A race that almost made Monza 2020 look dull.
Esteban Ocon took his maiden Formula 1 victory in a chaotic Hungarian Grand Prix after a first corner pile-up.
Rain started to fall half an hour before the lights went out and caused chaos at Turn One. Valtteri Bottas, after a poor getaway, braked too late and ploughed into the back of Lando Norris, in turn punting the young Briton into Max Verstappen. Bottas himself then slid into the other Red Bull of Sergio Pérez.
That had left Charles Leclerc looking at second place, only for Lance Stroll to crash into him after also missing his braking point. This time, rather than being the projectile, a McLaren was on the receiving end, Daniel Ricciardo being spun round by the helpless Ferrari.
Bottas and Pérez retired immediately with Norris joining them during the ensuing red flag. Verstappen and Ricciardo were able to continue but with significant damage, despite the best efforts of the Red Bull mechanics during the stoppage.
The drama was far from over, however.
As the drivers followed the safety car round for a standing restart, still on intermediate tyres, it became apparent that the sun had dried the track out incredibly quickly. Lewis Hamilton lined up once again in his pole spot…but nobody followed him…
Every other driver had come in to fit dry tyres. Mayhem in the pits ended with all the drivers lining up at the end of the pit lane, and George Russell unsuccessfully trying to pull off a sneaky mass overtake.
So, it was lights out and away just Hamilton went, but knowing that he would have to stop at the end of the lap. Having done so, he rejoined in last place.
The Hungaroring is a notoriously difficult track on which to overtake and the World Champion was struggling. He had successfully passed Antonio Giovinazzi and Mick Schumacher but was unable to get close enough to Pierre Gasly‘s AlphaTauri to fashion a move.
Mercedes decided a two-stop strategy was the way forward and pitted Hamilton on lap 20. Once in fresh air, he was immediately the fastest car on track by a fair margin and crucially undercut Verstappen and Ricciardo when they stopped a lap later.
Hamilton gradually picked drivers off, either when they pitted or on track – an audacious move around the outside of Yuki Tsunoda at Turn 4 the highlight – and soon enough found himself up to fifth.
Meanwhile, at the front, a leading pair of Ocon and Sebastian Vettel had emerged after Hamilton’s overdue tyre change. The Williams of Nicholas Latifi held on to third for an impressive spell, allowing them to open up a gap. The unlikely leader eventually pitted on lap 38 – a lap after Vettel – and emerged narrowly ahead of the four-time champion.
Hamilton spent a few laps stuck behind Carlos Sainz in fourth but built enough of a gap to pit for medium tyres and rejoin in fifth. At this point he was three seconds faster than any other car on track, but in his path lay a formidable obstacle – Fernando Alonso.
The Spaniard is never one to back down from a wheel-to-wheel battle, and here he was further incentivised to help protect his teammate’s lead.
The old rivals produced a thrilling battle as Alonso used every trick in the book to keep the faster Mercedes behind. He somehow succeeded in doing so for 10 laps before a lock-up into Turn One finally released Hamilton.
But, by that point, there were only six laps remaining. Hamilton quickly dispatched Sainz in third and closed in rapidly on Ocon and Vettel, but it was too late. Ocon completed an incredibly mature drive, keeping his head whilst leading a race for the very first time, to take the chequered flag.
Behind the top five, the AlphaTauris finished line astern in sixth and seventh, with Gasly stealing the point for fastest lap on the final tour, and Williams finally got their first points since Germany 2019 with Latifi eighth and Russell ninth.
Verstappen fought valiantly with – as his engineer put it – half a car to earn the final point in tenth, but saw Hamilton retake the lead of the championship.
There was more drama to come after the chequered flag, however, as Vettel was disqualified. His Aston Martin had developed a fuel pump issue late on and the FIA were unable to take the one-litre sample required by the regulations. The disqualification is under appeal, but it looks likely that Vettel will sadly lose a well-deserved podium.
Sainz is promoted to third, which means – bizarrely – half of his four podiums have now come belatedly.
Why Didn’t Hamilton Pit?
Mercedes basically found themselves between a rock and a hard place.
With Hamilton at the front, it would have been brave for Mercedes to pull into the pits and potentially hand over pole position not knowing what everyone behind you is planning. And, more importantly, if they had done so and everybody had followed them in, they would have struggled to release their driver into a stream of cars coming down the pit lane.
Hamilton said after the race that the team had believed more rain was coming and their was no radio traffic between driver and team during the lap behind the safety car. Perhaps they thought it was banned – as some on social media also initially thought – with that being the case for the regular parade lap.
But as this was the effective third lap of the race, no such regulation was active. That is a silly mistake if so that may have contributed to what, in hindsight, was clearly the wrong call.
Either way, it set up a vintage Hamilton comeback. One which appeared to have taken a lot out of him as he visibly struggled to remain standing on the podium. Hamilton later revealed he fears he may be suffering from ‘long COVID’. Let’s hope the summer break gives him some time to continue his recovery.
More Sparks in the Title Fight
Tensions between Red Bull and Mercedes were already beyond simmering heading into the Hungarian Grand Prix, and this will not have done anything to calm them.
For the second race in a row, a Mercedes made contact with a Red Bull. Aside from the obvious implications in terms of points, the cost of the ensuing damage is piling up for the Austrian team, in the first year of a budget cap.
Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff apologised to his opposite number, Christian Horner, but the Red Bull boss didn’t appear to be particularly appeased and asked if Wolff would be paying the bill.
“I’m sure he wasn’t that sorry to see the result. I’m sure he didn’t tell Valtteri to do that but the consequences of that for us are brutal. In a cost cap environment, that needs looking at by the FIA.”
In addition to Hamilton reclaiming the title lead, Mercedes have also passed their rivals in the constructors’ standings. And the update brought to Silverstone by the reigning champions appears to have moved them back level on performance. The Silver Arrows had the edge all weekend on a track which has not been their strongest in recent years.
For all the drama we have had to the halfway point of the season, it is effectively back to square one with both championships practically level.
Four weeks to rest and recuperate now, and then we go again.
The Hungarian Grand Prix in 60 Seconds
Answering the Burning Questions
How will Hamilton and Verstappen act in the wake of their controversial clash? As it was, they were not the source of the drama into Turn One. Whilst there were still a few barbed remarks, the relationship seemed respectful enough in the public eye.
Who will come out on top at a track with similar characteristics to Monaco but where Hamilton has won eight times? Well, Ocon actually, as we all predicted…
Can Ferrari keep up their impressive recent form? They showed strong pace again. Leclerc was bumped out of what would have been second place, but an eventual podium for Sainz will make up for that.
