Formula 1 - 2017

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HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX: VETTEL HEADS FERRARI ONE-TWO

Sebastian Vettel powered to victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix, followed home by his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen to record the team’s second 0ne-two of this season, their first double at the venue since 2004.

It was a tense grand prix, but in the end a processional race as overtaking was virtually impossible among the front-runners. But Vettel’s victory was no walk in the park as he struggled with an off-centre steering wheel, while Raikkonen closed in on him in the latter part of the race.

In the end the German managed the race well, increasing his pace when he needed to and thus claimed his fourth win of the season and increase his championship lead to 14 points.

Vettel said on the podium after the race,  “I am over the moon. It may not have looked like it but it was a difficult race. I had my hands full from the start. Something went wrong. The steering started to go sideways. Towards the end it came back when I had a cushion but I had to stay focused the whole race.”

“It seemed to get worse then I stayed off the kerb. It wasn’t easy, I didn’t do a favour to Kimi who could go faster but I didn’t have the pace.  At the end it did come back to it, but I really had to stay focused the whole race. I was hoping for a couple of laps to breathe but it didn’t come,” added Vettel.

Raikkonen played the team game, although he made it clear over the radio that he had pace in hand to go faster and challenge for the lead. But the Ferrari pitwall ignored his calls, with the team’s big boss Sergio Marchionne looking on and held station – in the end it was an inspired and correct call.

Raikkonen summed up his race, “I had a great car today. I got a good start but didn’t want to force the issue. I was following for 71 laps. It’s not ideal, obviously I want to win. It’s not easy to overtake and especially when it’s a team-mate, you take more care. At least the team is happy, that’s the main thing.”

The Ferrari pair held station despite sustained pressure from Lewis Hamilton who closed the gap rapidly and pursued hard, but this generation of Formula 1 cars is not conducive to racing at close range on the Hungaroring.

Hamilton simply had no answer despite the apparent extra pace he had in the Mercedes and on the final lap he slowed done enough to allow teammate Valtteri Bottas through to finish third as agreed with the team.

Earlier they ordered the Finn to allow his teammate past to challenge the Ferrari duo with the proviso that they would swap him back if the Briton was unable to get by either of the red cars. Hamilton did as agreed and thus ended fourth.

Bottas said afterwards, “I was getting a little bit worried as the gap was increasing. I was really struggling with the back-markers. Thanks to Lewis for keeping the promise in the end and letting me by. I gave him the shot to try and get past the Ferraris. It’s a shame as we had good pace today but with the starting position we couldn’t finish any better.”

Max Verstappen finished fifth, but was the villain in Red Bull’s afternoon which promised so much but in the end they were left to ask: what if?

The Dutchman was handed a ten seconds penalty for punting off his teammate Daniel Ricciardo on the opening lap in Turn 2 as they battled for the same piece of tarmac. The Australian’s race ended on the spot and prompted a safety car period for the first five laps of the race.

It was a shame for the energy drinks outfit whose race car was very strong, with Verstappen running fourth for the first half of the race and, then after his penalty, was easily the quickest car on track in the latter half with fresh soft tyres.

In the end Verstappen was 13 seconds adrift of the winner and only a couple of seconds down on the Mercedes pair ahead of him.

It was a great afternoon for Fernando Alonso and McLaren who finished sixth after an eventful afternoon, including the fastest lap of the race which took him and his team by surprise.

Carlos Sainz was seventh in the Toro Rosso, followed by Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon who stayed out of trouble to finish eighth and ninth respectively for Force India, ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne who made it two McLarens in the top ten.

Blow-By-Blow Report

Pole position man Vettel got away comfortably in the lead at the start, with Raikkonen slotting into second ahead of Valtteri Bottas.

Hamilton though was under pressure from both Red Bulls. Verstappen got past the Briton as they exited Turn One, while Ricciardo slipped down the inside of the Mercedes to take P5 as the field streamed towards Turn 2.

Ricciardo attacked his team-mate on the outside but Verstappen had a small lock-up and that caused him to momentarily lose control. He slid into the side of Ricciardo’s car and the Australian went off track.

Ricciardo tried to rejoin but the side and rear right of his car were too damaged and he spun in the middle of the track, causing the following cars to take evasive action. The Safety Car was deployed.

When racing resumed Vettel held his lead in front of Raikkonen and Bottas. The stewards though had placed Verstappen under investigation and as the racing began again he was handed a 10-second time penalty for causing the collision with his team-mate.

At the front, Vettel began to carve out a gap and 15 laps into the 70-lap race he was 2.9s ahead of Raikkonen and just over six seconds clear of Bottas in third.

The race then settled as the gaps at the front stabilised. That situation changed on lap 26 when Vettel began complain that his steering was “hanging to the left”. Raikkonen closed to within 1.3s of his team-mate as the pit stop window opened.

Bottas was the first of the front runners to stop, at the end of lap 30, and he emerged in fifth after taking on soft tyres. Hamilton followed a lap later and then Vettel pitted from the lead to take on soft tyres.

Raikkonen was the next in and he almost managed to pass his team-mate in the stop. The Finn rejoined just behind his team-mate and was quickly on the radio to lament the fact that he felt he had the pace to stay out and carve out time that might have put him in front of the German after his stop.

The situation began to become pressing the race neared the lap 40 mark, with Raikkonen questioning Vettel’s pace and warning that Bottas was getting closer. He was told Vettel had a handling issue. Meanwhile, championship leader Vettel was told to avoid hitting kerbs.

By lap 44, Bottas was 1.8s behind Raikkonen, with Hamilton also in hot pursuit, just 1.1s behind his team-mate. At the front Vettel was 1.5s clear of Raikkonen.

