2005Despite his success with BAR, on 5 August 2004 Button revealed he had signed for Williams for the next two years, sparking a controversial contract dispute. An apparent loophole in his BAR contract permitted him to leave if Honda's commitment to the team was in any doubt.[
citation needed]BAR boss
David Richards fought to keep his driver, though Frank Williams maintained that the switch was entirely legal. The
FIA Contract Recognition Board (CRB) held a hearing on 16 October in
Milan, Italy, to determine Button's 2005 status, concluding that he was contracted to BAR-Honda for the 2005 season.
[7]Button at the
2005 Canadian Grand Prix, where he took
pole position.A poor start to the
2005 Formula One season included disqualification at the
San Marino Grand Prix. Scrutineers found that the fuel system of the car 'hid' fuel, allowing the car to finish above minimum weight despite potentially being able to run lighter during the race. The adjudged contravention of the rules resulted in a two-race ban for the team, allowing him to make his television commentary debut, for
ITV Sport in
Monaco.Button took the second pole position of his career at
Montreal. However he started the race poorly, and crashed on lap 46 while in third place. Despite having to wait until the halfway point of the season to score his first World Championship point, things improved considerably towards the end of the year. After a fourth place finish at the
2005 French Grand Prix, Button placed himself second on the grid for his home grand prix at
Silverstone. Unfortunately, another slow start saw him lose position, and poor race pace dropped him through the field to finish fifth.Button has always gone well at the
Hockenheim circuit, and 2005 was no exception. He qualified his BAR-Honda in second place for the
2005 German Grand Prix, and then went on to finish third, his first podium finish of the season.In 2005 Button again found himself the subject of contractual controversy. Despite having signed a contract to drive for the Williams team for 2006 he judged the likely prospects for that team to have declined,[
citation needed] as their engine suppliers
BMW had purchased the
Sauber team and were to stop supplying engines to Williams. Frank Williams was adamant that the contract must be honoured despite Button claiming that circumstances had changed and he had a right to remain at BAR.[
citation needed]On 21 September 2005, BAR confirmed that Button would once again drive for them in 2006 (having bought out his contract from Williams for a reported $30m
[8]), where he would partner ex-Ferrari driver
Rubens Barrichello.
[
edit] 2006-2008: Honda
[
edit] 2006At the start of the
2006 Formula One season, BAR Honda were fully purchased by
Honda and became a full works team, changing its name to the
Honda Racing F1 Team.
[9]Button celebrating his first win on the podium at Hungary, alongside drivers
Pedro de la Rosa (left) and
Nick Heidfeld (right)The 2006 season had both highs and lows - Button had a dismal race at home but took his first ever Grand Prix win in
Hungary.At the
first round he scored five points with 4th place and finished on the podium in
Malaysia. But in Australia his engine blew while running third, having started from pole position. He purposefully stopped short of the finish line to avoid an engine penalty.The early part of the season proved difficult. At
Monaco he qualified 14th and finished 11th. At his home race at
Silverstone he qualified 19th after he lost time being weighed and his team failed to get him on track quickly enough. He spun off on lap eight due to an engine failure.
Button out-qualified his teammate
Rubens Barrichello at the 2006
Canadian Grand PrixAt the 2006
Canadian Grand Prix, Button managed to out-qualify his teammate for the first time since Imola. However, after battling with
David Coulthard in 8th, Button got passed by him and lost his chance for a point. Another retirement occurred at the
2006 United States Grand Prix when Button was one of several drivers eliminated in a first lap collision.At the
French Grand Prix, Button retired once more due to an engine failure. Qualifying for the
German Grand Prix, however, brought a ray of sunshine into the bleak performance of qualifying this season. After a slightly shaky Q1, where he, once again, got pulled into the weighbridge - Button managed to get onto the second row of the grid with P4. After running for a while during the race in a strong P3, Button eventually finished back in P4.Button took the first win of his career in 2006 at a chaotic
Hungarian Grand Prix - the 113th Grand Prix start of his career.
[1] In doing so he overcame a 10-grid slot penalty for changing his engine (the second driver after Räikkönen to win a race despite this penalty), which meant he started 14th. The race was badly affected by heavy rain. Button passed a number of drivers in the early laps - including championship contender Michael Schumacher - and was up to fourth by lap 10. Following the retirement of leading drivers
Kimi Räikkönen (accident) and Fernando Alonso (driveshaft failure) he went on to win the race by over 40 seconds from
Pedro de la Rosa and
Nick Heidfeld. Alonso was behind Button on the racetrack when he retired, although Button still had one pitstop to make.
[10] Button's win beats
Nigel Mansell's 1989 win from 12th on the grid at the Hungaroring. Button was the first British driver to win since David Coulthard in March 2003 and the first English F1 driver to win since
Johnny Herbert won the European Grand Prix in 1999. His victory came 13 years after
Damon Hill won his first F1 race at the
same circuit. At the
British Academy Television Awards 2007 Button's first win at the
2006 Hungarian Grand Prix earned
ITV1 a BAFTA under the category of 'Best Sport'.
[11]The
Turkish Grand Prix held many expectations due to the previous race, and Button ended a strong 4th. The next three races, in
Italy,
China, and
Japan all gave Button strong points positions with 4ths and 5ths. Over the last six races of the season, Button scored more points (35) than any other driver.
[12
