By Phil Huff
April 2 2006

With just a handful of metres to go, Jenson Button's Honda engine grenades in spectacular fashion, and the Briton fails to finish the Australian Grand Prix, despite starting from pole position. Struggling throughout the race, Button was passed by a number of cars after four safety car periods, the Honda Racing F1 cars first lap performance somewhat lacking when compared to the competition.

Under pressure from Giancarlo Fisichella in the last few laps, Jenson went into the very last turn of the race ahead just as his engine let go. Keeping his foot buried, Button drove his flame-spewing RA106 down the straight, throwing oil and engine parts at Fisichella behind.

However, just meters from the line, the team instructed Button to stop, foregoing a handful of points in a tactical decision. By failing to finish the race, the British driver gets a new engine without penalty for the San Marino Grand Prix, a race that Jenson has traditionally been strong at.

"It was a quick call by the race engineer, and we need to see if it was right later," explained team boss Nick Fry. "We had great trouble getting heat into our tyres, especially the front tyres. Every time Jenson came out when there was a safety car, he had very cold front tyres, couldn't get into the last corner properly, and was then overtaken on the straights and unfortunately it happened every single time, so we really need a good look at just why we had that problem.

He's less than impressed, but rightly so I think," he continued. "We've got a lot of work to do before we get to Imola."