On lap 46 Bottas pulled over in Turn 1 to allow Hamilton through to attack Raikkonen and on lap 51 he got to within DRS range of the Finn. Bottas, meanwhile, was told that if his team-mate could not pass the Ferrari that Hamilton would make way for him to retake third place.

The Briton was given five laps to make a move and then, when Raikkonen proved difficult to follow, he was handed another five to pass the Finn. By lap 63 he was still trailing the Finn and awaiting “a mistake” from the Ferrari driver.

It didn’t come, however, and as the final laps counted down Hamilton drifted out to more than two seconds behind Raikkonen.

Further back Verstappen was closing in on Bottas and with a few laps remaining was right on the Finn’s tail. The threat from the Red Bull suggested that Hamilton might not be asked to cede third back to Bottas but on the final lap Hamilton pulled across and allowed Bottas to slip through to third.

Verstappen almost pounced on the move but in the end Hamilton crossed the line in fourth place, just 0.3s behind the Mercedes man.

Fernando Alonso took a superb sixth place for McLaren with Carlos Sainz a very solid seventh for Toro Rosso.

Eighth place went to Force India’s Sergio Perez, who had climbed from 13th on the grid, while ninth place went to the Mexican’s team-mate Esteban Ocon.

The final point was taken by Stoffel Vandoorne in the second McLaren.

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KMAG TO HULK: SUCK MY BALLS!

An on track clash between Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg and Haas driver Kevin Magnussen during the Hungarian Grand Prix turned ugly when the two came face-to-face at the mandatory drivers’ post-race media briefing.

The duo slugged it out during the race for 11th place, and when Hulkenberg tried to overtake Magnussen on the outside of Turn 2, the Haas driver hung him out to dry and forced the Renault onto the grass verge. The Dane was given a five second penalty for the incident and two penalty points on his licence.

After the race, Hulkenberg confronted Magnussen in the media pen and the following exchange took place:

Quote

Hulkenberg: “Once again, the most unsporting driver of the grid.”
Magnussen: “Suck my balls man.”
Hulkenberg: “You did a really good job.”

Hulkenberg had earlier clashed with Magnussen’s teammate Romain Grosjean, the pair clattering into one another on the opening lap, but the stewards did not portion blame after investigating the incident.

Magnussen who saw that incident radioed his team saying, “If you can do what Hulkenberg did to Romain, then it’s going to be a dirty race.”

Speaking to NBC after the media pen altercation, Hulkenberg said, “I congratulated him for being the most unsporting driver of the whole grid once again. When it comes to racing, he’s just nasty. Hard defending is fine but when he does this, it’s just ruthless and sending people into the wall.

“What he did there, opening up the steering, making me run wide, it’s just being an asshole basically. We had really nice words, he said [suck my balls], that was his return, so it’s quite interesting with him,” added Hulkenberg.

Haas team chief Guenther Steiner said of the spat, “I sum it up like: Nico was the guy who destroyed Romain’s race, and then we get a penalty with Kevin.

“Kevin did the right thing and stood his point there, in my opinion. Why would he lift? It’s a tough battle. Nico went to the stewards to ask for a harsher penalty for Kevin, which I think is childish, immature…”

“Whoever has done that? I’m almost speechless. I respect Nico as a driver and as a human being but what happened there — you don’t ask for a more severe penalty for somebody,” added Steiner.

After serving his penalty Magnussen finished 13th, while Hulkenberg retired from the race with one lap to go.

MIKA: What I would love more than anything in F1 is for the drivers to stop being a bunch of whining cray babies after each race. Seriously, trying to post stuff after a race, sorting through so many articles that are chock full of drivers blaming one another... Gone are the days or real racing men. These guys are overpaid to whine. 

 

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VERSTAPPEN: I APOLOGISE TO DANIEL AND ALSO TO THE TEAM

It was a case of two into one won’t go, as Red Bull teammates Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo collided on the opening lap of the Hungarian Grand Prix which ended the Australian’s race on the spot while the Dutchman finished fifth despite a penalty for his role in the incident.

There was no doubt that Verstappen braked too late and because that slid and slammed into Ricciardo’s car as they battled for position going into Turn 2, a move the stewards did not like and handed him a ten seconds penalty which he took during his pitstop.

But credit to the teenager for admitting his mistake, “I apologise to Daniel and also to the team because we could have scored some good points. I’ll speak to Daniel in private and we’ll sort it out.”

“It’s of course not what you want. Everything started in Turn One. The start was actually quite good but then I got squeezed wide by Bottas and lost quite a bit of speed and then we were both fighting for position in Turn Two.”

“We braked quite deep into the corner but I had a car in front of me and locked the front. From there I was just a passenger. I was trying to avoid Daniel but it was not possible. It’s never my intention to hit anyone but especially not my team-mate and especially with the relationship I have with Daniel which is very good.”

Verstappen was easily the quickest driver in the latter half of the race, and one could argue that without the ten seconds penalty he could have ended up on the podium.

As for Ricciardo it was a sad way to end his run of six consecutive points finishes and a case of what might of been on a weekend where he showed when things were going well  that he had some very handy pace around the Hungaroring.

Daniel Ricciardo’s take on the incident:

Quote

“I don’t think he likes when a team-mate gets in front. You’ve got the whole race to try and repair the mistake but the pass was never on. It wasn’t even a pass, it was a very poor mistake.”

“The team will do their bit and I’ll do my bit. We’ll sort it out. I don’t think it’s trying too hard. There isn’t an excuse for it. He tried the outside at Turn One and all of a sudden what was a good start is a bad start. He sees me go past and thinks: I’ve got to fix this – and then we crash,”

It was amateur to say the least" added Ricciardo.

