The combination of rain and driver penalties gave us a race to remember at the Hungaroring. Once again tires played a major part in the events on track, the Michelin wets and intermediates proving superior to Bridgestone’s, although the situation was reversed when the track dried out. Through all the chaos of spins, collisions and tire choices came Jenson Button, looking supremely in control in the Honda RA106, to take his first and thoroughly deserved win.

This was a victory that was going to happen, even if Alonso’s rear suspension had not forced an almost unheard of Renault retirement. Jenson was catching the race leader easily before Alonso came in for dry tires and thereafter the Honda was unassailable at the front.

The team can be proud of their performance on a day when they got everything right, Barrichello coming home in fourth to emphasize their effectiveness while others struggled in the changing conditions. Staying out of trouble was the order of the day and Honda demonstrated how it’s done.

Which cannot be said of Michael Schumacher; he looked so wild whenever anyone attempted to pass him that I feared for the safety of the other drivers. It was only justice that he should break a trackrod by running into the rear of Heidfeld’s BMW Sauber after the young German had already got by.

Michael had earlier risked disqualification by cutting the chicane to retain his place and was running on intermediate tires that were worn treadless and almost certainly illegal therefore. His retirement enabled him to avoid a storm of protest from other teams and also meant that he was classified ninth, later to become eighth when Robert Kubica’s Sauber BMW was excluded for running lighter than allowed. So, with typical Michael Schumacher luck, he picks up one point that should not have been allowed, in my humble opinion.

But Kubica was another story of the race, not only because he drove with such passion and verve, spinning out a couple of times but pressing on regardless and finishing in seventh position. On this showing it is understandable that BMW Sauber have decided to keep him in the race seat for the rest of the season, as announced after the race. It was a mutual decision between the team and Jacques Villeneuve, apparently, and means that yet another of F1′s most flamboyant characters is out of a drive.

But let nothing detract from Jenson’s excellent victory. The man has always had the talent; let us hope that this is but the first of many wins and that the Brits have a new hero to shout about.

From a quick glance at the results in Germany, one would have to say that yes, Bridgestone have an advantage but not a huge one. Closer inspection reveals that Michelin have big problems when the weather is hot. All their teams suffered from graining on the tires and their races suffered as a result.

The list of fastest race laps shows this quite clearly. The sole Michelin interloper in the top seven cars was Raikkonen’s McLaren and his time was set in the first stint when the car was seriously light on fuel. Otherwise, it was Bridgestone all the way. Such was the superiority of Ferrari that they could go on cruise control for the majority of the race. And Toyota and Williams also showed how much the Bridgestone tires were helping.

The real surprise was Button’s performance in the Honda, however. Honda made much better use of the Michelins than did Renault and it took the brilliance of Raikkonen to keep Jenson off the podium. On this showing, Renault have cause to be worried, especially as Michelin are unlikely to come up with any miracles until after the Turkish GP.

So tires are the deciding factor in F1 yet again. I, for one, will not be sorry when there is only one tire manufacturer in the sport and everyone competes on a level playing field. There is a fine balance in F1 between the importance of the driver and the car – that is why there are two championships, the driver’s and the constructor’s. Competing tire companies interfere with that balance and skew results, often unfairly.

The qualifying sessions are becoming more entertaining than the races, judging by the French GP and today’s session at Hockenheim. The Ferraris were quick, just as we expected, but Alonso failed to provide a serious challenge to them. That was left to Kimi Raikkonen, who threw in a very quick lap to take pole position on his first set of new tires. It mattered not that later he went farming in the McLaren when trying to better his time – he had done enough already.

The Hondas bounced back from their run of bad form, Button taking fourth spot and Barrichello sixth. And the Toyotas were disappointing, only Ralf managing to make it to Q3 and then slotting in at eighth.

It’s all a bit confusing as regards tires. If the Bridgestones had retained their advantage, we would expect the Toyotas to have done better. The Ferraris look very strong, however, and Michael must be favorite for the race in spite of Raikkonen’s amazing lap. Kimi often makes the McLaren look better than it is, so it is easy to assume that his time was the product of genius alone, something that will be almost impossible for him to maintain throughout the race distance tomorrow.

Or will it? The speed of the Hondas suggests that Michelin are at least on a par with Bridgestone in Germany. And we should not forget that the removal of the mass dampers from the Ferraris and Renaults may have adversely affected their performance, especially in Alonso’s Renault. It is hard to think of anything else that could have caused the sudden loss of form from Renault.

So maybe we are seeing the reality of life without mass dampers and the McLarens are as good as they looked today. Pedro de la Rosa finished in ninth spot, which is not a bad effort after his earlier coming together with Ralf’s Toyota.

All of which is bad news for Alonso and good for Michael Schumacher. Even if Kimi proves equal to the task of winning the GP tomorrow, Michael should finish no lower than second while Fernando will have to work hard to bag a decent number of points. The Ferrari team have said that they need help from the other teams if Michael is to catch Alonso in the championship – a McLaren resurgence would be just what they need. If Renault weren’t sweating already, they should start now!

One final word for the guy who grabbed tenth position: David Coulthard. Once again he proved that experience counts and confirms himself as the best buy outside the trio of star drivers. If he can produce such good results in a Red Bull, how would he fare in a Renault or Ferrari?

The war of words continues in the run up to the German Grand Prix this weekend. Both Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso remain bullish in their public statements, talking of winning races and the championship. Yet I detect a change in the air.

There are signs of nerves in the Renault camp. Alonso has been muttering about the need for his teammate to provide more assistance and Flavio Briatore talks of tires and urges Michelin to provide the goods. Meanwhile all seems well at Ferrari, with Massa enjoying the approval of the team after his defense of second place in the first stint in France, and Lauda asserting that Schumacher’s determination will result in his being champion again this year.

Renault have been through this movie before. In 1983, they were so sure that Prost had done enough to be champion that they concentrated their development efforts on next year’s car (which turned out to be a dog anyway). This allowed Piquet in the Brabham BT52 to sneak through and steal the championship at the last. It’s no wonder that sweat is beginning to break out on the Renault forehead.

The most galling thing for the team must be that, to a large extent, their fate is not in their hands; as Flavio has hinted at, much depends upon Michelin continuing the development of their tires right up until the final race of the season. Although they deny it emphatically, there remains the thought that they might ease up now, knowing that they will no longer be in F1 next year. Renault must hope that Michelin’s desire to leave on a high note remains strong.

The performance of Fisichella also depends on the tires. In races where the Michelins have been competitive, Fizzy has been equal to the task of assisting Alonso’s drive to the championship, usually finishing ahead of Massa. But, when Bridgestone get the upper hand, Fisichella seems to suffer more than Alonso and he can end up fighting with the Toyotas rather than the Ferraris.

So all eyes are upon Michelin this weekend. Will they be able to catch Bridgestone or even pass them? It remains to be seen. But in the meantime, some words of comfort for Renault: if disaster happens and Alonso has to retire from a race that Michael wins, he will still be in the hunt for the championship; if Michael fails to finish a race, he can forget being champion this year. Fernando remains the best bet.