The rain came down hard on the Hungaroring, and following qualifying, it looked to play brilliantly into the hands of a driver who needed a big result heading into the summer break. It didn’t play out that way though, as a dramatic race produced a driver winning a race which wasn’t a Mercedes for only the second time this season, and it was the same guy who did it the first time.
Qualifying almost saw a Red Bull on pole for the first time this season, but typically a Mercedes came through and snatched pole position. While a safety car ruined the race for one driver, it brought another right back into play.
Red Bull Hungarian GP Review
No. 1 Sebastian Vettel (GER)
Grid: P2
Race: P7
A good lap nearly saw Vettel steal pole from Nico Rosberg, but the might of the Mercedes came through in the end. He had a poor start from the dirty side of the grid but remained at the front in a duel with Valtteri Bottas and Fernando Alonso until the safety car controversially came out once those three plus the leading Rosberg had already passed, compromising the lot of them. The lot of them dropped back, and Vettel found himself being mugged by Alonso on the restart. He later suffered a spin – something we haven’t seen from Vettel in a race for a very, very long time. He dropped back behind the other Williams of Massa, the other Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, team mate Daniel Ricciardo and eventually the recovering Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen, but somehow held off Bottas at the end for seventh place.
No. 3 Daniel Ricciardo (AUS)
Grid: P4
Race: P1
Disappointed with only fourth on the grid in qualifying, Ricciardo didn’t get a great start like his team mate and dropped back behind quite a few cars. His pace dropped off a bit while he tried to fight his way through the field but was elevated to a net lead once the safety car came out and once Jenson Button pitted for slicks. From then on, he engaged in a cracking fight between himself, the Ferrari of Alonso and the Mercedes of Hamilton, the latter also benefitting from the safety car, with the young Australian coming out on top with some crucial overtakes to take his second race win of the season.
The next two circuits, Spa and Monza should be pretty tough for Red Bull. They are circuits where power is probably more important than aerodynamics, so the reigning champs should be at a disadvantage. However, Spa was the race which saw Sebastian Vettel begin his incredible streak of nine consecutive race wins last season. Vettel traditionally comes back with a vengeance after the summer break, he and his fans will be hoping for a repeat again this season.
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