 

 

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HAMILTON: I’M A MAN OF MY WORD

During the Hungarian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton asked his Mercedes team to let him get by his teammate Valtteri Bottas and attack the Ferrari duo for the lead of the race.

The team agreed provided the Briton would relinquish the position should his attempt come to naught. First they gave him five laps to get the job done, then added another five for his efforts, but when he could not find a way past the Ferrari duo he did as agreed and allowed Bottas through to take third place and with it give up three valuable points.

After the race Hamilton explained, “It’s tough in the championship but I’m a man of my word. I did say that if I can’t overtake them I would let him back through. Slowing down seven seconds was tough and I was nervous of losing a place to Verstappen but fortunately I didn’t.”

It was clear that overtaking for cars with similar power characteristics was virtually impossible at Hungaroring this year, and even though Hamilton had strong pace and was quick to close down the Reds and drop Bottas, getting by Kimi Raikkonen in second – let alone leader Sebastian Vettel – was not going to happen.

Hamilton said, “I don’t know why Ferrari were slow. I thought they were worried about the tyres not going the distance and so were slow but would speed up later but they didn’t.”

“I had all this pace but I was stuck behind Valtteri and couldn’t tell the team I had all this speed to go catch them up. I don’t know how many laps I was behind but my tyres took a lot of beating.”

“Once I did get by, I did everything I could until I had to step behind a back marker and went on some rubber on the outside of the track and the tyres started to drop after that.”

Adding to the frustration for Hamilton was the fact that Mercedes’ car-to-pit communications system glitched on the day, “It wasn’t perfect [losing radio] but it came back in the end. We managed it the best way we could.”

Hamilton sportingly sacrificed three valuable points, which could be the difference between winning the tight fought championship battle or not. He leaves Hungary trailing Vettel by 14 points with nine rounds still to run in the world championship, had he held position the gap would have been 11 points.

MIKA: Well this would never have happened back in the Rosberg days, but saying that, Bottas was in the first instance the team player by way of allowing Hamilton to overtake him in the first place, so it's only fair the place be given back as otherwise, it's one thing to be faster than your team mate (Much like Raikonnen was faster overall than Vettel) but it's another thing to actually overtake.

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DI RESTA: I’VE GOT A SORE SHOULDER

Paul di Resta was the unsung hero of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend after being called up an hour before qualifying, to replace unwell Felipe Massa at Williams, to drive a car he had never sat in let alone driven.

The Scot gave a solid account of himself in qualifying, getting well within the 107% qualifying time required to make it on to the grid and was six tenths down on the team’s regular driver Lance Stroll. He did four flying laps in that afternoon and sat in the car for 15 minutes.

In the race 24 hours later it was another leap into the unknown, never having launched off the grid in the new generation cars he made a solid start and was up to 16th at one stage, but on lap 60 of the 70 lap race he had to retire the car.

Speaking after his return to the cockpit following a four year lay-off from F1, Di Resta said,”I’ve got a sore shoulder but that’s about it. That’s to be expected after your first time in a car. It wasn’t quite as bad as I thought…maybe I should have driven a bit faster.”

“I hadn’t done a start until half an hour before the race and I dumped the clutch too much. You’ve got to get it into a certain window. In the end I was very cautious anyway as your spatial awareness of these cars and how wide they are is very hard.”

“I just wanted to make sure I got through the first lap and used every moment I had in that car to my best. We were slightly unfortunate before the pit stop that I got lapped.”

“It very much comes down to being around 19 different guys all fighting for the same bit of road, I didn’t know what to expect. I haven’t driven a car with that much downforce for such a long time that you get that much wake off it so you find yourself locking wheels. I didn’t want to get too caught up with that.

“I’d have much rather got to the end of the race but we had a small oil leak and as it was a fresh engine for the weekend they didn’t want to be taking up engine penalties just because of that,” added Di Resta at the end of his 59th grand prix start.

MIKA: This is THE most stupid thing in Formula 1 right now... Reserve drivers who have no experience in driving the current cars they are "Reserved for". All credit to Paul, was so good to see him behind the wheel again, I feel bad for him and other reserve drivers who are never given any chance to sit behind current F1's for experience. Let's hope this will now change.

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Fernando Alonso: McLaren capitalised on rare Hungarian GP opportunity

Fernando Alonso says McLaren capitalised on the rare opportunity the Hungarian Grand Prix presented, after finishing in sixth place.

The Woking-based outfit moves off the bottom spot in the constructors’ standings with the result, and Stoffel Vandoorne also finished in the points in P10.

With McLaren still lacking power from the Honda engine, the twisty Hungaroring was a rare chance for McLaren to exploit the strengths of its MCL32 chassis.

Alonso lined up seventh on the grid and enjoyed an intense battle with Carlos Sainz Jr., eventually getting ahead of the Toro Rosso – and was helped by Daniel Ricciardo’s early retirement.

“We were probably looking at seventh or eighth position today, but with Ricciardo out of the race, sixth place became possible, and we grabbed it,” he said.

“Still, we worked for that result all weekend – no mistakes, good practice sessions, strong qualifying, and then a perfectly executed race.

“There are three or four weekends in a season where we can be competitive, so we need to maximise those and fully capitalise on our potential – and that’s exactly what we did this weekend.

“The battle with Carlos was a close-run thing. We were together at the start, at the restart after the Safety Car; we came into the pits together, we exited together.

“I knew I had two laps where I could really push and stress the new tyres a little bit. I tried to do that with some kamikaze moves at times because, after those initial two laps, I knew it was going to be impossible. It worked out fine.

“Also, the fastest lap at the end of the race was a surprise – a gift – but one we’ll take. It was definitely a good race, so let’s go into the summer break with smiles on our faces.”

