Hungary GP: Ocon wins crazy race
In yet another one of those crazy race, thanks to the rains, Esteban Ocon came out on top and managed to stick to his position at the Hungary GP. Sebastian Vettel came second but he got disqualified as the stewards were unable to take fuel sample after the same, so Hamilton is P2 and Carlos Sainz P3.
The race started with both the Mercedes on the front row, followed by the two Red Bulls in the second row. It was raining though as the race started and everyone was on inters.
Chaos at the start of Hungary GP
As can be expected from a rain soaked start, there was absolute chaos at turn 1. It all started with Valterri Bottas getting a bad start and then trying to compensate for it by breaking late. This stalled his front wheels and sent him crashing into the rear of Lando Norris, who actually got a very good start. Then he took out Sergio Perez whereas Lando crashed into Max. Meanwhile Lance Stroll couldn’t brake on time either, crashing into Charles Leclerc and ending both their races. Daniel Ricciardo had a spin too but he managed to survive somehow. Bottas and Stroll have been given 5-place grid drops for triggering the turn 1 crashes.
Red Flag and a lone start. Ocon on top
All the crashes and wet conditions led to a red flag. Red Bull was able to fix Max’s car but not 100%. Nikita Mazepin had to retire as Kimi Raikkonen crashed into him while coming out of his pit stop. The track was drying very rapidly and so everyone pitted before the race re-start, except Lewis Hamilton. He was the only one to start the race and that was one hell of a scene.
This put the Alpine of Esteban Ocon on the top and he just never looked back. Sebastian Vettel, who somehow managed to escape all the carnage of turn 1 was right behind Ocon but couldn’t get past him. Dirty air is a big issue and the Hungary track is not the most suitable one for overtakes.
Unlucky Max
Yet another race to forget for Max Verstappen. He got hit by Bottas from behind for no fault of his own, which severely damaged his car. Thanks to the Red flag, the mechanics somehow fixed his car but it was not 100%. He started P13 after the re-start but was struggling hard to overtake even the HAAS of Mick Schumacher. Honey Badger – Daniel Ricciardo – kept him behind for almost all the race and he finished P9. Just two race ago he was 31 points ahead of Lewis. Now he is 8 points behind. Red Bull needs to keep their hopes high if they want to win the Championship.
Lewis makes the most after initial fiasco
It is not for nothing that Lewis Hamilton is a 7-time World Champion. After the initial fiasco with the race re-start, Lewis went all the way behind in the grid. However he never lost hope and kept overtaking. Mercedes went for a 2 pit-stop strategy and Lewis made it work brilliantly. Lewis undercut both Max and Daniel in a single swoop after the pit-stop, putting on the Hard tyres. He however met his match in two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso. Despite having a relatively slower car, Alonso kept Lewis behind him for as many as 6 laps. It is one of the best driving duels we have seen in the entire season. This ensured that Lewis could not overtake Vettel and Ocon in the end.
Superb day for both the Williams driver
Yes! it finally happened. After struggling and toiling for so many years George Russell managed to score points for the Williams team. Even Nicholas Latifi scored points and that certainly is the icing on the cake.
A good days for Alpha Tauri too as both Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda managed to get points. Carlos Sainz must be very happy for his second Ferrari podium – albeit coming in a strange fashion.
Hungary GP point scorers. Ocon wins a fantastic race
