{"id":5630,"date":"2018-07-31T17:15:10","date_gmt":"2018-07-31T21:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=5630"},"modified":"2018-07-31T17:20:40","modified_gmt":"2018-07-31T21:20:40","slug":"hungarian-gp-winners-and-losers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2018\/07\/31\/hungarian-gp-winners-and-losers\/","title":{"rendered":"Hungarian GP \u2013 Winners and Losers"},"content":{"rendered":"

We look at the winners and losers of the Hungarian GP<\/strong><\/a>. It turned out to be an unexpected victory for Lewis Hamilton <\/strong>on a weekend when Ferrari dominated in the free practice sessions. Sebastian Vettel<\/strong> took second-place, but he was a hair\u2019s breadth away from disaster after a collision with Valtteri Bottas in the final laps.<\/p>\n

Hungarian GP \u2013 Winners and Losers<\/h1>\n

Winners<\/h2>\n

Lewis Hamilton<\/h3>\n

The Hungaroring<\/strong> has not been a track Mercedes<\/strong> has excelled at in recent seasons. The free practice sessions confirmed that Ferrari<\/strong> had the edge in the searingly hot conditions and Vettel was the favourite to take pole position. But a soaking wet qualification session gave Hamilton the opening he needed. The \u201crain master\u201d<\/em> took it with both hands to take pole and convert it into a surprisingly comfortable win in dry conditions on Sunday. Hamilton has maximized all the opportunities that has come his way this season.<\/p>\n

The reigning world champion goes into the summer break with a 24-point lead over title-rival Vettel. The Briton\u2019s five wins in the 2018 season have come in contrasting style. Dominant wins in Spain, France and Hungary, mixed with somewhat fortuitous wins in Azerbaijan and Germany. Hamilton\u2019s record-setting sixth win at the Hungarian GP and 67th<\/sup> career win overall sees him heading into the summer break with momentum.<\/p>\n

Hamilton after the win at Hungary said:“We came here knowing Ferrari would be quick this weekend, so to come out with these points, we\u2019ll definitely take as a bonus this time. I was sweating. It was so hot. Difficult but I was able to manage the pace. It was the last part here which really killed me. I\u2019m going to celebrate with my team. Big thank you to everyone at the factory\u2026 really happy with how strong it has come the last couple of races. Grateful for all the efforts of the team, they all deserve the break, I hope they keep pushing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Daniel Ricciardo<\/h3>\n

A fourth-place finish with a comeback drive from the back on a hard to overtake track saw the big smile back on Ricciardo\u2019s face. A wretched qualification session saw Ricciardo starting P12 on the grid. Even the ever-smiling Australian seemed a bit fazed with the way the session had unfolded.<\/p>\n

His teammate Max Verstappen<\/strong> was well ahead of him as he started P7. A collision on lap 1 with Marcus Ericsson<\/strong> saw him drop to P16. But a gritty drive with signature overtake moves saw him progress to P7 by lap 16. The key to the strong drive was a long stint of 44 laps on the soft tyres as he scythed through the field.<\/p>\n

On new ultrasoft tyres, Ricciardo overtook Valtteri Bottas on the final lap. But not before a collision that saw Bottas penalized by the stewards. The \u201cDriver Of the Day\u201d<\/em><\/strong> and \u201cDHL Fastest Lap\u201d<\/em><\/strong> award was just reward. After a poor string of races, Ricciardo heads into the summer break in a happy frame of mind.<\/p>\n

\n

Daniel Ricciardo was a man on a mission after a tricky Qualifying<\/p>\n

He grabbed his fourth @DHL_Motorsports<\/a> Fastest Lap Award of 2018 \ud83d\ude80#HungarianGP<\/a> \ud83c\udded\ud83c\uddfa #F1<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/HG3BPPErh1<\/a><\/p>\n

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 29, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n