29/07/2018
NEWS STORY
Not that long ago, F1 let out a collective sigh when it arrived at the Hungaroring... and with good reason.
The circuit was notorious for the lack of overtaking, and though some pointed to Nigel Mansell's wonder move - with a little help from Stefan Johansson - on Ayrton Senna in 1989, others pointed to Thierry Boutsen's win a year later, the Belgian making full use of the circuit's characteristics as he held off the likes of Senna, Berger, Patrese and Mansell.
Tactics such as Boutsen's that day can produce great races - witness Gilles Villeneuve's epic performance at Jarama in 1981 - but more often than not they lead to processional bores.
Today's Grand Prix can go either way, we are either in for a thriller or a yawnfest.
The crazy weather conditions has led to a mixed up grid, not least the front row, which rather than being all-red is all-silver, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas having seized the opportunity and taken a thoroughly well-deserved - and much-needed - front row lock-out.
We say "much-needed", because, this race really can be decided in the first few corners.
With their speed advantage the Ferraris must take the lead right from the start, otherwise their hopes will rely on Mercedes suffering technical failures, a better tyre strategy or indeed the W09 being harder on its tyres.
With sunshine and high temperatures expected, Mercedes will be aware that it faces a tough challenge, however, it will also know that the characteristics of the track, providing its drivers make good starts, will allow for one to ride shotgun for the other.
At the same time, if both Ferraris can get ahead, Kimi Raikkonen will no doubt be called on to allow Sebastian Vettel to pull away.
No disrespect to Hamilton - as if we'd dare - Hockenheim-style heroics are not quite as easy at the Hungaroring, therefore those drivers starting out of position - yes, that means you Max, and you (again) Daniel - will have a tough task on their hands.
The last couple of races have spoiled us, as did yesterday's crazy qualifying session, and while we all want to see this continue today, pretty much all depends on those first few corners.
In the last few years, even though it is the same circuit, the quality of the racing at the Hungaroring has improved and as a result it is one the most popular events on the calendar, let's hope that today's race continues in this fashion.
Of course, yesterday's lottery means that Toro Rosso is essentially best of the rest, though Carlos Sainz will be seeking a good result as he looks to secure a drive for 2019.
On this most difficult of circuits, the Haas duo will first off need to keep away from one another at the start, before turning their attention to the threat from behind and the challenge ahead.
Of course, we're looking at all this from a doom and gloom point of view - aware of the track's history, the perfect weather conditions and the fact that the front runners won't want to take any unnecessary risks this afternoon, especially once the field has settled after the first lap. However, there is every chance that those starting further back, might want to make names for themselves.
One team starting well out of position is Force India, which has enough problems of its own, and with potential new owners in the wings what better way to convince them to stump up the cash whilst also saying farewell and thanks to Vijay Mallya.
As in Germany, Pirelli has skipped a compound, bringing the Mediums, softs and ultras used at Hockenheim. However, as in Germany and Silverstone the temperatures are increasing which will work in favour of Ferrari and against Mercedes.
Quickest strategy, according to Pirelli, is a one-stopper; starting on ultrasofts for 22 laps, then mediums to the end. Nearly as quick: start on softs for 27 laps and then mediums to the end. Alternatively, ultrasofts for 22 laps then softs to the end. A two-stopper (with higher ultrasoft degradation) could work as follows: two stints of 16 laps on ultrasofts, followed by a final stint on softs to the end. The pit stop window for ultrasoft is from laps 18-26 (assuming similar conditions to FP2 on Friday).
A late blow sees Lance Stroll forced to start from the pitlane after Williams changed his front wing following his Q2 crash yesterday. To make matters worse, it was the new wing, and since there is no replacement he will need to revert to the old wing.
The pitlane opens and one by one the drivers head out... all except Stroll.
Ahead of the national anthem there is a minute's silence for Sergio Marchionne, it brings back memories of that heart-breaking tribute here a couple of years back to the late Jules Bianchi.
Due to yesterday's crazy qualifying, drivers have free choice in terms of tyres this afternoon.
Ahead of the warm-up lap, the air temperature is 33 degrees C, while the track temperature is 57 degrees it is hot.
Those 617 metres from the grid to Turn 1 are surely going to be the longest 617 metres ever or the shortest, depending on how things work out for the leaders.
