An impressive run by Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso secured the second podium of the year for the Italian team in Hungary with Fernando’s second place finish. Equally important in the fight for third in the Constructors’ Championship was the sixth place finish for Alonso’s teammate Kimi Raikkonen. Ferrari now holds a slight lead over the Williams team for that third place position.
Ferrari Hungarian GP Review
The race started on intermediate tyres and a damp track. Alonso got off the grid brilliantly and maneuvered into third spot before having a little trouble keeping his car gripped to the track in the wet conditions and he slipped back. He was able to stay near the front and a period of Safety Cars mixed up the running order and the pit strategies for many teams but this is what eventually led to Alonso cycling up to the lead. All this went on as Lewis Hamilton kept charging through the field after starting from the pit lane due to a spectacular fire during qualifying.
With a little over 30 laps to go Alonso made his final stop and was being asked to get to the end on a set of the soft tyres. Hamilton had closed the gap near the front and had pitted to go on the prime tyre a little before Alonso made his stop. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo had around an 18 second lead over Alonso but had one more pit stop to make. Ricciardo stopped and Alonso inherited the lead but had Hamilton hot on his tail with worn out primes and Ricciardo coming strong with fresh softs out of the pit lane. With no grip left Alonso battled to keep Hamilton back. Ricciardo took some of the pressure off by fighting with Hamilton to take away the second spot.
Once Ricciardo took the spot from Hamilton it was all but over for Alonso having a chance to win. With three laps remaining Ricciardo got past the Spaniard and went on to win his second Grand Prix of the season and his career. Alonso was able to fend off Hamilton and Hamilton was able to fend off his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg for the final spot on the podium. That feat was made even more incredible as Hamilton started from the pit lane and spun out on lap one due to cold brakes.
On top of all that excitement for Ferrari were the signs of life being shown from their second car piloted by the Finn, Raikkonen. Using the pit strategy to put the car as high as P3 for a brief stint and eventually finishing sixth was a great drive after a blunder in qualifying got the Iceman bumped out of Q1 and ended up with a 16th place starting spot on the grid.
Headed into the four week summer break the team has some momentum. Hopefully they can take some important points on what they have learned this weekend in Budapest and translate them into good results for the final eight races of the season. Keeping Ferrari in third place for the Constructors’ Championship would be a great triumph for them. With Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg’s retirement in Hungary Alonso is now the last man standing as the only driver to score points in every GP this season. If he can keep the streak alive and Kimi can start building off the successful weekend he just had, Ferrari should be able to hold off the Mercedes powered Williams team.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @Billman93. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Interested in writing for LWOS? We are looking for enthusiastic, talented writers to join our Formula 1 writing team. Visit our “Write for Us” page for very easy details in how you can get started today!
For the latest sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
Main image:
