Championship leader Jenson Button returns to the scene of his first Formula One victory on Sunday hoping to get back up to speed in the Hungarian heat.

The Briton's surprise win at a wet Hungaroring with Honda in 2006 was his sole success until this season when the Brawn GP driver pulled off a stunning six triumphs in the first seven races.

Since then, Red Bull have been on a charge with two victories on the trot while Button has stumbled, leaving him 21 points clear of Germany's Sebastian Vettel with eight races remaining.

The leader struggled to get heat in his tyres in chilly conditions in the last two races, finishing sixth and fifth, but can expect to do better in Budapest even if long-range forecasts predict a chance of rain on Saturday.

"Hungary is always one of my favourite races and even more so this year as it should finally be a return to some real summer temperatures," he said in a team preview.

"It's fantastic to be going back there with the chance to compete for the win again," added the 29-year-old, whose Brazilian team mate Rubens Barrichello also won in Hungary with Ferrari in 2002.

Brawn have what they say is a significant aerodynamic upgrade for what remains one of Formula One's slowest tracks.

NEW FACE

Formula One will welcome a new face, with Spain's Jaime Alguersuari making his debut for Toro Rosso as the sport's youngest ever driver.

The Barcelona-born driver, who will be just 19 years and 125 days old on Sunday, replaces sacked Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais.

"I am aware that I am facing a very tough challenge," he said on Monday. "Coming into Formula One is never easy, coming into Formula One in the middle of a season is even harder and doing so without any testing is really difficult."

The teenager will not trouble Button, whose main rivals will be Vettel and Australian Mark Webber, who ended his long wait for a first win in Germany this month.

McLaren, without a podium finish this season so far, could also come into the mix after showing signs of significant improvement at the Nuerburgring.

World champion Lewis Hamilton has been on pole in Hungary, a circuit famously difficult to overtake on, for the past two years while the twisty track could also act as a leveller.

"We always go for the victory but we've not always got the equipment to do it," said McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh after the last race. "I think hopefully (in Hungary) we will have the equipment to really go for it."

Renault's double world champion Fernando Alonso, who took his first win in Hungary in 2003, has also been sounding more confident after leaving Germany with the fastest lap.

"We have definitely improved and the latest upgrades made us much more competitive," he said.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.