Lewis Hamilton achieved his fifth Hungarian Grand Prix victory and becomes the new leader of the Formula 1 world championship.
From second on the grid behind his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, Hamilton took the race lead into the first corner and controlled it from there onwards.
By scoring his fifth victory in six races, Hamilton has turned a 43-point deficit into a six-point advantage.
Rosberg had to settle for runner-up, 1.9 seconds behind, with Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo just managing to hold off Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari for the final podium spot.
Ricciardo’s team-mate Max Verstappen did the same to the other Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen in a scrap so close The Iceman clipped the young teenager’s car at one stage.
Neither Mercedes had made a supreme getaway from the front row and the Red Bulls both attacked.
Ricciardo was ahead around the outside but Hamilton kept both the Australian and Verstappen’s inside line attack at bay. Rosberg then repassed Ricciardo around the outside of Turn 2.
At first the Red Bulls stayed close to the Mercedes, with Verstappen complaining he was “driving like a grandma” behind Ricciardo.
But the the main loser in the first round of stops, dropping behind Vettel as Ferrari used an undercut and also Raikkonen, who started P14 on softs and ran 29 laps in his first stint. The time spent behind The Iceman left Verstappen out of the podium fight.
Just before the midway point Hamilton was warned by his team to pick up the pace otherwise Rosberg would pit first at the second round of stops to fend off the threat being posed by Ricciardo.
“I’m driving to the best of my ability,” responded Hamilton, who then managed a surge to put 2.8 seconds between himself and Rosberg.
It was enough for Hamilton to take precedence as another set of softs was fitted after 41 laps, with Rosberg following a lap later, and both stayed ahead of the early-stopping Ricciardo.
On lap 53 of 70, with Hamilton held up by the Haas of Esteban Gutierrez – earning a middle-finger salute from the reigning champion when he finally passed and a five-second time penalty for ignoring blue flags – Rosberg closed to 0.6 seconds.
Hamilton then edged away, only for the gap to fall to 0.6 sseconds again after 62 laps following a small lock-up at Turn 12, but it was as close as Rosberg managed to get.
Vettel steadily closed in on Ricciardo for third to no avail, while Raikkonen found himself chasing Verstappen as their alternate strategies played out, attacking repeatedly on fresh super-softs but ended up frustrated.
Behind the top six was Fernando Alonso, followed by Carlos Sainz, Valtteri Bottas and Nico Hulkenberg.
McLaren’s Jenson Button was the only retirement after a miserable race including an early loss of hydraulic pressure affecting his brakes.
A drive-through penalty for unauthorised radio communication while addressing the problem and finally an oil leak. A terrible race for the 2009 champion.
So a change in the championship between the Mercedes drivers. Hamilton has a six-point lead over Rosberg, and yet it is Nico’s home race coming up at Hockenheim. Expect strong support for the German driver next weekend.
Hungarian Grand Prix, 70 laps:
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1h40m30.115s
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1.977s
3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 27.539s
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 28.213s
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Renault 48.659s
6 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 49.044s
7 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda 1 Lap
8 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1 Lap
9 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1 Lap
10 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1 Lap
11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1 Lap
12 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1 Lap
13 Esteban Gutierrez Haas-Ferrari 1 Lap
14 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1 Lap
15 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1 Lap
16 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1 Lap
17 Felipe Nasr Sauber-Ferrari 1 Lap
18 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 2 Laps
19 Pascal Wehrlein Manor-Mercedes 2 Laps
20 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 2 Laps
21 Rio Haryanto Manor-Mercedes 2 Laps
– Jenson Button McLaren-Honda Retirement
Drivers’ standings:
1 Lewis Hamilton 192
2 Nico Rosberg 186
3 Daniel Ricciardo 115
4 Kimi Raikkonen 114
5 Sebastian Vettel 110
6 Max Verstappen 100
7 Valtteri Bottas 56
8 Sergio Perez 47
9 Felipe Massa 38
10 Carlos Sainz 30
11 Romain Grosjean 28
12 Nico Hulkenberg 27
13 Fernando Alonso 24
14 Daniil Kvyat 23
15 Jenson Button 13
16 Kevin Magnussen 6
17 Pascal Wehrlein 1
18 Stoffel Vandoorne 1
19 Esteban Gutierrez 0
20 Jolyon Palmer 0
21 Marcus Ericsson 0
22 Felipe Nasr 0
23 Rio Haryanto 0
Constructors’ standings:
1 Mercedes 378
2 Ferrari 224
3 Red Bull-Renault 223
4 Williams-Mercedes 94
5 Force India-Mercedes 74
6 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 45
7 McLaren-Honda 38
8 Haas-Ferrari 28
9 Renault 6
10 Manor-Mercedes 1
11 Sauber-Ferrari 0
Next race: German Grand Prix, Hockenheim. July 29-31.