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Ocon says Perez “ripped off my floor” in first-corner collision

Esteban Ocon accused teammate Sergio Perez of damaging his car at the first corner of the Hungarian Grand Prix, as the Force India duo collided once again.

Following their costly clash in Baku, which cost the team a shot at a likely podium finish, Perez ran into the side of Ocon on the exit of the first corner in Hungary.

Both cars continued, although Ocon’s car clearly shed some parts from underneath his right sidepod after the contact, and Perez suffered light wing damage.

 “It was a pretty messy start,” said Ocon, who went on to finish ninth. “I don’t know what Sergio did but he probably missed a bit his braking point and ripped off my floor so it could have been a bit worse.

“At the end, it’s a double points finish for the team, which is great looking at how difficult it was for us this weekend.

“In front of one McLaren and both Renaults, we can go on holiday happy.”

Perez said the contact didn’t leave any lasting consequences to the handling of his car, allowing him to rise from 13th on the grid to finish ahead of Ocon in eighth.

“It damaged my front wing, which didn’t affect too much the balance but in general the picture wasn’t good,” said Perez. “It’s been my worst weekend of season in terms of speed.

“I’ve been struggling a lot with the car, so I’m glad we went forwards and scored good points.”

Team boss Bob Fernley brushed off the clash, saying: “It was very minor, just a first-corner incident, one was leaning on the other a bit.

“They both came through with good results, so it’s not an issue. One of those things, so many cars into that corner. You’ve got to accept it cost a little to Esteban, it wasn’t a negative.”

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MCLAREN SET ENGINE DEADLINE AMID RENAULT SPECULATION

McLaren say the next five weeks will be the key to deciding which engine they will use next season, with speculation mounting that the former world champions could ditch Honda and switch to Renault.

Chief operating officer Jonathan Neale told Reuters at the Hungarian Grand Prix that “everybody is talking to everybody”, but time was running out.

“We’ve got to land those decisions in the next four or five weeks,” he said, speaking from a design perspective and because drivers like McLaren’s Fernando Alonso were waiting to see what engines teams had before committing to new deals.

“I think there is a solution out there for everybody and I hope it’s one that will be able to retain Fernando in this team.”

McLaren scored their first double-points finish of the season in Budapest on Sunday with double world champion Alonso finishing sixth, a day after his 36th birthday, and Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne 10th.

The nine points lifted McLaren off the bottom of the standings just before the August break and factory shutdown, a result that Neale compared to scoring a goal before halftime.

Alonso’s future is a key concern, with the Spaniard out of contract and saying McLaren need to provide a competitive car to keep him.

Honda’s power unit has been beset with problems since the partnership started in 2015, the engine neither reliable nor competitive.

Hungary, the slowest permanent circuit on the calendar, reduced those shortcomings, but the next two races in Belgium and Italy are two of the fastest, where engine horsepower is of critical importance.

McLaren are Honda’s sole team in Formula One. A proposed partnership with Sauber terminated last week with the Swiss team choosing to stay with Ferrari.

A split from McLaren could force the Japanese manufacturer out of the sport, but Neale hinted at an alternative.

“You’ll have seen the media speculation that there’s discussions with Toro Rosso,” he said.

Toro Rosso use Renault engines, but a switch to Honda – which could bring welcome funding to a team whose Red Bull parent has considered a sale in the past – would free the French units for McLaren.

The Renault engine has won a race this season with Red Bull and could satisfy Alonso, who won both his titles with the French manufacturer.

The other alternatives to Honda are Mercedes and Ferrari, but Neale recognised that putting a Ferrari engine in a McLaren, the Italian team’s historic arch-rivals, was highly unlikely.

“I’m hoping that by the time we get through September, we’ll be able to come out and say something more publicly,” said Neale.

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VETTEL AND RAIKKONEN SET TO STAY AT FERRARI

Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen will head off to enjoy Formula 1’s European summer break knowing their Ferrari futures have been virtually rubber-stamped following their Hungarian Grand Prix one-two.

Championship leader Vettel, already a four-time world titlist, increased his advantage over three-time champion Lewis Hamilton to 14 points, partly courtesy of the Briton’s decision to hand a podium finish to his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas in Hungary.

The Ferrari duo’s easy relationship and shared sense of pragmatism has made them a good fit for the improved Italian outfit this year –- a quality not missed at the weekend by Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne.

Answering questions from reporters Marchionne hinted that both were likely to stay, with an announcement expected at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in early September.

“I think I have been public on the Sebastian issue, if he wants to stay he is more than welcome to stay,” said Marchionne.

“And in the case of Kimi, we are pretty well sure… we know he wants to stay. Hopefully, we will bring them on soon.”

Asked about a likely statement at the team’s home GP, he added: “That’s what I’ve heard –- I heard Maurizio (Arrivabene, team boss) was going to do that.”

The Ferrari president was more coy answering questions about hiring Hamilton in future, though.

“It would be a privilege if he ended his career at Ferrari.

“But for now, we have not gone far with Lewis… I will not talk about the future. We have two great drivers now and we don’t want to talk about alternatives.”

The revived Vettel has won four races this year, including Sunday’s victory in his 50th outing with the team, and with his championship lead can afford to relax during the August break.

“It’s a dream,” said Vettel after Sunday’s win.

“I want to win, It’s where you want to be. Our mission is to get back to the top and, obviously, we have had a great year and we have a great car.”

The German’s victory was his first in five outings since the Monaco Grand Prix where, on a similarly slow, twisting and demanding circuit, power was less effective than at such tracks as Silverstone or the upcoming venues in Belgium and Italy.

