Lest there be any mistake about it, Honda has set the record straight: the Civic Type R is the fastest hot hatch on the market. And it's hammered that point home by taking lap records for front-drive production automobiles at six of Europe's most legendary racing circuits.

The latest just achieved saw no less accomplished a driver than Jenson Button take the traction avant lap record at the Hungaroring in a blinding 2 minutes and 10.19 seconds. That's pretty darn quick to have made it around the 2.7-mile track, where Button won his first grand prix in 2006.

The Hungarian circuit was the fifth and last stop in the Type R Challenge 2018, which saw Honda take the front-drive lap records at Magny-Cours, Spa, Silverstone, and Estoril. This after conquering the Nürburgring last year.

"We came here to the Hungaroring, where I won my first F1 race in 2006 with Honda, to set a new front-wheel drive production lap record in the new Type R, and I'm very happy that we did it," crowed Button. "This new Type R is a mega bit of kit, as they always have been, and it's definitely not lost any of its charm."

Button was a constant fixture on the Formula One racing circuit from 2000 through 2016. He spent six seasons with the BAR/Honda team and won the world championship in 2009 after the Japanese manufacturer withdrew from the sport. He was instrumental in bringing it back into the fold with McLaren, stepping away in 2016 only to return for a single race the following season when Fernando Alonso skipped Monaco to race in the Indianapolis 500. He's since been serving as a brand ambassador of sorts for Honda, driving an NSX in the Super GT championship this season in Japan.