For the fifth time in his career, Lewis Hamilton secured victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix, gaining his 48th Formula 1 win and gaining the championship lead from his Mercedes team mate, Nico Rosberg.
Hungary Makes It Five For Lewis Hamilton
As the Formula 1 circus travelled to Hungary, Lewis Hamilton was once again victorious, defeating Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg in a very strategic race around the Hungaroring. Hamilton started the race in second place after Rosberg took pole position in qualifying, however, after making a very good start, the British driver took the lead, leading for much of the race whilst taking a very conservative approach to racing. Nico Rosberg finished in second place, securing 18 points to his title challenge. This result is not what Rosberg was looking for, slipping down to second place in the drivers standings for the first time this season. Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo finished in third place, moving himself into third place in the Driver’s Standings.
Vettel Finishes Just off the Podium
It was Sebastian Vettel who finished in fourth for Ferrari, narrowly missing out on a podium finish, running out of laps to overtake former team mate, Daniel Ricciardo, closing in throughout the latter stages of the race, finishing 0.7 seconds behind Ricciardo. It was Max Verstappen who finished in fifth place for Red Bull, nearly slipping down to sixth in the latter stages of the Hungarian Grand Prix. Narrowly missing out of fifth place was Finland’s Kimi Raikkonen. Raikkonen drove a fantastic race around Hungary, starting the race in 14th , gaining the most positions and securing the DHL Fastest Lap. Following Raikkonen’s final pit stop, the Finn proved his worth and showed Ferrari that they had made the right decision by extending his contract for another year until the end of 2017, battling with Verstappen closely in the final stages of the race.
Fernando Alonso finished in seventh place for McLaren, finishing where he started. Alonso’s team mate Jenson Button faced disappointment in Hungary, being the only retirement of the race. Button’s race fell through very early on, facing a problem with the hydraulic pressure of his McLaren. The Brit’s race however, only got worse from then on, receiving a drive through penalty for breaching radio rules as established by Formula 1’s governing body, the FIA. Button ultimately retired from the race due to an oil leak- highly disappointing with it being the tenth anniversary of Button’s first win in Formula 1 back in 2006 for Honda.
Toro Rosso’s solid day
Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz finished in eighth place, with his team mate, Daniil Kvyat, finishing in sixteenth after receiving a 5 second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Williams’ Valtteri Bottas finished in ninth place, securing 2 points, while Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the points paying positions in tenth.
Having a nearly flawless drive in Hungary was Renault’s Jolyon Palmer who looked like a prime candidate for a top 10 finish, thus securing his first points in Formula 1. However, this was not the case, with Palmer spinning his car off the circuit at turn 4, removing his chances of gaining the much needed points that both him and Renault want, finishing in twelfth. With talk of Palmer possibly being replaced by Esteban Ocon, this result and performance is not what the former GP2 Champion needs. Palmer needs to learn from this mistake and move on and needs to get points on the table soon if he wants to be considered for a Renault drive in 2017.
Driver of the Day
Driver of the day is quite a straightforward choice for the Hungarian Grand Prix: Kimi Raikkonen. Raikkonen had a brilliant race today, starting in 14th and finishing in sixth. Alongside this, he was also able to challenge the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in the latter stages of the race, highlighting the spark that the Iceman still has.
Results from the Hungarian GP:
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 25 points
- Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 18 points
- Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, 15 points
- Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 12 points
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 10 points
- Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 8 points
- Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 6 points
- Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 4 points
- Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 2 points
- Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1 point
- Sergio Perez, Force India, 0 points
- Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 0 points
- Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 0 points
- Romain Grosjean, Haas, 0 points
- Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 0 points
- Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 0 points
- Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 0 points
- Felipe Massa, Williams, 0 points
- Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 0 points
- Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 0 points
- Rio Haryanto, Manor, 0 points
- Jenson Button, McLaren, Ret
Drivers Standings after 11 races:
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 192 points
- Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 186 points
- Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, 115 points
- Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 114 points
- Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 110 points
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 100 points
- Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 56 points
- Sergio Perez, Force India, 47 points
- Felipe Massa, Williams, 38 points
- Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 30 points
- Romain Grosjean, Haas, 28 points
- Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 27 points
- Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 24 points
- Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 23 points
- Jenson Button, McLaren, 13 points
- Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 6 points
- Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1 point
- Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, 1 point
- Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 0 points
- Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 0 points
- Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 0 points
- Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 0 points
- Rio Haryanto, Manor, 0 points
Constructors Standings after 11 races:
- Mercedes, 378 points
- Ferrari, 224 points
- Red Bull Racing, 223 points
- Williams, 94 points
- Force India, 74 points
- Toro Rosso, 45 points
- McLaren, 38 points
- Haas, 28 points
- Renault, 6 points
- Manor, 1 point
- Sauber, 0 points
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