Hamilton, even in a Mercedes team where the drivers have equal status, will be favoured to shine at both of those and close the gap in the championship before the end of the ‘European’ season.

“This break has come at a good time for all of us,” he said. “Everyone needs to re-charge and come back fresh and I truly believe we can win this championship, but it’s going to need 100 percent effort.”

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WILLIAMS CREW SET THE BEST PITSTOP TIME IN HUNGARY

Williams once again put on a display of perfect teamwork in the Hungarian Grand Prix.

The British team executed the DHL Fastest Pit Stop for the seventh time in the eleventh race of the 2017 campaign. Paul di Resta, who stepped in for the indisposed Felipe Massa shortly before qualifying, was given a new set of tires on Lap 34 in just 2.29 seconds.

“It was obviously a very exciting day, but it was a very difficult day as well,” said di Resta. “Jumping straight in the car with no experience of the different tire compounds or running on high fuel, I wasn’t sure what to expect, so I went in with an open mind.”

However, the Scot failed to make it to the checkered flag, as an oil leak forced him to retire a few laps before the end of the race.

The second-quickest pit stop was also performed by the perfectly choreographed Williams crew. Lance Stroll’s tire change took 2.33 seconds – only slightly longer than that of his team-mate.

One Stop in Budapest

Despite the high surface temperatures of more than 50°C, the Budapest crowd saw a one-stop race. The decisive factor in this was the safety car deployment immediately after the start, which considerably reduced tire wear.

Of the 21 pit stops in the Hungarian Grand Prix, seven were completed in under three seconds. Race winner Sebastian Vettel took 3.01 seconds for his change of wheels, while his Ferrari team-mate Kimi Räikkönen was dispatched more promptly in a time of 2.65 seconds.

The double victory in Budapest has enabled Williams to further extend their lead in the DHL Fastest Pit Stop Award, and they now go into the summer break with a comfortable cushion. The Grove-based outfit are on 287 points while their closest pursuers, Mercedes, are some way back on 230. In third and fourth respectively are Red Bull (178) and Ferrari (119).

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WOLFF: ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT CALLS WE HAD TO MAKE

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff hailed his drivers – Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas – for obeying team orders in the heat of battle during the Hungarian Grand Prix, a sporting decision that may come back to haunt the team if the drivers’ championship title battle goes down to the wire.

During a tense race at Hungaroring, the team had a series of communication problems that thwarted their contact with their drivers from the pitwall.

When messages eventually came through, Hamilton was asking for Bottas to move over so he could launch an attack on the leading Ferrari duo, because the Finn seemed unable to reel them in and the Briton clearly had pace in his car at that stage.

The team agreed with the proviso that Hamilton relinquish the position should his attack be futile. Hamilton put the hammer down, quickly dropping Bottas and reel in Kimi Raikkonen in second place. His team had given him a five lap window to get the job done, which was then extended for another five laps.

But the Hungaroring is not conducive to overtaking with this generation of F1 cars, and although the silver #44 got close enough to use DRS on occasions, he simply could not find a way past Raikkonen.

Thus in the final sector of the final lap he did as agreed and moved aside to allow Bottas to claim third place, thus what could have been 15 points ended up being 12 for Hamilton.

Wolff conceded, “We could lose a championship because of those three points, but this spirit has made us win three championships and it will make us win more. We did it with full consciousness. This is the ethos that we have not only on track, not only with the drivers, but also with the team.

“It’s one of the most difficult calls we had to make in the last couple of years because Verstappen was so close to Valtteri that we couldn’t possibly know that it would work. But we took the risk because it is important to stick to your word.

“Maybe one day somebody will say we were naive in Budapest and that’s why we lost the championship it I still believe that the values are important on which you operate, and we stand by those.

“It plays to their advantage but at the moment this is the way we want to continue. If there was a situation after the European races where one driver has a clear advantage and the other one hasn’t, we would make that call also. It is just by now both have a real chance of the championship and we don’t want to take it away.

“Valtteri moved over because we told him we were going to reverse and that’s what Lewis did. I really have to take my hat off to both of them,” concluded Wolff.

Mercedes F1 chief Niki Lauda added, “We said we are fair to both drivers. They can race whenever they want. When Bottas let Lewis by, he was quicker but it didn’t work out because he couldn’t catch the Ferraris so we turned it back again to be fair to both drivers.

“The radio problem is our problem. In the end it was close with Verstappen so we had to be careful not to lose places. Everything is fine,” added Lauda.

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Maurizio Arrivabene lauds Kimi Raikkonen as 'true team player' in 1-2 finish

Ferrari Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene hailed Kimi Räikkönen as “a true team player” after the Finn aided Sebastian Vettel’s path to victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Vettel led away from pole position but a race-long problem with his steering, which became worse, slowed his pace, and he came under pressure from Räikkönen.

Räikkönen, who felt he could have run longer in the first stint to overhaul Vettel, held station in second spot, closely behind the German, and resisted pressure from Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

Vettel ultimately managed his issue to register Ferrari’s fourth victory of the campaign, while Räikkönen came home in second position, boosting the team’s title prospects, its deficit to Mercedes reduced to 39 points.

“It was a great race and a result obtained in far from easy circumstances,” explained Arrivabene.

“Once again it demonstrated the strength of character at Ferrari. Congratulations to the guys at the circuit and back in Maranello, working together in what is the mark of a great team.

“Seb drove a magnificent race, managing to keep the lead despite the problem with the steering wheel.

“He was helped by a great performance from Kimi who demonstrated, not only that he is a champion, but also that he is a true team player.”

Räikkönen expanded on his side of the race, feeling that he was never able to utilise his “full speed”, but accepted that his race was compromised by his own error in Q3.

