Mercedes' world champion Hamilton says Hungarian GP win is special because rivals Ferrari were expected to be quickest on Hungaroring track
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton with his trophy after winning the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring Circuit in Budapest yesterday. Pic/AFP
Lewis Hamilton put in an assured drive to win yesterday's Hungarian Grand Prix and open up a commanding lead over Sebastian Vettel at the top of the standings, as Formula One heads into its annual summer break.
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The Briton, who had started from pole, crossed the line 17 seconds ahead of Vettel with Kimi Raikkonen making it two Ferraris on the podium
in third.
Yesterday's win was the 67th of Hamilton's and sixth around the 4.3-kilometer long Hungaroring on the outskirts of Budapest. Built on the back of a masterful lap in the wet in Saturday's qualifying that gave him pole position at a track Mercedes had been expected to struggle at, it allows him to extend his lead over his German rival to 24 points in the overall standings.
"We came here knowing that the Ferrari would be real quick this weekend," Hamilton, who went from 14th to first last week in Hockenheim even as Vettel crashed, said after getting out of his car. "But to come out with these points, I think we'll definitely take it as a bonus."
Sluggish Sebastian
Vettel had started only fourth after struggling slightly in the wet conditions of qualifying. He opted for a different strategy to Hamilton's, starting on the soft tyres compared to ultra-soft tyres for his rival, which hinged on him being able to chase his Mercedes rival down in the closing laps. He made a good start, vaulting up to third in the opening laps. He moved up to second after Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas made his stop. But traffic, a slow pitstop and a collision with Bottas as he attempted to pass him late in the race, set him back.
"It was tricky knowing when to come in and then we had an issue at the pitstop," said Vettel. "P2 is not what we really wanted, but the maximum we could get today."
Bottas finished fifth after another collision in the closing laps with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, who fought his way up to fourth from 12th on the grid.
The Finn was penalised ten seconds for the contact but kept fifth. Pierre Gasly took an impressive fifth for Honda-powered Toro Rosso, ahead of Kevin Magnussen's Haas and Fernando Alonso in the McLaren. Carlos Sainz in the Renault and the second Haas of Romain Grosjean rounded out the top ten.
Nightmare for Force India
Force India's nightmare weekend, over which they entered administration and are set for new ownership, ended with Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez finishing 13th and 14th, respectively. Formula One now breaks for its annual four-week holiday, only returning for the next race at Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps on August 26th.
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