Ocon roars to maiden victory at thrilling Hungarian Grand Prix.
P1 – OCO
P2 – HAM
P3 – SAI
Lap 1 Drama
It was a wet n’ wild start to the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday as we saw five drivers eliminated in the first lap of the race, with many others hanging on by a thread.
The Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas triggered an unlucky chain reaction after locking up on Turn 1, crashing into Lando Norris and both Red Bulls of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen. Normally a wet weather aficionado, Lance Stroll locked up and crashed into Charles Leclerc and Daniel Ricciardo.
Bottas, Stroll, Norris, Leclerc, and Perez were forced to retire from the race as a result under obvious red flag conditions.
Podium Finishers & Disqualification Drama for Vettel
It appeared to be going in the way of polesitter Lewis Hamilton, whose title rival Max Verstappen was carrying heavy damage after the drama of Lap 1. Unfortunately, Mercedes made an uncharacteristic error in judging lap conditions at the restart.
It was an usual sight to see as Lewis Hamilton (and Lewis Hamilton alone) started on the track on intermediate tires, while the rest of the grid pitted for mediums. The Brit pitted a lap later, dropping him to the back of the pack.
Thanks to Mercedes error, the Alpine of Esteban Ocon soared to his maiden victory at the Hungaroring, despite best efforts from four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.
Vettel drove an excellent race, finishing in P2. Vettel was later disqualified from the race.
Lewis Hamilton soared from the back of the grid to the front, landing himself on a well-deserved P3 podium finish. Following Vettel’s DQ, Hamilton was promoted to P2, heading into the summer break leading the championship standings.
The Ferrari of Carlos Sainz lost his steady P3 position to Lewis Hamilton three laps before the checkered flag. The gut-wrenching defeat was short-lived, however, as Sainz was promoted to the podium following Vettel’s DQ.
Best of the Rest
Fernando Alonso finished behind Sainz in what was arguably the best day of the season for Alpine. The Spanish driver effectively ensured his teammate’s maiden win thanks to his expert defense against the charging Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.
The Alpha Tauri duo of Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda finished a respectable P6 and P7 for the team.
In what was yet another heartwarming story, William’s drivers Nicholas Latifi and George Russell gained the team’s first points since 2019.
The Red Bull of Max Verstappen rounded out the points despite hobbling to the finish with half of a car (literally).
Looking Ahead
It’s time for a well-deserved summer break! We’ll be back in a month’s time for the Belgian Grand Prix at the historic Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
