Vettel wins amazing Hungarian Grand Prix

It was always going to be a difficult weekend, but none more than the start of the race. Along with the normal procedure on the lead up to the race, a minute silence was held with the Bianchi family in attendance. Such an emotional outpouring from all the drivers who put all the helmets in the middle of a circle before the usual national anthem. Such was the powerful message that was given even all the teams stopped and stood on the grid. The Manor team had their own tribute putting ‘We Miss You Jules’ on a pitboard at the back of the grid.

Back to the racing and it is expected to be a two stop race, with the outside option of a three stop, but that will be possibly comprised by traffic so risky even if it is only a couple of seconds slower. At the back of the field only Pastor Maldonado would start on the slower medium tyre.

There was an aborted start, with Hamilton leading the field away once again but there wasn’t any car left on the grid which would suggest a start problem. This would mean the race would be a lap shorter. Massa was told that he was short in his grid box, and was put under investigation.

It started the second time, with a really good start from Rosberg. Vettel was around the outside of Hamilton and Rosberg, with Hamilton down to 4th. Raikkonen got up to second ahead of Rosberg. Ricciardo also fell down to 9th. Hamilton went off at the chicane and fell behind Felipe Massa in 10th. Bottas had got up to 4th in the leading Williams.

Vettel and Raikkonen were pulling away from Rosberg at the front, with the Williams hanging on behind. Lewis Hamilton at the bottom end of the top ten was struggling with the handling of the car whilst hunting down Felipe Massa in 9th. Hulkenberg and Perez also made their way to 5th and 8th.

With the aborted start, Massa was handed a five second time penalty for being out of position. Further back, Kvyat was told not to hold Ricciardo his team mate with the pair in close quarters on lap 7.

The first pit stop was from Manor on lap 7, although the team looked a little unprepared. It was because of the headrest coming loose. The front wing of the Red Bull also looked like it was vibrating on Kvyats car, with the cars swapping over on lap 8.

Bay lap 9 and the Williams had been dropped from the top three, with him heading back into Hulkenberg who was now being chased down by Ricciardo. The Red Bull was looking racy. He made the move into the first corner on the same lap. Hamilton made the same move on Felipe Massa and made it stick. The two touched slightly on the exit. Hamilton was immediately up on the back of Perez in 8th.

Sainz and Verstappen got onto the back of Massa in 10th. Fernando Alonso was also closing in on all of them. Lap 13 and Hamilton overtook Perez into the first corner, Kvyat the next car on the road, but the Briton was half a minute down on Vettel already. Ricciardo overtook Bottas at the first corner for 4th.

Williams pitted Bottas on lap 14, with Kvyat following him in. The Red Bull stop was faster by a second. He came out behind Pastor Maldonado who is on the Medium tyres. Massa pitted a lap later in the second Williams, coming in with Max Verstappen. With the five second penalty he was overtaken by Verstappen. Massa came out behind all the cars which came in – Button, Verstappen included.

Hulkenberg pitted on lap 16, along with Alonso and Sainz, although it was a very slow stop for the Toro Rosso. He came out behind Alonso, but ahead of Button.

At the front the field, Hamilton was now setting similar times to the leaders. Perez pitted on lap 17, the last of the bottom end of the top ten. Kvyat overtook Maldonado with both of those cars on the medium tyre, although Maldonado had not stopped. Massa had also swapped to the mediums, but neither were very fast.

Replays showed that while Raikkonen was running over a kerb the camera mounting came off his car at the front. The team were in the pitlane looking to replace it. Perez went off on the exit of the first corner in an incident with Pastor Maldonado, dropping to 15th.

Lewis Hamilton stopped on lap 20, although it was a slow 4 second stop and he came out ahead of Bottas, running him off the road in the process. Rosberg was told to pit a lap later, with the team trying to undercut the Ferrari. They swapped to the medium tyres on the Germans car, but it was a faster stop.

Vettel pitted a lap later in the leading Ferrari. They took on another set of the soft tyres, and a reasonable stop from the Italian team. Ricciardo also pitted on the same lap, a set of the mediums for him. He came out just in front of Lewis Hamilton who set the fastest lap in the process. Raikkonen pitted a lap later and they decided not to change the front wing.

Hamilton really started to push Ricciardo after his pitstop, and was on the back of the Red Bull by lap 23. Grosjean was given a five second time penalty for an unsafe release in the pitlane, as we saw with the battle with Felipe Massa. Maldonado was also given a drive through for his collision with Sergio Perez which caused the Mexican to be pitched off the road.

After having a couple of laps behind the Red Bull, Hamilton made a couple of mistakes and fell back by a second. Alonso had also made his way into the top ten, with Button in 12th.

Hamilton made the move on lap 29, again into the favoured first corner. The gap to his team mate ahead 17 seconds and reducing the points gap to Rosberg to just three points. Further back, Verstappen was closing in on a struggling Kvyat, with Alonso closing in on the pair.

etting the fastest lap of the race on lap 34, Hamilton was closing in on Rosberg by over a second and half a lap. Kvyat pitted on that lap in the Red Bull. A couple of laps later, Hamilton had got the gap down to 7 and a half seconds. The German was in traffic though, catching the Williams, Lotus and Force India. Alonso pitted from 9th on lap 38, although with the Toro Rosso.

