Changeable weather? It must be Button

Changeable weather? It must be Button

The last race before F1's summer break was a cracker and set up the second half of the season brilliantly. Rain before the start promised a challenging Grand Prix, Vettel and Hamilton started on the front row with Button just behind in third. Everyone behaved themselves when the lights went out and Button and Hamilton started as they meant to go on, going wheel to wheel immediately with Hamilton prevailing initially.

Hamilton immediately set about harassing Vettel for the lead with Button keeping tabs on the two for them for the first couple of laps. Hamilton tried a couple of half moves before Vettel made a mistake and ran wide on lap five, letting Hamilton through. This put Button right onto Vettel's tail and it looked like a matter of time before he'd be through as well. Whatever advantage the Red Bull cars have in the dry just don't translate to wet conditions.

Hamilton opened up a two and a half second lead in that first lap at the front of the field. Further back, Alonso left the track twice in the first seven laps, the first whilst attempting to pass Button and the second pretty much all on his own, losing fifth place to Massa. He stayed behind Massa for all of half a lap and then set about trying to catch and re-pass Rosberg, eventually managing it on lap nine.

Around lap ten, the intermediate tyres they'd started on started to look a little worse for (tyre)wear. Webber was the first man to stop for slick tyres with Massa following him in. When they rejoined their cars looked like they were handling like Morris Minors on ice with 800 horsepower. Button was next in for slick tyres, the Englishman competing in his 200^th Grand Prix, and if there was anyone who could make those tyres work it was him. Hamilton pitted from the lead next time around and Vettel and Alonso followed him in.

Michael Schumacher took the lead at this point and defended it hard against Hamilton before pitting. Button was now right on Vettel's tail and set the fastest lap and took second place from the champion immediately. He then set about trying to catch Hamilton, which looked like a tall order as Hamilton continued blitzing fastest laps at the front.

There was a period of status quo for ten laps or so, the main drama coming courtesy of the Renault of Nick Heidfeld, which overheated at a pit stop and caught fire at the end of the pitlane. The leaders chose to pit around this time, probably partly in anticipation of a safety car which failed to materialise for the blazing Renault. Hamilton stayed in the lead, Button stayed in second and Vettel stayed in third.

Alonso had decided to take a different strategy and pitted very early the next time around – his lap times were suddenly significantly quicker than the leaders. Webber was next to pit around five laps later, shortly followed by Hamilton and Vettel. Button was last of the leaders to pit and he fitted prime tyres as opposed to the options which Hamilton had taken. Hamilton retook the lead, Button rejoined in second place, just ahead of the Ferrari of Alonso, whose brilliant laps had leapfrogged him ahead of Vettel. The race had become about tyre choice and who wouldn't need to stop again. This effectively put Button in the best position to win the race – Alonso and Hamilton would have to pit again or make their tyres last to the finish. That was until it rained.

Hamilton came across the wet track first and spun in front of a couple of cars, flicking the car back around and causing Di Resta to leave the track to avoid him, Button managed to get the lead, but didn't stay there for long – Hamilton's softer tyres working better on the damp track. There were a couple of laps of great racing between the two McLarens before Hamilton chose to pit for intermediate tyres. Button stayed out on his slicks and retook the lead – it proved to be a brilliant move as the rain stopped and the track dried out. Hamilton began to drop backwards and things went from bad to worse for him as he picked up a penalty for forcing Di Resta off the circuit during his spin.

Throughout all of this, Vettel kept his head, stayed on the track and found himself in second place. Button though, as is so often the case in half wet, half dry conditions, was brilliant. Fast, precise, intelligent and frankly untouchable. Attention turned to battles slightly further back, in particular the gaggle of six cars squabbling over eighth place. Another great scrap between Webber and the recovering Hamilton came up behind this battle to lap them and it all looked set to get a bit messy, with the inevitable Hamilton pass for fourth coming cleanly and efficiently as Webber was slightly wrong-footed by the cars around him.

Button had no such worries at the front taking the win comfortably from Vettel & Alonso. It's difficult to find enough superlatives to describe Button's abilities in the changeable conditions they all faced today – quite reminiscent of his first victory at the same circuit five years ago. Vettel can't have been too dissatisfied though – a further extension of his championship lead before the summer break will have gone down fairly well. McLaren though are right there and the Red Bulls may just be a little worried now. It isn't over yet!

Stuart McCann is from IntentsGP.com:  For Silverstone or Spa, make your F1 Weekend Hassle Free - Camp with intentsGP!

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