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Defending champion Lewis Hamilton produced a trademark triumph of pace and panache to win the Hungarian Grand Prix yesterday ahead of Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg and replace him as leader of this year’s world title race.
Hamilton outpaced pole-sitter Rosberg at the start and then controlled the 70 laps with a mixture of speed and flawless judgement in sweltering heat at the Hungaroring circuit.
His victory completed a hat-trick of successes in consecutive races, was his outright record fifth in Hungary, his fifth of the season and the 48th of his career.
“The start was everything,” said Hamilton. “I got a good start and one of the Red Bulls was inside me so I was pressurised a lot into Turn One. But this is a great result for the team. What a day! The traffic was difficult to navigate, but it was an amazing race. A special thank you to the fans — you make this such a great event.”
Rosberg came home second ahead of Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull, four-time champion Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari and teenager Max Verstappen in the second Red Bull. Kimi Raikkonen was sixth in the second Ferrari ahead of two-time champion Fernando Alonso of McLaren and Carlos Sainz of Toro Rosso, Valtteri Bottas of Williams and Nico Hulkenberg who was 10th for Force India.
Hamilton’s win increased his points total to 192, six more than Rosberg as Ricciardo moved up to third.
“It was all down to the start in the end,” admitted Rosberg. “With Daniel on one side and Lewis on the other I was out of space and that was it really. It’s not possible to pass on this track. We have the next race coming up very quickly and it is my home race next weekend, the German Grand Prix, so bring it on,” he added.
After the deluge in Saturday’s qualifying, the race began in searing heat with air temperatures of 32 degrees Celsius and a track temperature of 52 degrees.
Hamilton made a flawless start to pull alongside Rosberg while Ricciardo surged forward on the outside in the run up to Turn One. Ricciardo attacked and briefly led before Hamilton responded as the front five squeezed through a sweeping trio of corners.
Rosberg, pushed back to third, fought back and emerged from the opening tussle back in second place ahead of the two Red Bulls, but struggling to match the pace of the defending champion. By lap 15, Hamilton was 2.5 seconds clear and the two Silver Arrows were striding away.
A phenomenal and fast out-lap from Hamilton put him in charge with Rosberg in pursuit, trimming the gap as he made best use of his fresh rubber. By lap 51 it was 1.8 seconds before Hamilton was held up when Esteban Gutierrez ignored blue flags. The stewards swiftly announced an investigation into the Mexican’s driving.
Results
1. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 1hr 40min 30.115sec, 2. Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes) at 1.977, 3. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Red Bull) 27.539, 4. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Ferrari) 28.213, 5. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull) 48.659, 6. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari) 49.044, 7. Fernando Alonso (ESP/McLaren) at 1 lap, 8. Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP/Toro Rosso) 1, 9. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Williams) 1, 10. Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Force India) 1, 11. Sergio Perez (MEX/Force India) 1, 12. Jolyon Palmer (GBR/Renault) 1, 13. Esteban Gutierrez (MEX/Haas) 1, 14. Romain Grosjean (FRA/Haas) 1, 15. Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Renault) 1, 16. Daniil Kvyat (RUS/Toro Rosso) 1, 17. Felipe Nasr (BRA/Sauber) 1, 18. Felipe Massa (BRA/Williams) at 2 laps, 19. Pascal Wehrlein (GER/Manor) 2, 20. Marcus Ericsson (SWE/Sauber) 2, 21. Rio Haryanto (INA/Manor) 2
Overall standings
Drivers: 1. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 192 pts, 2. Nico Rosberg (GER) 186, 3. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) 115, 4. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) 114, 5. Sebastian Vettel (GER) 110, 6. Max Verstappen (NED) 100, 7. Valtteri Bottas (FIN) 56, 8. Sergio Perez (MEX) 47, 9. Felipe Massa (BRA) 38, 10. Carlos Sainz Jr (ESP) 30, 11. Romain Grosjean (FRA) 28, 12. Nico Hulkenberg (GER) 27, 13. Fernando Alonso (ESP) 24, 14. Daniil Kvyat (RUS) 23, 15. Jenson Button (GBR) 13, 16. Kevin Magnussen (DEN) 6, 17. Pascal Wehrlein (GER) 1, 18. Stoffel Vandoorne (BEL) 1
Constructors: 1. Mercedes 378 pts,
2. Ferrari 224, 3. Red Bull 223, 4. Williams 94, 5. Force India 74, 6. Toro Rosso 45,
7. McLaren 38, 8. Haas 28, 9. Renault 6,
10. Manor 1
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