“In places like this it's tricky to try and overtake and I did not want to force things too much with my team-mate,” said Räikkönen.

“When you end up between two cars is not the easiest situation. When they called me for the pit stop I wanted to stay on track a bit longer because I felt I had the speed, but the team has the big picture and I trust them.

“I ended up following Seb through the whole race and I was never able to use my full speed.

“I knew I had all the tools to finish in a better position, but I should have done a better qualifying.”

[MIKA27]

Lance Stroll: Williams lacked speed in 'boring' race

Lance Stroll labelled his Hungarian Grand Prix as “boring” after Williams struggled for pace throughout the course of the weekend.

Williams had feared that the layout of the Hungaroring would not suit its FW40 package and such thoughts were realised, as Stroll was eliminated in Q1, and lined up from 17th place on the grid.

Stroll moved up a couple of positions at the start, through virtue of incidents elsewhere, but made no further progress, gaining a place only when Renault’s Nico Hülkenberg retired late on, to come home in 14th spot.

“It was quite a boring race, I was driving alone the whole time, so not much happened and we didn't have the pace this weekend to stay with the others,” explained Stroll  

“I tried everything I could in the first stint to hold the other guys, and I was doing okay. Then, in the second stint, I tried the undercut but I just didn’t have the pace and overheated the rears too much.

“We kind of finished where we started, and we expected that.

“All in all, it was a tough weekend, but we now need to look forward to the other kind of tracks - Spa, Monza - that should be better for our car.”

Stroll’s team-mate Paul di Resta, standing in for the unwell Felipe Massa, admitted he adopted a cautious approach before retiring during the closing stages due to an oil leak.
“Jumping straight in the car with no experience of the different tyre compounds or running on high fuel [wasn’t easy],” he said.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect so I went in with an open mind. You have to be very aware of the space around you, and how much downforce you lose when there’s traffic around you.

“So I was cautious and just wanted to keep my nose clean. We went a different way on strategy, but the biggest thing for me was just gaining the confidence as the runs went on and I was feeling more comfortable with the car.

“It would have been nice to finish, without the oil leak, but overall I’m not too dissatisfied with where I was given how little running I’d had.”

[MIKA27]

Carlos Sainz Jr. says seventh 'like gold' for Toro Rosso

Carlos Sainz Jr. called his seventh-place finish for Toro Rosso at the Hungarian Grand Prix as “like gold”, after a strong performance in the STR12.

Sainz Jr. made it through to Q3 and started from ninth spot following Nico Hülkenberg’s gearbox sanction, before he leapt up to sixth on the opening lap.

Sainz Jr. held firm against McLaren rival Fernando Alonso following a Safety Car period and they maintained positions during the pit stop phase, having dived in for new tyres at the same time.

However, Alonso launched an attack around the outside of Turn 2 and captured the inside line for Turn 3 to grab sixth position, and consequently edged clear of the younger Spaniard.

Sainz Jr., though, had enough in hand to keep Force India’s Sergio Pérez at bay and recorded seventh place, enabling Toro Rosso to move to within two points of Williams in the standings.

“It was a great race,” said Sainz Jr. “I managed to do a very good start, went around the outside of both McLarens into Turn 1 and held onto my position into Turn 2.

“At this point, I saw that maybe I was also capable of getting a Mercedes, but I decided to back-off a bit and play it safe because the work was done.

“From then onwards it was a very tough task to defend from Fernando, as he was much faster than us.

“In the end he got past us but I’m happy to have been able to hold on to that seventh position… For us this is like gold at the moment!

“All in all, it’s been a very positive weekend with a perfect qualifying, a fantastic start and race.”

Sainz Jr.’s team-mate, Daniil Kvyat, was left to rue a grid penalty for impeding Lance Stroll during qualifying, having made up five spots to take 11th place.

“It was a great race where we were not rewarded, unfortunately,” he said.

“We had good pace out there and I think that, without the grid penalty, we could’ve been fighting for points.”

[MIKA27]

Grosjean bemoans NASCAR-style racing

Romain Grosjean has said he will speak to FIA race director Charlie Whiting in Spa to discuss the limits of wheel-to-wheel racing.

Grosjean came into contact with Nico Hulkenberg at the first corner of the Hungarian Grand Prix, but the stewards took no further action.

Hulkenberg was later involved in a heated battle with Kevin Magnussen, who was given a five-second penalty for pushing 'The Hulk', while Max Verstappen was given a 10-second timed penalty for causing a collision with his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

"It was a big hit and I went pretty high in the air," Grosjean told Motorsport.com. "He had lots of space on the inside, but he locked things up.

"I don't see the difference between Nico and Verstappen, to be fair. Again, the stewards' consistency is a bit strange.

"It was Turn 1 – but Spa-Francorchamps in 2012 was Turn 1, and we can't do whatever we want. Turn 1, lap two, lap 10, it's the same thing. You can't run over another car."

"Magnussen raced! It's hard, and I do appreciate it's very hard.

"But with Kevin there wasn't even contact with Hulkenberg. Nico hit me, Kevin did not hit Nico, he just pushed him very, very wide."

Grosjean then said it is the not the first time he has spoken to Whiting about the definition of racing and feels it needs to be made crystal clear what should and should not be allowed.

He said: "It's come up before, and I went to see Charlie after that briefing, because there was some great racing between Vettel and Verstappen in the last race, but it was off track and coming back, so I said what can we do?

"We want racing, but we don't want wheel-banging, we're not in NASCAR."

[MIKA27]

Horner: FIA too "zealous" with Verstappen penalty

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner thinks the FIA was a bit too "zealous" to hit Max Verstappen with a 10-second penalty for his clash with Daniel Ricciardo in the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Verstappen locked up on the entry to Turn 2 on the opening lap which led to him running wide into the side of teammate Ricciardo. The incident damaged Ricciardo's car and forced him out of the race.

