A relieved Jenson Button secured a long overdue first Formula One victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix. It took a supreme drive and a slice of good fortune to do so. Starting from 14th on the grid, the wet weather conditions and safety car appearance allowed Button to carve his way through the field and up to second place behind Fernando Alonso's Renault. Alonso looked set for victory but disaster struck on lap 51 when a loose wheel nut ended his chances. It left Button clear to seal victory in his 113th attempt. The race also signalled Robert Kubica's debut Formula One appearance for BMW Sauber. Kubica became Poland's first ever F1 driver when he replaced Jacques Villeneuve, who sat the race out after an accident the previous weekend. Kubica finished seventh but was later disqualified as his car was found to be underweight.
2002
Jim Crawford, former Formula One and Indy 500 driver, died at the age of 54. Crawford only competed in two Formula One races in 1975 for Lotus before moving to the United States to drive Champ Cars in the 1980s. Crawford also competed in the 1988 Indianapolis 500, leading eight laps before eventually finishing sixth.
1961
Stirling Moss won the German Grand Prix from the Ferrari duo of Wolfgang von Trips and Phil Hill. Hill stormed to pole but Jack Brabham led the field away only to crash out on the opening lap. Hill led briefly before Moss surged past and an inspired Von Trips then took the American for second after a long battle.
1980
Vitantonio Liuzzi was born in Locorotondo, Italy. Having won the F3000 championship for Arden in 2004, Liuzzi got his big F1 break for Red Bull Racing in 2005, sharing the no.2 seat with Christian Klien. After Red Bull purchased the defunct Minardi outfit, Liuzzi drove a full season for the re-branded Toro Rosso team in 2006 and 2007. After losing his seat to Sebastian Bourdais in 2008, Liuzzi was signed up as a test driver for Force India in 2009 before securing a full-time drive alongside Adrian Sutil in 2010.
1967
New Zealander Denny Hulme won the German Grand Prix from Jack Brabham and countryman Chris Amon. Jim Clark dominated practice, taking pole by nearly ten seconds as Jacky Ickx was amazingly third fastest in his F2 Matra. It was Clark who took the lead but he was out with a buckled suspension by lap four. Dan Gurney then took the lead from Hulme and looked set for victory until a driveshaft failure late on handed the Kiwi driver victory.