Hungarian Grand Prix review as reported by Formula1.com.
Lewis Hamilton heads the driver standings for the first time this year after a controlled drive to victory in Sunday’s Budapest race. Hamilton has a six-point advantage over Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg, who finished second at the Hungaroring, as Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo joined them on the podium.
Hamilton got the jump on polesitter Rosberg at the start, and from there only lost P1 during pit stops. Red Bull were able to push the Silver Arrows in the early stages, but their challenge faded and Ricciardo came home 25 seconds off the lead, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel right on his tail.
In the second Red Bull-Ferrari battle, Max Verstappen held on to win a tense and lengthy scrap for fifth with Kimi Raikkonen, while Fernando Alonso took a worthy if distant seventh for McLaren. His team mate Jenson Button was the race’s sole retirement. Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz, Williams’ Valtteri Bottas and Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg completed the top ten to take the remaining points.
Hamilton may have been up front, but the nip-and-tuck flow as the two Silver Arrows cut through lapped traffic ensured that the world champion was never able to relax, once Rosberg had got his second wind and reduced the advantage Hamilton had opened up in the first stint on the supersoft Pirelli tyre.
He seemed less happy on the two sets of softs that he used after that, whereas Rosberg could push harder on them than the supersofts, but the German could not gain track position. The closest he got was on lap 52 when the gap came down to 0.6s after Hamilton was blocked by backmarker Esteban Gutierrez in the Haas, and again when Hamilton had locked up and momentarily run wide in Turn 12 on the 62nd lap, but thereafter he regained momentum and had things under control to the flag.
Both Red Bull and Ferrari showed moments of potential. Riccardo so nearly went round the outside of both Mercedes for the lead at the start but having got by Rosberg in Turn 1 he then lost out to him almost immediately in Turn 2. Later the Australian was lapping faster than the Mercedes at times, but though he got the gap down to under five seconds to Hamilton mid-race, thereafter he faded and was only just able to keep Ferrari’s Vettel at bay by the end.
Team mate Verstappen’s race was compromised when Hamilton pinched him at the start as he tried to go down the inside of the Mercedes into Turn 1, and then ruined when he came out from his first pit stop behind Raikkonen, who had started his Ferrari on the soft tyre. The Finn resolutely kept him under control, losing the Dutchman any chance of the podium.
Towards the end the boot was on the other foot, however; Verstappen overtook Raikkonen when the latter stopped for fresh supersofts on lap 50. It seemed only a matter of time before the Ferrari repassed, but as Raikkonen tried a move in Turn 2 on lap 57, the Ferrari ran into the Red Bull as it changed direction. His left front wing endplate damaged, an unhappy Raikkonen had to settle for sixth, three-tenths in arrears.
The result gives Hamilton 192 points to Rosberg’s 186, as Ricciardo moves to third on 115 just ahead of Raikkonen on 114. Vettel is fifth with 110, as Verstappen closes up with 100.
In the constructors’ stakes, Mercedes have 378 points, Ferrari 224 and Red Bull are closing still with 223.
Behind the big boys, Alonso brought his McLaren home in seventh, getting three track violation warnings on the way, as Sainz took eighth for Toro Rosso ahead of Valtteri Bottas. Jolyon Palmer had his best race in F1 and was a contender for the final point for Renault until a spin on the 48th lap dropped him back behind the Force Indias of Hulkenberg, who took 10th, and Sergio Perez. Palmer ultimate finished 13th on the road, but picked up a place thanks to a 5-second time penalty handed to Gutierrez for ignoring blue flags.
Romain Grosjean kept Raikkonen at bay for a while early on before dropping back, taking 14th in the second Haas ahead of Palmer’s Renault team mate Kevin Magnussen. Daniil Kvyat was 16th in the second Toro Rosso from Felipe Nasr’s Sauber, Felipe Massa who had a woeful race in the second Williams, and the Manors of Pascal Wehrlein and Rio Haryanto which sandwiched Marcus Ericsson’s Sauber.
Button was the only retirement. After complaining of a brake pedal which kept going to the floor he was told by his team not to change gear, and then received a drive-through penalty for unauthorised radio communication. Later his hopes ended when his car suffered an oil leak.
Nico Rosberg says that losing the Formula One points lead to Mercedes team-mate and 2016 Hungarian Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton does not give him cause for concern.
Having topped the Drivers’ standings since the opening round in Australia, Rosberg has relinquished first place after coming home second in Budapest.
Lining up on pole position at the Hungaroring, the German was overhauled by his British rival into Turn 1. Rosberg even briefly slipped down to third behind Daniel Ricciardo before clawing back ahead of the Red Bull driver at the next corner.
