Formula 1 at the Hungaroring: overshadowed by heated Verstappen and paralyzing strategy

With a one-two for Ferrari and an overjoyed Sebastian Vettel, who despite technical problems but with the help of his teammate Kimi Raikkonen was able to drive home the victory, Formula 1 goes into the four-week summer break. Strategy was the key to success on the Hungaroring, which is difficult to overtake, and for the teams this meant maintaining patience and strong nerves.

from B.Fleckenstein

After his victory at Silverstone, Lewis Hamilton was able to catch up in the battle for the world championship and was exactly one point behind leader Sebastian Vettel before this race. So the tug-of-war between the rivals continued with the start of the second half of the racing season.

Qualifying revealed the strengths of the Ferraris
The dominance of the Mercedes drivers presented in the last race was already wiped out in qualifying. Ferrari had the advantage over Mercedes on this track with its slow corners and better downforce.

If surprising placings caused a stir in Q1 - such as Max Verstappen's (Red Bull) second place - Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel almost effortlessly secured pole and the first row of the grid ahead of his stablemate Kimi Räikkönen. The Silver Arrows - Bottas ahead of Hamilton - qualified for the second row of the grid. Then followed the Red Bull team with Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo. The Renault drivers were particularly convincing in Q1, with Nico Hülkenberg pulling out an excellent result with seventh place at the end. Too bad he had to start from 12th place, penalized due to a gearbox change. McLaren Honda delivered the best qualifying of the season, which was reflected in the starting list. Starting position 7 for Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandorne had qualified right next to him. Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) did well to finish 9th on the grid, while Jolyon Palmer benefited from his teammate's penalty and was able to start the race from 10th place. Paul di Resta came in as a substitute driver for Felipe Massa, who had fallen ill.

Early race retirement of Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
Ferrari and Mercedes got away well at the start. The Red Bull drivers behind them wanted to be in the race for the win and pressed the Mercedes from both sides. In the second turn Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) passed Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) on the inside, but his own teammate hit him in the following 180° left turn and took him off the track. Daniel Ricciardo returned to the track with a destroyed radiator, which led to a spin and an early retirement. That meant safety car on the very first lap and a 10-second penalty for the culprit, Max Verstappen (Red Bull). This meant that a possible podium finish for Red Bull was a long way off.

After that, the race flattened out somewhat and changes in positions hardly took place. The only notable change was Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso), who gained four places after the start.

On lap 21, Romain Grosjean (Haas) came into the pits for a tire change due to low tire pressure. Unfortunately, the left rear wheel was not properly fixed and Grosjean was therefore forced to retire from the race a few meters after the pit exit.

On lap 25, Sebastian Vettel reported to the pits that the left front wheel was pulling to the left. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, was struggling with radio communication between himself and his pit. The Mercedes duo, meanwhile, were closing in on the Ferraris in the lead.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]