Some races fade into the background, others stay with you forever. 20 years after his unforgettable first Formula One victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Jenson Button revisits the race that changed everything. In this special edition of Jenson's Journal, he shares the pen with fellow Aston Martin Aramco ambassador Pedro de la Rosa for a few pages, as the pair reflect on a remarkable afternoon that delivered Jenson's first win and Pedro's first podium.
People often say your first Grand Prix win is the hardest. I can certainly vouch for that.
By 2006, I'd stood on the podium plenty of times, close enough to taste victory, but never quite on the top step.
You start to wonder if it's ever going to happen. That's a feeling every driver – and every team chasing that breakthrough – knows only too well. Then, sometimes, everything just falls into place.
For me, it happened in the most remarkable circumstances at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.
You have to keep believing and keep working hard. It's something I see with Aston Martin Aramco now. It might feel a long way off at the moment, but I've been there before. Sometimes the breakthrough arrives when you least expect it.
Hungary was a day I'll never forget. It was my first Grand Prix victory, but it was also a day of firsts for someone else, with my now Aston Martin Aramco team-mate Pedro de la Rosa finishing second to claim the first podium of his Formula One career.
As we head back to the Hungaroring this weekend, it felt only right to let Pedro borrow the journal for a few pages. We experienced that Sunday from different sides, but 20 years later we're still talking about it.
PEDRO'S NOTE
I'll admit something... I wasn't expecting Jenson to win.
I thought Fernando or Michael Schumacher had the race under control. Jenson started way back on the grid but then, suddenly, he was something like 20 seconds clear in the closing laps.
I actually crossed the finish line more than 30 seconds ahead... even Kimi Antonelli hasn't managed that this season! Although he seems to be breaking just about every other record in front of him.
He wasn't even born when I won in Hungary.
Kimi, if you're reading this, do yourself a favour and go and watch the highlights on YouTube. It had absolutely everything.
I started 14th after an engine change penalty. I'd actually qualified fourth, but changing the engine meant dropping 10 places on the grid. Standing there before the start, winning certainly wasn't on my mind.
The weather made everything unpredictable from the first lap. It was wet enough to keep you guessing, dry enough to tempt people onto slicks, and every strategy decision felt like a gamble.
I just concentrated on staying out of trouble.
PEDRO'S NOTE
Ironically, I inherited Jenson's fourth place on the grid.
I overtook Felipe Massa at the start and from then on I was only thinking about one thing: my first podium.
The Safety Car after Kimi Räikkönen crashed changed the complexion of the race for everyone, but even then I don't think any of us imagined Jenson was about to win.
What helped me was the loose wheel nut on Fernando's car!
After his pitstop, it was obvious something wasn't right. His right-rear wheel hadn't been fitted properly. He turned into Turn Two, lost the rear of the car and slid into the barriers.
Suddenly, I was leading a Grand Prix.
People ask what goes through your mind in moments like that.
Honestly? Not very much.
You don't suddenly start thinking about history or your first victory. You're still driving the car, still trying to judge grip, tyre temperatures and traffic. The race isn't won because you're leading with laps to go. In Formula One, things can unravel very quickly.
PEDRO'S NOTE
Jenson's pace was brilliant all afternoon, but his strategy was good as well.
Honda made some very good calls. In conditions like that, you only win if everyone gets the decisions right together.
I don't really remember any of that. I just remember winning.
The feeling of achieving something you've chased your whole career is impossible to describe.
The funny thing is there wasn't much time to celebrate. Almost immediately after leaving the circuit I had to head straight to the airport for a partner event in China.
I remember sitting there thinking, 'I've just won my first Formula One race... and now I'm getting on a plane.'
Not exactly the celebration I'd imagined.
The frustrating part is I barely remember the chequered flag itself.
People often imagine you cross the line and everything suddenly becomes crystal clear, but it doesn't work like that. Your mind is racing. There are engineers talking in your ear, you're trying to bring the car home safely, and you're only just beginning to process what you've achieved.
It wasn't until I arrived in Japan a few days later, at Honda's headquarters in Sakura, that the magnitude of it all really hit me. Walking through the factory and seeing what that victory meant to everyone there was incredibly special.
It wasn't just my first Formula One win. It was Honda's first victory as a works team for decades, and you could feel the pride throughout the whole organisation. Hundreds of people had poured everything into making that car quicker, most of whom never stood on a podium or appeared on television.
Everyone at Honda works incredibly hard, and I know just how determined they are to taste that sort of success again with Aston Martin Aramco.
PEDRO'S NOTE
Budapest will always be special to me because it was my only Formula One podium. Knowing that now makes it even more meaningful.
At the time, I wasn't thinking about it being my only chance. I was already thinking about the next race, the next opportunity, the next podium. You naturally assume there will be more.
Formula One has a habit of reminding you never to take anything for granted.
I have to say, the Hungarian Grand Prix trophies are beautiful.
They've always been works of art – delicate, handcrafted porcelain that somehow look too nice to touch, let alone spray champagne around.
I was just relieved Pedro didn't drop mine 20 years ago...
PEDRO'S NOTE
Mine's still in one piece!
Watching Lando Norris accidentally break Max Verstappen's winner's trophy in 2023 made all of us wince. People laugh about moments like that, but every driver knows how much those trophies mean.