Hamilton, Bottas, Raikkonen, Gasly, Verstappen, Hartley, Magnussen, Grosjean, Ericsson and Perez start on ultras. The rest, including Vettel starting from 4th and Sainz 5th - are on softs, while Stroll starts from the pitlane on mediums. Other than Vettel and Sainz, Alonso, starting from 11th, is the highest starter on the softs.
They head off on the warm-up lap. Verstappen is advised of his rivals tyres strategies. Ricciardo is advised the track temperature could reach 62 degrees but fall to 55.
They're away. Strong starts from the Mercedes duo and Raikkonen, while Vettel is a little sluggish getting off the line and is almost passed by Sainz.
Hamilton leads into T1, with Bottas behind, the Finn having Raikkonen on his outside and Vettel looking to move to the inside. Behind, Verstappen leaves his braking very, very late and gets through on the inside of Sainz, the two appearing to touch, with Gasly following the Dutch youngster through.
On the run to T2 the Ferraris are side-by-side and as they go into T3 Vettel goes around the outside of his teammate, almost picking off Bottas in the process, however the Finn holds his line.
At the end of lap 1, it's: Hamilton, Bottas, Vettel, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Gasly, Magnussen, Sainz, Hartley and Hulkenberg. Grosjean has dropped to 12th and Ricciardo 16th.
Leclerc's race is over before it has begun, the Sauber stopped on the pit straight with some smoke billowing from the rear.
Ricciardo is advised he might left-front have contact damage. The Australian isn't sure if it's wing or tyre. Replay shows him clashing with Ericsson at the first corner, while Leclerc was sandwiched by the Force Indias and actually hit by Perez.
As he builds a lead of 2.1s, Hamilton posts a fastest lap (22.893).
"There's quite a big vibration from the left-front," warns Ricciardo. "I'll keep you posted." He is told to stay out.
Despite his issues, Ricciardo is battling with Vandoorne for 13th, the Red Bull attempting a cheeky move around the outside at T2 but running out of track.
Next time around Ricciardo nails Vandoorne at T1, while Verstappen shouts "no power, no power" as he slows and slips down the order.
Indeed as the Dutch youngster parks his car at T6, the VSC is deployed.
Within the lap the VSC is withdrawn again.
Replay reveals Verstappen has access to a wide vocabulary of naughty words, as he reveals his feelings on the Renault power unit.
Meanwhile, Ericsson has pitted and switched to mediums.
Again Ricciardo is wheel-to-wheel, this time with Alonso, who was seemingly caught asleep by Grosjean at the end of the VSC period.
Ricciardo finally passes Alonso and though the McLaren driver fights back there is little point. The Australian is up to 11th.
Check out our Sunday gallery from the Hungaroring, here.
After 9 laps, Hamilton's lead is up to 4.2s while Vettel hangs on to the rear wing of Bottas. Fourth-placed Raikkonen is 7.7s clear of Gasly.
Raikkonen wants a drink, but he is repeatedly told it is not working. Looks like a long, thirsty afternoon for The Iceman.
Ricciardo makes short work of Grosjean to take his Red Bull into the last of the point scoring positions.
As Hamilton builds a 5.1s lead, Ferrari really does need to apply the pressure on the Mercedes, especially in these temperatures.
At which point Vettel posts a PB (23.452).
Ricciardo passes Hulkenberg to claim 9th... the Australian is a man on a mission.
Telling his team he has no grip and fears a crash, Hulkenberg is told that everything is OK.
Ricciardo sweeps past his good friend Hartley. "Nice job," he is told, "next one Sainz."
Raikkonen pits at the end of lap 14, the Finn rejoining, following an issue with the left-rear, in 6th behind Magnussen. The strategy is similar to that at Hockenheim.
A new fastest lap from Hamilton (22.539), as Bottas pits in reaction to Raikkonen. The Finn rejoins in 4th.
Ricciardo passes Sainz for seventh, which means Raikkonen is his next target.
In clean air, Ricciardo goes quickest (22.397) as Vettel ups his pace in an attempt to make Hamilton push harder. Raikkonen passes Magnussen for 5th.
"Another good lap Lewis, keep 'em coming."
Now Raikkonen goes quickest, the Finn posting 22.046 as he closes to within 1.5s of Gasly.
As Ricciardo hunts down Magnussen, down in 11th, Grosjean is not making any serious progress.
Ocon is told to push up to Vandoorne.
Ricciardo is all over Magnussen, but the Dane doesn't make it easy.
