Budapest: Lewis Hamilton suffered a dent in his championship hopes after rival Sebastian Vettel held off Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen to win the Hungarian Grand Prix Sunday. Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas finished third.
In his 50th race for Ferrari, the four-time champion Vettel, who started the day just a point ahead of Hamilton, increased his lead by another 13 after 11 of this year’s 20 races as the circus takes a now-traditional three-week European summer holiday before the Belgian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen finished fifth for Red Bull after surviving an opening lap collision with his teammate Daniel Ricciardo that saw the angry Australian forced into an early retirement, forcing the deployment of the Safety Car. Fernando Alonso finished sixth and recorded the fastest lap of the race for McLaren-Honda.
It was Ferrari’s first one-two in Hungary since 2004, when seven-time champion German Michael Schumacher triumphed ahead of Rubens Barrichello, the last season in which the race winner in Hungary went on to win the drivers’ title.
At turn two of the opening lap, the two Red Bulls collided when Verstappen over-steered into his teammate. After spinning and surviving, Australian Ricciardo immediately had to park his damaged car with fluid pouring. Verstappen was given a 10-second penalty.
As the race resumed, Hamilton attacked but Verstappen defended robustly. Verstappen led the race during the pit-stops before he finally pitted after 42 laps.
Under team orders, Bottas let Hamilton through on lap 47 to launch a charge at the Ferraris, reassured that he would be given back third if the Briton did not pass a Ferrari.
By lap 56, Hamilton was within a second of Raikkonen, but unable to close in the turbulent air without losing grip. As promised, on the final lap, he let Bottas through to take third.
Double point finish for FI
Sahara Force India registered yet another double point finish after Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon claimed a creditable eighth and ninth positions at the Hungarian Grand Prix here. By virtue of this show, Sahara Force India collected six points from the race and consolidate its fourth position at the Constructor’s standings with 101 points.
