Driver's all at the same time - to prove to the world he can do it all at once.  Which could also be his downfall.

So, on paper Hamilton has not won the 2008 Driver's Championship yet, but at this point it looks very likely he will do.

In a shock move not by the FIA, the F1 Pit Box blog has been given a 24 hour penalty due to not posting for a few weeks.  F1 Pit Box's Team Principal replied to the decision saying 'we out-braked ourselves into the the last Grand Prix, leaving no room to post before other days of the week passed, then during the qualifying session at Fuji, our new high-tech lighting system, which tells our writer when to start writing, failed and ruined our afternoon.'

This turn of events has left the Pit Box team 'surprised and saddened', to the extent they fully expect another similar penalty for not accepting the first quietly enough.  Other F1 blogs are likely to avoid doing or saying anything for the remainder of the season to avoid penalties for simply being on the Internet.