There's something I don't think many people have ever heard. After the finish, on the slowing-down lap, I spoke to the team on the radio. I said: "If someone has to win the race other than me, I'm happy that it's Jenson." It was never broadcast.
I knew it was Jenson's 113th Grand Prix. I'd watched how hard he'd worked over the years and how close he'd come before. Ever since his first tests in Formula One, I had enormous respect for him, so seeing him finally get that first victory genuinely made me happy.
People sometimes assume Formula One drivers are all fiercely protective of their own success, and of course, we're all desperate to win. But there's also huge respect when you've watched someone put in the hard yards for years.
Pedro knew how much that first win meant because he'd been chasing his own breakthrough too.
In some ways, your first podium feels almost the same.
I still remember mine at Sepang in 2004. It actually came two years after I'd lost third place there on the final lap, which made finally standing on the podium even sweeter.
It wasn't the result I'd ultimately dreamed about – I still wanted that first win more than anything – but it gave me belief. It confirmed I was heading in the right direction.
But Pedro's comment about expecting more podiums always makes me think.
When you achieve something for the first time in Formula One, it's natural to believe it's only the beginning. You assume there'll be more chances. More podiums. More wins. Sometimes that's exactly what happens. Sometimes it isn't.
Formula One has a habit of changing faster than anyone expects. The car that feels capable of winning one season might struggle to reach the podium the next. Drivers come and go, regulations change, opportunities disappear before you realise they're slipping away.
You learn quite quickly not to measure your career only by what you didn't achieve.
PEDRO'S NOTE
It's funny because, when I've told friends stories about Hungary over the years, I've sometimes said I finished third. I genuinely forget that I finished second.
That sounds ridiculous, but it's because, growing up, I never dreamed about finishing second. I just wanted to stand on a Formula One podium once. Once I'd achieved that, the position almost didn't matter.
It's a bit like the Olympics. If you come home with a medal, you've achieved something extraordinary, regardless of whether it's gold, silver or bronze. From the outside, people naturally focus on who won, but as an athlete you know how much work goes into simply earning your place on that podium. Sometimes I think we forget to celebrate that.
We've been seeing a similar conversation in football recently.
England's defeat to Argentina in the World Cup semi-final was heartbreaking because, like everyone else, part of me thought, 'Maybe this is finally the year. Maybe, just maybe, it's coming home.'
It wasn't to be.
Even so, England finished the tournament on a high by beating France to claim third place, and that's still something to be very proud of.
Sometimes people only focus on what you didn't win, rather than celebrating what you did achieve.
Formula One can be the same. When you finally stand on a podium for the first time, you're not thinking, 'I wish I'd finished one place higher.' You're taking in the moment because you know just how hard it is to get there.
The reality is also that every race starts again from zero.
You still need the car. You still need the opportunity. And sometimes you need a little bit of luck.
I think Fernando is a great example of that.
He's achieved almost everything this sport has to offer, yet he's spent years waiting to win a Grand Prix again. That isn't because he's forgotten how to drive. Far from it.
Give Fernando a competitive car – doesn't even have to be the fastest car on the grid, just one capable of fighting – and he'll make it happen.
That's why I hope he keeps racing beyond 2026.
PEDRO'S NOTE
Form comes and goes. Class doesn't.
The very best drivers never stop being capable of producing something special. Sometimes they're simply waiting for the circumstances to catch up with their talent.
And that's why this year's Hungarian Grand Prix is so important, with Aston Martin Aramco bringing a major upgrade to Budapest.
Every update, every small step forward, gives the whole team renewed belief. Progress in Formula One is rarely dramatic. Most of the time it's built little by little, over months and years, until suddenly people start talking about an 'overnight success'.
I've seen how quickly momentum can change.
In 2006, Hungary felt like the turning point. Until then, it had been a frustrating season, but after that first victory, I didn't finish outside the top five for the rest of the year.
I still love looking back at the photographs from that afternoon.
The three of us on the podium – Nick Heidfeld, Pedro and me – we all looked impossibly young.
Well... perhaps not impossibly young. Looking at some of those pictures, I'm mostly wondering what I was thinking with that beard.
20 years disappear in the blink of an eye.
You don't really notice it happening until you start measuring your life differently. These days, it's less about races and seasons, and more about watching my children grow up. The days somehow feel longer, but the years pass much more quickly. It's made me appreciate those memories even more.
The only slightly sad thing is that my kids have never seen me race a Formula One car. They know what I did. They've seen the videos and the photographs. But it's different from standing at the side of the circuit, hearing the cars, feeling the atmosphere and experiencing it for yourself. That's something they'll never quite get to share with me.
It probably explains why I understand Fernando when he talks about wanting his son to see him race.
When you've devoted your life to something, there's a natural desire for the people you love most to experience it too – not through old footage or stories, but in the moment, while you're still doing it.
Maybe that's another reason he'll decide to keep racing beyond 2026.
PEDRO'S NOTE
When you've spent so much of your life in this sport, it's difficult to walk away because it becomes such a huge part of who you are.
To have your family in the grandstands, to let them see what you've dedicated your life to, is incredibly special. Those are memories they'll keep forever.
For all the trophies, podiums and statistics, those are the moments that will stay with you.
That's why I still smile whenever somebody mentions Hungary 2006.
It wasn't just my first win. It was the day everything we'd worked towards finally came together.
20 years later, it still reminds me why you should make the most of every moment.
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