Ferrari reveals that Raikkonen had rubber in his brake inlet hence the slow stop.
The gap between Hamilton and Vettel remains at 8s.
Finally Ricciardo is past Magnussen, going around the outside in T2 and getting the slingshot into T3. Great driving from both.
"We are on Plan C," Vettel is advised, while Hamilton is told to "keep extending".
Raikkonen passes Gasly to take fourth and set about closing the 5.9s gap to Bottas.
Hamilton's lead is now down to 6.3s.
"Fellas, this is pretty crap," says Hulkenberg.
Perez pits at the end of lap 22 for softs, rejoining in 18th (of 18).
A mistake by Vettel sees the gap increase to 6.6s again.
Hulkenberg pits at the end of lap 23, the German switching to mediums and rejoining in 14th.
"OK Lewis, it won't be long now, just keep your head up."
Hartley pits at the end of lap 24, while next time around Hamilton stops. The world champion switches to softs and rejoins in second, 13.2s down on Vettel.
Sainz also pits, dropping from 8th to 12th in the process.
A bold move - we'd expect nothing less - sees Ricciardo pass Gasly for 5th.
"Lewis has just pitted," Bottas is told, "Seb is staying out for another 15 or 20 laps, he is still around your pit window but currently held up in traffic."
Grosjean pits at the end of lap 30, rejoining in 12th.
"Still gaining on Bottas," Vettel is told, "you are faster than Hamilton."
Indeed, the gap to Hamilton has increased to 14.5s.
Magnussen pits at the end of lap 31, the Dane rejoining in 9th on softs.
Raikkonen closes on Bottas at a rate of knots, the Finn now just 0.9s down on his countryman.
Gasly pits at the end of lap 32, the Frenchman rejoining in 6th on softs.
The gap between Vettel and Hamilton drops to 12.1s, as the German winds his way through the back-markers.
"I need your help now," says Vettel, "I need some flags." "Understood," comes the reply. His lead is now down to 10.2s.
After 37 laps, it's: Vettel, Hamilton, Bottas, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Gasly, Alonso, Vandoorne, Magnussen and Ocon. Though Vettel, Ricciardo, Alonso, Vandoorne and Ocon have yet to stop.
Raikkonen pits at the end of lap 38, rejoining in 5th on used softs, as Bottas posts a new fastest lap (21.842).
Next time around, teammate Vettel stops, the German rejoining in third 1.3s down on Bottas having lost time with his left-rear. However, he's now on ultras.
Alonso has also pitted, rejoining in 9th, while Ocon stops and rejoins in 14th.
Vettel is all over Bottas on his fresh rubber, as Raikkonen posts a new fastest lap (21.405).
Vandoorne pits at the end of lap 40, leaving Ricciardo as the only driver still to stop.
Another fastest lap from Raikkonen (21.381) as he complains about Stroll going slow on the racing line.
Raikkonen goes quicker and quicker for lap after lap, as Vettel struggles to close in on Bottas.
Hamilton complains of traffic.
Ricciardo finally pits at the end of lap 44, the Red Bull driver rejoining in 5th on the ultras.
Now 8.7s clear at the front, Hamilton posts a PB (21.808).
"He's going to the end," Vettel is told of Bottas, "you need to pass him on track."
Ricciardo goes quickest (20.012) as he seeks to close the 13.9s gap to Raikkonen.
Grosjean asks for information on the race situation, he is clearly unhappy to hear that McLaren's strategy has put the Woking cars 8th and 9th.
Lap 48 sees Vettel post his own personal fastest lap of the race (22.015), but he remains 2.5s adrift of Bottas.
After 50 laps (of 70), it's: Hamilton, Bottas, Vettel, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Gasly, Magnussen, Alonso, Vandoorne and Sainz.
The VSC is deployed as Vandoorne suddenly slows and parks the McLaren at T1. Bitter luck for the Belgian.
The Mercedes crew is out in the pitlane, but neither driver stops.
On the other hand, Hulkenberg does pit, just as the VSC is withdrawn.
If nothing else, Vandoorne's bad luck is Grosjean's good news, the Frenchman inheriting tenth.
Once again, Vettel ups the pressure on Bottas, closing to within 0.954s.
"My rears are starting to go," warns Bottas, which will be music to the ears of Vettel.
Indeed, Vettel is appraised of Bottas' tyre situation.
Check out our Sunday gallery from the Hungaroring, here.