“For sure, the race was decided there,” Rosberg said. “My start was OK but slightly down on Lewis’ start and Daniel’s also. Daniel had a good tow and Lewis just had the inside line and I lost out into Turn 1. It got a bit tight so I had to back out.
“I was happy to get Daniel back on the outside of Turn 2 and from there on I put all the pressure possible on Lewis, of course it’s not possible to pass at this track.”
Source: F1i
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo commented that rival Mercedes ‘turning up the volume’ in terms of race pace. Autosport.com has the story.
Daniel Ricciardo felt Red Bull could win the Hungarian Grand Prix for much of the race, before the Mercedes Formula 1 team “turned up the volume”.
Mercedes had tipped Red Bull to push it hard at the Hungaroring, where the champion team had not previously won in the turbocharged hybrid era, but ultimately secured another one-two with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
Ricciardo was taking a second per lap out of the Mercedes for a spell early in the second stint once all were on soft tyres.
He opted for an early final stop to try to put more pressure on them with fresh tyres but fell away and had to fend off Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari for third.
“There were moments when we looked competitive compared to Mercedes,” Ricciardo said.
“When the first stint settled, they had a bit more pace.
“At the start of the second stint with the soft, it seemed competitive but in the end it looked like Mercedes was doing just what they needed to do and then got stronger and stronger.
“We thought they were perhaps struggling so we thought we’d be aggressive to get close if they were going to pit soon.
“It was trying to fight for the win at the time as opposed to defending.
“Then once we pitted, it looked like they just turned up the volume unfortunately.”
Ricciardo had nosed into the lead very briefly at the start after making a better getaway than both Mercedes and then outbraking them down the outside into Turn 1.
“I couldn’t really see Lewis and Nico, who were in my blindspot,” he said.
“At the apex, I thought I was in the lead then saw one Merc sneak up.
“I was on inside in Turn 2 but Nico had a clear run and better drive.
“We probably wouldn’t have lasted the 70-odd laps [in front] if I had the lead at the start.
“But what if? I don’t know.”
Fernando Alonso believes seventh place in the Hungarian Grand Prix represents McLaren’s best performance so far in 2016.
Having been seventh in every practice session, Alonso qualified in the same position and duly finished the race seventh on Sunday after getting the better of Carlos Sainz at the start of the race. Kimi Raikkonen’s recovery to sixth ensured Alonso was the top ranked car outside of Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari, and despite a fifth place in Monaco the Spaniard labelled the race as McLaren’s best this year.
“In the end I was seventh also in the race, my position for the whole weekend,” Alonso said. “It was a bit of a boring race, from us and for the fans – I think only Jenson retired with an oil issue – but it was a good race for us, where we could score good points.
“We had a good start, we managed to do as many laps as planned with the supersoft tyres and then also with the softs. I’m happy to be best of the rest, because Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari are way ahead of the rest of us. This is the battle we can have, and we did our best. In Monaco we were fifth but we were a bit lucky, so I think this was the best weekend we’ve had this year in terms of pace from start to finish.”
And Alonso says it was important McLaren took its opportunity as he believes it will struggle at circuits such as Spa and Monza after the summer break.
“Carlos and I had a similar pace, almost in the same tenth, and to be able to pass him at the start was fundamental for the final result. I was on the clean side of track and that was a bit lucky.
“The progression of the team is very positive, we’re having a good run now, we’ll have another race next weekend, the fourth from this marathon that is July, and I hope we can score points again, at this level, but I think it will be difficult. After the summer break there will be some pretty tough races for us, we’ll suffer a lot, so we have to make the most out of this kind of tracks to score as many points as possible.”
Source: Eurosport
Toto Wolff was left feeling pleased that the Mercedes drivers fought in a ‘sportsmanlike’ on the first lap of the Hungarian Grand Prix. Eurosport has the full story.
Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff says he was pleased with how Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg fought cleanly at the start of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The two team-mates have had a history of making contact at the first corner, with this year’s series of flashpoints also including taking each other out on the opening lap in Spain and clashing on the final lap in Austria.
Lining up on pole position in Budapest, Rosberg saw Hamilton enjoy a better getaway on the inside. The German resisted but eventually backed out, especially with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo also threatening on the outside.
“The start is always worrying when both of them are on the front row but we had a good discussion this morning and you could see the inside clearly had the advantage,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1. “Lewis had a bit of a moment but it was controllable.
“You can see that Turn 1 was very sportsmanlike. They managed the pace in the first stint to see how long the tyre would go.
“Even in the second stint, we were worried a little bit that Ricciardo was coming nearer but there was so much pace in Lewis’ driving that once he put the foot to the floor, he was jus gone.”