Zoom A great drive in the wet from Rubens Barrichello

Rubens Barrichello delivered a podium finish for Honda today after a great drive in the dramatic British Grand Prix was rewarded with third place - the 62nd podium of his Formula One career and his first for the Honda team.

The 60-lap race was wet throughout, however the amount of water on the track varied significantly and some excellent strategy calls helped to propel Rubens up the order from his 16th position on the grid. At one point, after fitting extreme wet tyres, he was the fastest driver on the track and he even overtook eventual race winner Lewis Hamilton, before settling for third place.

No rain was falling as the cars lined up on the grid, but with a damp track Rubens and Jenson started on the Bridgestone Potenza wet tyre. Both had excellent starts with Barrichello making up six places on the opening lap, and Button five, and from there the foundations of their races were laid.

The two Honda RA108s ran nose-to-tail for much of the opening stint of the race, before Barrichello pitted for new wet tyres on lap 24 and Button on lap 25. Heavy rain began to fall at half distance and a quick decision was made to bring in both cars on lap 35 for extreme wet tyres. A problem with the refuelling rig at Barrichello's stop delayed both drivers, however the Brazilian still had to make a third stop on lap 46, by which time he had climbed up to second place. The stop dropped him to third place, and despite this he crossed the line just 13 seconds behind the second placed car of Nick Heidfeld.

Button meanwhile had a snap of oversteer on lap 38 when he hit standing water in the middle of Bridge and went off the circuit, bringing his home race to a premature end.

Rubens Barrichello
"It's a great feeling to be back on the podium today after such an exciting race where the weather conditions really helped us to get the best out of the car. The most important decision of the race for us was switching to the extreme wet tyre when the heavy rain started to fall at half distance. I had a real moment at Club, going off at high speed and almost hitting the wall, and that made me realise that we needed to make a quick decision. After fitting the extreme wets, I was able to overtake the cars in front easily which was a great feeling. Making such a crucial decision at a key time comes from experience and from the team having the confidence in me to make the call. I would like to say a big thank you to the team today - to everyone back at the factory and also in Japan. Life is about learning from your experiences, and we have been through some tough times over the last couple of years. But I always had faith that there were good times ahead and I know there are plenty more to come."