In the traffic the gap reduced to five seconds, with the two cars being on the same straight. Alonso’s pit stop was for a right rear puncture. Bottas pitted on lap 39, and came out in front of Hulkenberg.

At the front of the field Vettel was still leading from Raikkonen by ten seconds, with Rosberg in third who had made his way out of the traffic and started to up the pace. Raikkonen said over the radio that he was losing power. The car slowed with a McLaren behind matching his pace. He dropped to 14 seconds behind his team mate, but was still 13 seconds ahead of Rosberg on lap 42. It was also Hamilton to suffer through the traffic, losing time on his team mate.

Nico Hulkenber lost his front wing on the front straight, and went straight on at the first corner. It brought out the virtual safety car on lap 43, with Rosberg pitting along with Hamilton for the medium tyre. There was a lot of debris all over the straight at the first corner.

Vettel pitted a lap later, taking the medium tyres on the Ferrari. Raikkonen did the same thing, but they brought the full safety car. Replays of the accident showed that it was a failure of the front wing for Hulkenberg, who was close to wiping Bottas out of the race in the process.

The order under the safety car was Vettel, Raikkonen, Rosberg, Hamilton and Riccairdo. Raikkonen was told that he wouldn’t have the MGU-K, but they were going to continue with a reduction in pace. Under the safety car, Perez pitted and they swapped the front wing over with the floor which had also been damaged.

Rosberg was told that he was in with a chance of winning the race, and was advised of the engine problem for Raikkonen and the warm-up issues (tyres) on the Ferrari. On lap 48 the lapped cars were let through, bringing the leaders to the front of the queue. Hamilton was told that he was racing for the win.

Safety car was brought in at the end of the lap. Vettel went straight away, but Ricciardo was right on the back of Hamilton. Rosberg went down the inside of Raikkonen. Hamilton was attacked by Ricciardo at the restart and took damage to the front wing, overtaken by a number of cars. Hamilton dropped down to sixth, while Bottas also had a puncture. Replays showed that Hamilton understeered into the side of the Red Bull. The Bottas puncture was picked up by Verstappen’s front wing who also lost elements of the front wing.

Ricciardo overtook Raikkonen on lap 51, easy given the lack of power on the Ferrari. Kvyat also closed in quickly on the back Raikkonen. Mercedes were in the pitlane for Hamilton who pitted on lap 52. Sainz was also under investigation for speeding under the safety car. It was a 8.1 second stop for Hamilton, with the Brit coming out in 13th. The accident between Hamilton and Ricciardo was also put under investigation.

Raikkonen came in the pits on lap 53, and turned the engine off. There was a reset, and they turned it off with the Ferrari going out on the circuit once again. At the front Rosberg was closing in on lap 54, while Lewis Hamilton was given a drive through for the accident with Ricciardo. Raikkonen reported back to the pits that the problem was still there despite the pitstop. Perez retired in the Force India, with Ferrari doing the same thing with Raikkonen a lap later.

At the front the Red Bulls were also closing in on the leaders, helped by the softer rubber. Massa pitted at the same time as Lewis Hamilton took his drive through. With 13 laps remaining, the top three were covered by less than 2 seconds. Fernando Alonso overtook Sainz for 6th place, with Sainz fighting back. Verstappen ahead of the McLaren got a drive through for speeding behind the safety car.

Button overtook Sainz for 8th, with the Toro Rosso going backwards and then attacked by Maldonado in 10th. Maldonado made easy work of him. Grosjean also got himself to 7th in the Lotus.

Rosberg locked up into turn 2 on lap 60, and that brought Ricciardo right onto the back again. Pastor Maldonado was then put under investigation again for overtaking when the safety car was out, with what could be the third penalty of the afternoon. Sainz was also told that they would be retiring the car, with the Spaniard falling back to 12th.

Hamilton had made his way up to 11th thanks to penalties and got into the top 10 overtaking the Sauber. The stewards also started looking in the Kvyat/Hamilton clash with gaining an advantage. Hamilton made his way up to 9th, with the Mercedes quickly getting ahead of Jenson Button for 8th.

Ricciardo went down the inside of Nico Rosberg into the first corner. Ricciardo broke the front wing and gave Rosberg a puncture on the rear. Hamilton did a new fastest lap of the race, catching Alonso and Grosjean hand over fist. It would leave Vettel for the lead with Kvyat in second. Verstappen would make his way up to 4th. Kvyat would also get a 10 second time penalty for getting an advantage going off the track.

Hamilton went down the inside of Grosjean for 6th on lap 67, with Alonso six and a half seconds up the road in 5th. Maldonado was given another penalty for his overtaking behind the safety car. Rosberg also overtook Jenson Button who was struggling for speed.

It was the second Ferrari win of the season though in Hungary, with Kvyat coming over the line in second for his first ever podium, and Daniel Ricciardo in third. An amazing result also for Max Verstappen in 4th with a great drive for Fernando Alonso in 5th. Hamilton was 6th, with Grosjean ahead of Rosberg in 7th and 8th, Button 9th and Ericsson finished 10th.

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