Ricciardo was initially fuming over the matter, and the FIA was swift in blaming Verstappen. It handed him a punishment that cost him a chance of fighting for the podium.

Horner thinks that the 10-second punishment was a bit harsh for an opening lap incident, especially considering Valtteri Bottas had got away without sanction for an incident at the Spanish GP that triggered Verstappen's early exit there.

"I think they were perhaps a little zealous when you look at Bottas' move in Barcelona," said Horner. "We have talked about racing incidents happening - and I see that as a racing incident.

"Yes, Max made a mistake. He stuck his hand up. He has apologised to his teammate. Daniel has accepted that apology and it happens.

"I think we have actually been lucky to have gone well over 12 months with them starting next to each other so often, without them having touched previously. Obviously there was no intention in it, it was just very frustrating."

  

Ricciardo placated

Despite Ricciardo's initial fury – and television images showing him flicking his middle finger at Verstappen from the side of the track – Horner said the Australian calmed down later when his teammate said sorry.

Reflecting on Ricciardo's initial anger, Horner said: "You take your helmet off. You have just been eliminated from the grand prix. He is not going to go 'oops'. He was pretty revved afterwards. But with an hour to calm down, it is situation normal I would say."

Asked how important it was that the two drivers had cleared the air in person, Horner said: "Massively. You have to be able to look the other person in the eye. A text message or a phone call is not the same."

Reflecting on Ricciardo's initial anger, Horner said: "You take your helmet off. You have just been eliminated from the grand prix. He is not going to go 'oops'. He was pretty revved afterwards. But with an hour to calm down, it is situation normal I would say."

Asked how important it was that the two drivers had cleared the air in person, Horner said: "Massively. You have to be able to look the other person in the eye. A text message or a phone call is not the same."

Win chance

Although there was a phase in the race where Verstappen was less than 10 seconds off the lead, Horner does not think the team lost the win in Hungary through the first-lap crash.

Instead, he suggests the win was lost through not qualifying higher up the grid.

"I think we saw that, from the grid positions we were in, that overtaking was very difficult," he said. "But certainly the pace of the car in the race gave nothing away to Ferrari or that of Mercedes.

"You could see after he served the penalty that he was actually able to get back to within, at one point, ten seconds of the leader, and was consistently the quickest car on the circuit.

"So it is frustrating that we only came away with 10 points when it should have been a lot more."

[skalls]

Kind of a boring race. There was like 2 good overtakes the whole time.  Alonso on Sainz was a hell of a race there.

The halo is stupid and I wish it didn't need to get implemented just bc the FIA said they were going to do something.  Doing something for the sake of doing something is stupid.  I think revising the windscreen is the way to go if anything at all.

I'm curious about who signs who in the next couple weeks.  

[MIKA27]

5 hours ago, skalls said:

Kind of a boring race. There was like 2 good overtakes the whole time.  Alonso on Sainz was a hell of a race there.

The halo is stupid and I wish it didn't need to get implemented just bc the FIA said they were going to do something.  Doing something for the sake of doing something is stupid.  I think revising the windscreen is the way to go if anything at all.

I'm curious about who signs who in the next couple weeks.  

I've never been a fan of the Hungarian GP, I often wonder why it's survived this long on the calendar. 

[MIKA27]

Robert Kubica passes FIA's mandatory extraction test

Robert Kubica has passed the FIA's mandatory extraction test, which means he has been given the green light to take part in the Hungary test this week.

The Polish driver will drive Renault's R.S.17 on Wednesday, taking over from Nicholas Latifi who is driving on Tuesday, as he gears up for a potential comeback in 2018.

As per the regulations, Article 13.1.4, a driver must prove that they can exit the cockpit within five seconds, while wearing their full race kit and helmet. They must also prove they can replace the steering wheel within a set time limit too.

With Kubica suffering a serious injury to his arm, there were fears he might struggle with the test as his mobility is limited, but the FIA confirmed he passed the test without issue.

Renault are set to assess Kubica's abilities behind the wheel of a 2017 car, to see whether a full-time return is possible. Hungary offers the best opportunity to see whether or not the 32-year-old's arm hinders him on a tight and twisty track such as the Hungaroring.

MIKA: I bet Renault are testing the waters for sure with replacing Palmer with Kubica should all go according to plan. I mean look at it like this, if a "Reserve driver" such as Paul Di Resta has never driven a 2017 race car and NOW suddenly Renault are giving a non reserve driver an open door to test for them, why wouldn't they take a chance for at least the remainder of the season? Nothin to lose but much more to gain IMO.

[MIKA27]

Stoffel Vandoorne upbeat over 'very productive' F1 test day

Stoffel Vandoorne labelled McLaren-Honda’s running during the opening in-season test day in Hungary as “very productive”, despite a stoppage prior to the lunch break.

Vandoorne set the quickest time in the morning on Ultrasofts before stopping on track as a precaution due to a suspected fluid leak.

McLaren traced the leak back to the engine, meaning the power unit had to be removed from the MCL32 for checks, denying Vandoorne the opportunity to return to action until halfway through the afternoon session.

Vandoorne improved on his morning benchmark after a sequence of laps on the Ultrasoft tyres, though was shuffled down to second late on after Charles Leclerc posted a quick time.

“It’s actually been a very productive day for us, despite the stoppage,” he said.

“We’ve put some new things on the car to explore throughout the day and I feel they’ve been positive – we’ve definitely moved in the right direction as the day has progressed. 

“It’s good to see that when we bring new parts to the track, they respond and improve the performance of the car.