However, with Raikkonen closing in, Ferrari faces a conundrum, should it allow the Finn through to attack Bottas.
"What happened to Stoffel," asks Alonso. The Spaniard is advised it was a gearbox issue that isn't relevant to him.
A combination of the fluffed pit stop and now the dirty air means that Vettel is now 0.6s down on Bottas and Raikkonen is 0.6s down on the German.
"He's hanging on in there, he's doing a really good job," Hamilton is told when he enquires after his teammate's tyres.
Vettel is asked how much faster he could go in clear air, "about 1.5s," he replies.
Finally Vettel makes his move, however, as he passes the Finn in T2 the Mercedes driver locks-up and hits the rear of the Ferrari, damaging his nose in the process. As Bottas goes off and drops to fourth, both Ferraris are through.
While Vettel is told his tyres are fine, Bottas appears to be pitting... but he doesn't.
However, with Hamilton 23.5s up the road it's too little too late for Ferrari.
Some are questioning whether Vettel's move was fully legal or not, guess we'll have to wait on the stewards.
Indeed, the incident is to be investigated.
Ricciardo is alongside Bottas heading into T1, as they take the corner, the Finn cannot stop his car with its wing damage and the two collide. They are both able to continue.
The stewards are to investigate that incident also.
Alonso asks about the Ferraris, but it's not clear why.
Ricciardo is back challenging Bottas, and though the Finn is told to give back the position, he makes the Red Bull driver work for it.
Meanwhile, Hamilton takes the win, and extends his championship lead to 24 points.
Behind the Briton, it's: Vettel, Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Bottas, Gasly, Magnussen, Alonso, Sainz and Grosjean.
Hartley is eleventh, ahead of Hulkenberg, Ocon, Perez, Ericsson, Sirotkin and Stroll.
Out of his car, Hamilton runs to his crew, that 24-point advantage a perfect way to head into the summer break.
"That's a good way to go into the break guys," says Hamilton over his radio. "have a good rest and come back strong."
"Difficult in the last stint, but managed to get past," says Vettel. "Grazie!"
Told he had a very good race, Raikkonen replies: "I had speed I could have used," an obvious referral to that time spent behind his teammate.
"What a beautiful day, what a great crowd we've had," says Hamilton to Paul di Resta. "We came knowing that the Ferraris would be real quick this weekend, but to come out with these points we'll definitely take as a bonus. We deserved it.
"It was hot and physical," he continues, "but obviously I was able to manage the pace. I thinks it's the last part here - where I celebrate with my team - that really kills me.
"I'm not a beach kind of guy," he replies when asked about the break, "I shall spend my time keeping fit, doing activities, getting strong for the second half of the season."
"It was a tough race," adds Vettel. "Obviously we were out of position for the speed we have, I think we could go with Lewis today. I had a good start, which is surprising on the harder tyres, but it was a bit tricky knowing when to come in.
"Then we had a bit of an issue with the pit stop and came out behind Valtteri, and I realised right away that I couldn't get him because his tyres were fresh, so I was sitting back waiting for the last ten laps and it worked. His tyres were getting worse and worse and I knew how long they would last from my first stint, so I was confident I could get him at the end.
"Obviously, P2 is not what we really wanted this weekend, but I think it's the maximum we could get today.
Asked about the incident with Bottas - which needs no further investigation according to the stewards - he replies: "I was surprised, I was ahead and just trying to brake so I covered the inside line, not running too deep, and then I got a hit from behind so I wasn't sure what was going on. Then I looked in the mirrors and saw that Valtteri was there with Kimi. Luckily the car wasn't broken and we could carry on."
"I think this was the best we could hope for today," adds Raikkonen. "Far from ideal start. We kept up with Bottas but there was no chance to overtake at that point so the only option was to stop again.
"We got one place back, but it's far from ideal. We had pretty good speed today, but what can you do? We take the points and hope for the next one."
In the ante-room, Vettel uses his hands to replay the Bottas clash for Hamilton. "He locked-up," says the German. Raikkonen stares into space.
The investigation into the Bottas' clash with Ricciardo however continues.
Not the thriller we had hoped for, certainly compared to the couple of races that went before.
However, it sets us up nicely for the summer break, after which Hamilton and Vettel will be refreshed and ready to do battle over the nine remaining races, while Force India should have a new owner.
Enjoy the break... it will be over before you know it.
Check out our Sunday gallery from the Hungaroring, here.