The Hungarian GP celebrated its 30th with a heart-pounding, hair-raising race. One that we won't forget anytime soon.
Before the race started, the drivers formed a circle for a moment of silence, along with Bianchi's parents, sister and brother. Bianchi's passing last week left the world of motorsport and most of the world in general, in mourning. Tributes, flags, stickers and shirts were seen all around Hungaroring. Whether it was family, the fans or the drivers, Jules was in everyone's hearts and will always be.
When the lights were about to go out, instead of that, we saw green & yellow lights blinking above the circuit. An aborted start. Why? Felipe Massa was out of position on the grid. (Massa was later given a 5-Second-Drive-Through-Penalty for such action). Drivers went for another formation lap which caused the race to be cut down to 69 laps. Afterwards, they all lined back up and it was time for the start of the race.
On the opening lap, it was clear Ferrari was eager to leave Mercedes in the dust. Sebastian Vettel went straight past Hamilton and Rosberg while his team-mate, Raikkonen, followed Vettel and did the same. A little farther back, Ricciardo & Bottas made contact, leaving Ricciardo slightly airbourne. Rosberg & Hamilton battled it out behind the Ferrari's and Rosberg got the advantage, with Hamilton ending up running off the track and into some gravel. This pushed the driver all the way back to 10th from his original starting position on Pole. Not a good start to the race for him.
On Lap 19, Kimi Raikkonen witnessed a piece of his front wing come flying off of his Ferrari without any warning. He told the team over the radio what had happened and the team was quick to get a new front wing ready. He pitted and got it fixed but that was only the first of his mechanical issues during this race.
Only 1 lap later, Pastor Maldonado & Sergio Perez got into an intense battle while Perez was passing the Lotus drivers. Maldonado didn't quite move over enough and ended up colliding with Perez, sending him into the dirt after a spin. While Perez was able to go on, he later retired on lap 54 due to brake issues. Maldonado was given 2 penalty points and a 5-Second-Time-Penalty for causing the collision.
Meanwhile in the pits, Lotus found themselves in more trouble after an unsafe release. Grosjean almost crashed into Massa while leaving the pits and ended up with a 5-Second-Time-Penalty and 2 penalty points to his license as well.
Nico Hulkenberg was the first driver to retire from the race. As he headed down the short straight right before turn 1, his front wing suddenly collapsed and flew under his car. It was smashed into bits, causing debris to fly towards Kvyat who was behind him. Hulkenberg lost front suspension mobility and went flying into a tyre-barrier, narrowly missing Bottas who was in front of him. Hulkenberg got out of the car, uninjured, but unfortunately it was a bad ending for the Force India team, especially with Perez later retiring as well.
in the later laps around 48 & 49 there was a slight collision between Hamilton and Ricciardo with the two touching wheels and bits flying off Hamilton's front wing, which he ended up needing changed. Hamilton was given a Drive-Through-Penalty for this and also 2 penalty points.
Sebastian Vettel continued to impress as he lead the race, something we haven't seen since the beginning of the year. However, for Raikkonen things were soon to be over at Hungaroring. He told the team over radio that there seemed to be something wrong with the car and the team was quick to tell him that they'd lost the MGU-K. This meant he was losing performance and speed. He later went to the pits as the engine seemed to die down. The pit-crew managed to restart the car, but Kimi unfortunately retired on lap 57.
Both Bottas and Rosberg suffered late-race tyre punctures. They'd been in the top 10, battling for points. Bottas ended up back in 14th and Rosberg 8th. Meanwhile, more penalties were being handed out. Verstappen got a Drive-Through-Penalty for speeding under the safety car after Hulkenberg's crash and also 3 penalty points to his license. Maldonado got a Drive-Through-Penalty for speeding in Pit-Lane and also a 10-Second-Time-Penalty for overtaking during the safety car. Daniil Kvyat received a 10-Second-Time-Penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. He also got 2 penalty points added to his license.
While it was a good day for Max Verstappen, finishing in 4th, it was an unfortunate end for his team-mate, Carlos Sainz, who retired on lap 62 due to loss of power from an engine problem.
Sebastian Vettel went on to win the race and he dedicated his win to Jules Bianchi. Daniil Kvyat got his first podium, finishing second ahead of third-place-finisher & team-mate, Daniel Ricciardo, who won the race last year. McLaren also had reason to celebrate as both cars finished in the points with Alonso in 5th and Button in 9th.
Now we have quite a few weeks before the race at Spa in Belgium, which is always a crowd favorite.
Here are the race results.
RESULTS:
1. Sebastian Vettel / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany / + 25 Points
2. Daniil Kvyat / Red Bull-Renault / Russia / + 18 Points
3. Daniel Ricciardo / Red Bull-Renault / Australia / + 15 Points
4. Max Verstappen / Toro Rosso-Renault / Netherlands / + 12 Points
5. Fernando Alonso / McLaren-Honda / Spain / + 10 Points
6. Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain / + 8 Points
7. Romain Grosjean / Lotus-Mercedes / France / + 6 Points
8. Nico Rosberg / Mercedes-Mercedes / Germany / + 4 Points
9. Jenson Button / McLaren-Honda / Great Britain / + 2 Points
10. Marcus Ericsson / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden / + 1 Point
11. Felipe Nasr / Sauber-Ferrari / Brazil
12. Felipe Massa / Williams-Mercedes / Brazil
13. Valtteri Bottas / Williams-Mercedes / Finland
14. Pastor Maldonado / Lotus-Mercedes / Venezuela
15. Roberto Merhi / Manor-Ferrari / Spain
16. Will Stevens / Manor-Ferrari / Great Britain
RETIRED - Carlos Sainz / Toro Rosso-Renault / Spain / Engine
RETIRED - Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland / Engine
RETIRED - Sergio Perez / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico / Brakes
RETIRED - Nico Hulkenberg / Force India-Mercedes / Germany / Accident/Front Wing
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Article Written By: Amy Hawk
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