Hungarian GP race review: Lewis Hamilton triumphs at Hungaroring

Romain Grosjean

Later on, this move was not the only overtaking manoeuvre Grosjean executed that provoked a controversial response. He drove around the outside of Felipe Massa going into T4, which was a spectacular move by anyone’s standards, but the stewards (playing by the book, I suppose) decreed that all four wheels exceeded the tracks limits and as such, he received a drive-through penalty.

Even Massa afterwards stated that it shouldn’t have been illegal, as Grosjean had already passed Massa before he left the track, and hardly gained an advantage, but the penalty still stood.

Up at the front again, Hamilton overtook Webber on the exit of T2 and the entry of T3 around the outside – for the second time this race. This was a great example of two great drivers racing fairly and not crashing into one another.

Eventually, Hamilton did enough to gain a victory here this past weekend, his fourth on Hungarian soil and his first win this season for his new Mercedes team. He was undeniably happy after winning four out of the last seven races here, and he stated that he is glad to have won the race before the annual summer break.

Raikkonen and Vettel diced it out on the last few laps, with Kimi in second on 30-odd lap old tyres and Sebastian in third, chasing down his friend and perhaps future team-mate with much fresher rubber strapped to his ‘Bull. At one point, when Vettel was trying a move on the outside of T4, he stated that he was not given enough room. What does he expect? Kimi to move out-of-the-way and let him past, like he has been used to in the past? No. They are fighting for position, of course Kimi is going to be defensive.

Of course, that does not mean a driver doesn’t have to leave a gap for the other, but it doesn’t have to be easy. Going by onboard footage, Raikkonen drove the normal line, which leaves little room for driving around the outside anyway, so Vettel must have just been caught up in the heat of the battle with the ferocious Finn.

Both Bottas and Rosberg retiring during the race with obvious engine failure, which is not a surprise in the incredibly hot conditions. Gutierrez and both Force India’s also retired, with random mechanical glitches.

At the finish, Hamilton came out on top, with Raikkonen second, Vettel third, Webber came home in a very respectable fourth and Alonso finished with his starting position of fifth.

Overall, it was a relatively enjoyable race. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would, but there were some wonderful overtaking moves and some great racing.

Hamilton drove a great race in (apparently) not an ideal car, but I think this weekend’s win will add fuel to his fire and hopefully ignited a true championship charge if Mercedes can keep up their rate of development for the future races, starting with Belgium on the weekend of the last week of August.

Raikkonen will no doubt have mixed feelings with the Hungarian GP. He has finished second here so many times, and he has five second places this season alone, so will he ever be the bride again, and not the bridesmaid? I have no doubt he will win at least one more race this season, perhaps his favourite race, which is coming up next in the championship.

Either way, he is the King of Consistency, and championships can easily be won with podiums alone and not many wins. Another 18 points to add to the tally has taken him ahead of Alonso in the championship, albeit only by one point, and second behind Vettel.

Button did well this weekend, as did Webber, on different strategies to the cars at the front. The McLaren looks a little more competitive than of recent races, and hopefully the team can speed up the rate of development for a late-blooming car.

Thank you for reading my race review and, as usual, if you liked it, please show it! Share it with anyone you wish. I hope you have a good summer break.