Formula 1 headed to Budapest for the 11th round of 2017 and for the final race ahead of the summer break – the Hungarian Grand Prix. With the nature of the Hungaroring, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing were looking like the frontrunners in practice while Mercedes was on the back foot. Daniel Ricciardo set the pace on Friday while Sebastien Vettel topped every session on the Saturday, taking pole position in the process. With it being a Ferrari front row lockout and as overtaking is difficult in Hungary, it looked set to be a dominant win for the Italian team.
Sebastian Vettel dominates Hungarian Grand Prix to secure 1-2 finish for Ferrari
When the lights went out, Vettel led into turn 1 followed by Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas. Lewis Hamilton dropped down the field when the two Red Bulls got a strong start from the third row of the grid. The yellow flags then waved in the second corner when Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo collided. When Ricciardo spun in turn 3, the safety car was deployed and the Australian found himself out of the race while Verstappen was slapped with a 10 second time penalty for causing the accident.
The safety car peeled into the pits on lap 5 and Lewis Hamilton immediately went on a charge to try and pass Verstappen for fourth place. After racing side by side with Verstappen through turns 1 and 2, Hamilton settled back down into fifth to follow the Red Bull around the track.
At the front, Vettel was determined to secure the win, and set fastest lap after fastest lap to extend his lead from Raikkonen. This succeeded, and by lap 9, he led by almost 3 seconds.
It quickly became apparent that the F1 race would not see the same amount of overtaking that had been seen in Formula 2 and GP3 earlier in the weekend, with Jolyon Palmer struggling to close in on Esteban Ocon due to the turbulent air from the Force India while Nico Hulkenberg struggled with high temperatures behind the pair.
Romain Grosjean became the second retirement of the race with a crossed wheel nut and when Valtteri Bottas pitted from third on lap 30, the pit window opened. Hamilton pitted after his team mate followed by Vettel in order to cover the Mercedes drivers. Kimi Raikkonen pitted one lap later from what was now the lead to rejoin in third place. This allowed Verstappen to move into first, although he had not yet pitted for the soft tyres.
After the pit stop phase, Kimi Raikkonen was faster than Vettel as the four time champion was suffering from steering issues, having to turn left on the straights to prevent his Ferrari from veering to the right. Mercedes then began closing up to the Ferrari pair and the top four were quickly covered by two seconds.
Stuck behind Bottas, Hamilton begged to be let past to try and launch an attack from Kimi Raikkonen. Team orders were issued and Hamilton was let through, but was only given five laps to try and pass the Finn for second place. Despite closing in, Hamilton never got into a position to try and make the pass, therefore settling in third.
With one lap to go, Hamilton had to led Bottas back through as arranged via team radio, but with Verstappen directly behind Bottas, the switch looked like it would be difficult to make. In the final corner, Hamilton slowed and let Bottas through, holding off Verstappen.
Sebastian Vettel went on to win the race for Ferrari marking his fourth win of 2017. Kimi Raikkonen held onto second place despite being faster than Vettel, handing the Italian team a 1-2 finish. Bottas stood on the final step of the podium.
Lewis Hamilton headed up the rest of the points finishers, followed by Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz Jr, Sergio Perez, Esteban Ocon, and Stoffel Vandoorne.
With regards to driver of the day, there is one clear winner and that is Fernando Alonso. In the race, Alonso secured his second points finish of 2017 and McLaren’s highest finish of the year. An impressive late run saw Alonso set the fastest lap of the race, stunning spectators and commentators alike, showing the pace and the strength of the McLaren aerodynamically.
Through this result, Sebastian Vettel has extended his lead in the Drivers’ Championship from one point to 14, holding the advantage from Hamilton going into F1’s summer break. With a double points finish, McLaren also jumped ahead of Sauber in the Constructors’ Championship, having 11 points to five.
Results from the Hungarian Grand Prix:
- Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 25 points
- Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 18 points
- Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 15 points
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 12 points
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 10 points
- Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 8 points
- Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 6 points
- Sergio Perez, Force India, 4 points
- Esteban Ocon, Force Inida, 2 points
- Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, 1 point
- Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 0 points
- Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 0 points
- Kevin Magnussen, Haas F1, 0 points
- Lance Stroll, Williams, 0 points
- Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber, 0 points
- Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 0 points
- Nico Hulkenberg, Renault, Ret
- Paul di Resta, Williams, Ret
- Romain Grosjean, Haas F1, Ret
- Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, Ret
Drivers Standings after the Hungarian Grand Prix:
- Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 202 points
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 188 points
- Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 169 points
- Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, 117 points
- Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 116 points
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 67 points
- Sergio Perez, Force India, 56 points
- Esteban Ocon, Force India, 45 points
- Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 35 points
- Nico Hulkenberg, Renault, 26 points
- Felipe Massa, Williams, 23 points
- Lance Stroll, Williams, 18 points
- Romain Grosjean, Haas F1, 18 points
- Kevin Magnussen, Haas F1, 11 points
- Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 10 points
- Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber, 5 points
- Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 4 points
- Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, 1 point
- Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 0 points
- Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 0 points
- Antonio Giovinazzi, Sauber, 0 points
- Paul di Resta, Williams, 0 points
- Jenson Button, McLaren, 0 points
Constructors Standings after the Hungarian Grand Prix:
- Mercedes, 357 points
- Ferrari, 318 points
- Red Bull Racing, 184 points
- Force India, 101 points
- Williams, 41 points
- Toro Rosso, 39 points
- Haas F1, 29 points
- Renault, 26 points
- McLaren, 11 points
- Sauber, 5 points
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