“Obviously, this is testing, and it doesn’t mean a lot, but it does give us useful data that we can analyse and help our learning.

“We have a busy programme over these two days and hopefully after the summer break we can show that we’ve made another step forward and make further improvements for the rest of the season.”

Vandoorne will hand over to Lando Norris for Wednesday’s running, with the 17-year-old Briton set to receive his first taste of Formula 1 action.

[MIKA27]

Max Verstappen: Red Bull got 'good ideas' from F1 test

Max Verstappen believes Red Bull was able to understand some “good ideas” for its future direction during the opening day of the second in-season test at the Hungaroring.

Verstappen finished 11th of the 12 participants during hot and sunny conditions at the Hungarian Grand Prix venue, and amassed only 58 laps, having missed the bulk of the morning session due to a suspected MGU-H issue.

However, despite the setback, Verstappen was upbeat over Red Bull’s progress and potential.

“Last weekend especially in the race we improved because of the update we got,” he explained.

“Again here we were learning to see if we could change some things on the car in terms of balance wise [and] if the updates would work even better and we got some good ideas from now onwards.”

On the reliability issue, Verstappen commented: “We were just trying some new bits, it didn’t work today, so we had to change it, but you know that’s what testing’s for.”

The Dutch youngster is nonetheless wary that Red Bull will encounter mixed fortunes in the races following the summer break.

“In Monza I’m there for the scenery the whole weekend,” he joked.

“Spa we will see, normally it’s quite a positive track [but] Monza is long straights and only braking, so that’s not good for us, so I’ll wave to the fans.

“Singapore I guess [we will be competitive], so I’m looking forward to that one.”

Pierre Gasly will take over duties in the RB13 on Wednesday.

[MIKA27]

Watch Fernando Alonso set the fastest lap during the Hungarian GP

Fernando Alonso sets the DHL Fastest Lap in the FORMULA 1 PIRELLI MAGYAR NAGYDÍJ 2017 and describes it as “the perfect birthday gift”.

[MIKA27]

Ferrari eyeing Sauber as ‘kind of junior team’

Signing a new long-term contract with Sauber, Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne says the Swiss team could become a “kind of junior team” for Ferrari.

Last week Sauber announced that they had re-signed with Ferrari having opted to cancel their proposed partnership with Honda.

The new contract has, according to Marchionne, paved the way for Sauber to become a junior team in which Ferrari can blood their young drivers.

He told reporters in Hungary: “The engines for Sauber are also a way to create a kind of junior team for our young drivers.

“We have two great young talents, but to secure the future of Ferrari, we need the chance to train them somewhere.

“We need space for them, so it’s a great idea and we’re working on it.

“Maurizio Arrivabene has worked hard on this project, and I want to say also that in agreement with Liberty Media we will also increase the number of customers for our engines.”

And with Charles Leclerc and Antonio Giovinazzi looking to step up into F1, Marchionne added: “It’s a very positive thing for us; it’s a chance to have a junior team.

“We have a pair of exceptional drivers we need to run.”

[MIKA27]

Hamilton: Summer break has come at a good time

Lewis Hamilton says the summer break has come at a good time as he needs “absolutely 100 per cent” from everyone at Mercedes to win the World title.

Having closed the gap to Sebastian Vettel to just one point, the Brit’s deficit increased to 14 points in Hungary, a race that Vettel won while Hamilton was fourth.

“I definitely feel like the summer break has come at a good time,” said the Mercedes driver.

“It has been a very tough year, physically, mentally and emotionally for everyone at the team.

“It has been a difficult season up until now, and I think this break will be really good for everyone to recharge and hopefully come back fresh.

“I encourage my team to come back strong and I’ll try to come back even stronger.”

As for the decision to hand third place back to Valtteri Bottas in Hungary, a move that cost him three championship points, Hamilton believes he can yet win this year’s World title.

He added: “I don’t think I will ever get those three points back.

“We have given up a lot of points, and Ferrari have given up a lot less as a team.

“I truly believe we have the capability of winning this championship, but it is going to take absolutely 100 per cent of everyone’s effort to pull it off.”

[MIKA27]

Hulkenberg brands Magnussen a "wannabe Verstappen"

Nico Hulkenberg insists he took no insult from Kevin Magnussen’s ‘suck my balls’ comment, as he branded the Dane a ‘wannabe Verstappen’.

The Renault driver clashed with his Haas rival in front of the television cameras after the Hungarian Grand Prix, after the pair came to blows on track during their fight for position when Hulkenberg was run off the circuit.

Hulkenberg confronted Magnussen live on camera to accuse him of being the most unsporting driver on the grid, before the Dane told him: “Suck my balls, honey.”

The incident was a major talking point across social media, and Magnussen’s team boss Gunther Steiner later backed his driver’s outburst.

Writing in his exclusive column for German station Sport1 on Tuesday, however, Hulkenberg said he was surprised there had been such a frenzy over the incident – but he said he took no offence.

"I wish there were as many people talking about the race,” he said. “At the moment we have different challenges in Formula 1 than the balls of a wannabe Verstappen.

“I'm not the kind of guy to curry favour with the public after the race, and I don't need to insult someone. If I have a problem with somebody, I go ahead and say what's on my mind.

“But the fans are happy about seeing a sport in which competition is being lived and somebody is speaking his mind. This is the fun thing about F1, especially with hot-headed sensitive people.

“With Kevin it's like having a little brother. You know he is not able to defend himself in any other way. Therefore, it's easy to take his remarks with a smile on your face."

Coincidentally, Hulkenberg bumped into Steiner at Budapest airport on Monday morning and the pair cheekily posed for a photo that was posted on Instagram to make light of the ‘suck my balls’ remark.