30-07-2014, 14:31
http://www.planetf1.com/race-features/94...ngarian-GP
Lewis notched up another victory despite Mercedes hiding all his soft tyres, while Dan is putting serious manners on Seb.
Mercedes
Nico Rosberg 3 - Lewis Hamilton 8
Race: Hamilton
Lewis was about to borrow the Mario Balotelli-inspired 'Why Always Me?' T-shirt from Felipe Massa, when we had that race. More than anything it proved that we have a lot to look forward to when both Mercedes are shuffled into the pack without a significant advantage over the rest of the field. It shows up who can race. We have Kimi Raikkonen to thank for the fact that marshals are still not picking up pieces of Mercedes and Ferrari (and maybe some Williams too) from Turn 1 at Budapest.
Though let it not be forgotten, Lewis was fortunate to escape an embarrassing first lap spin with all four corners intact.
In the Winners and Losers column it was noted how strange it was for Mercedes to put Hamilton onto Medium tyres when he had a stack of new Softs sitting in the garage, while Nico was given Softs. Autosport's Gary Anderson has reminded me of a comment Toto Wolff made at the beginning of the year, that in managing the driver relationship they would keep the pair of them on the same strategy. No wonder Niki Lauda said it was 'panic stations' on the Merc pitwall.
Red Bull
Daniel Ricciardo 9 - Sebastian Vettel 2
Race: Ricciardo
Sometimes you can be handed a bit of luck and not make the most of it (see below). With Dan Ricciardo he took it and returned it with interest. He qualified behind Vettel for a change, but once he got in the lead he had his eyes firmly on the prize. His overtake on Hamilton was one of the best of the year and only surpassed by Lewis's rocket into Turn 4 when he relegated Vergne after a single lap. The hard bit over, Alonso realised that fighting may lose him P2 or even P3. Also, from what he learned at Hockenheim he knew that the smiling assassin was not going to give up.
Vettel's car looked like it was a real handful with the World Champion correcting some snap oversteer moments a couple of times with breathtakingly quick instant responses. But one just got away from him...
The real reason Daniel smiles so much...
Ferrari
Fernando Alonso 10 - Kimi Raikkonen 1
Race: Alonso
Kimi's always gone pretty well at the Hungaroring, so it was a big mistake not to use that set of Softs in Q1, especially when you consider that the long-standing weather forecast had been rain on Sunday. Even so, he managed to salvage a good result from P16 on the grid - not as good as his team-mate, who was able to fend off two Mercedes on a dry track. That's not happened much this year.
McLaren
Jenson Button 8 - Kevin Magnussen 3
Race: Button
"We win as a team and we lose as a team," said Jenson Button afterwards, whilst moaning as an individual. The strategy call from hell, which demoted him from an effective P1 to an ultimate P10, probably wasn't as disastrous as it seemed. Given the pace of the cars who finished in the top four on a dry track, the McLaren was probably destined for P5 ahead of Felipe Massa.
Williams
Valtteri Bottas 6 - Felipe Massa 5
Race: Bottas
Valtteri Bottas suffered doubly in the race; once when the Safety Car divide split the field in two, and once when a delayed tyre stop put him at a big strategic disadvantage. He qualified in front of Massa, made a place up at the start, but the fates conspired. It was good to see Felipe having a straightforward race, but the FW36's appetite for tyres meant they were never going to be pushing the Red Bulls around for long.
Lewis notched up another victory despite Mercedes hiding all his soft tyres, while Dan is putting serious manners on Seb.
Mercedes
Nico Rosberg 3 - Lewis Hamilton 8
Race: Hamilton
Lewis was about to borrow the Mario Balotelli-inspired 'Why Always Me?' T-shirt from Felipe Massa, when we had that race. More than anything it proved that we have a lot to look forward to when both Mercedes are shuffled into the pack without a significant advantage over the rest of the field. It shows up who can race. We have Kimi Raikkonen to thank for the fact that marshals are still not picking up pieces of Mercedes and Ferrari (and maybe some Williams too) from Turn 1 at Budapest.
Though let it not be forgotten, Lewis was fortunate to escape an embarrassing first lap spin with all four corners intact.
In the Winners and Losers column it was noted how strange it was for Mercedes to put Hamilton onto Medium tyres when he had a stack of new Softs sitting in the garage, while Nico was given Softs. Autosport's Gary Anderson has reminded me of a comment Toto Wolff made at the beginning of the year, that in managing the driver relationship they would keep the pair of them on the same strategy. No wonder Niki Lauda said it was 'panic stations' on the Merc pitwall.
Red Bull
Daniel Ricciardo 9 - Sebastian Vettel 2
Race: Ricciardo
Sometimes you can be handed a bit of luck and not make the most of it (see below). With Dan Ricciardo he took it and returned it with interest. He qualified behind Vettel for a change, but once he got in the lead he had his eyes firmly on the prize. His overtake on Hamilton was one of the best of the year and only surpassed by Lewis's rocket into Turn 4 when he relegated Vergne after a single lap. The hard bit over, Alonso realised that fighting may lose him P2 or even P3. Also, from what he learned at Hockenheim he knew that the smiling assassin was not going to give up.
Vettel's car looked like it was a real handful with the World Champion correcting some snap oversteer moments a couple of times with breathtakingly quick instant responses. But one just got away from him...
The real reason Daniel smiles so much...
Ferrari
Fernando Alonso 10 - Kimi Raikkonen 1
Race: Alonso
Kimi's always gone pretty well at the Hungaroring, so it was a big mistake not to use that set of Softs in Q1, especially when you consider that the long-standing weather forecast had been rain on Sunday. Even so, he managed to salvage a good result from P16 on the grid - not as good as his team-mate, who was able to fend off two Mercedes on a dry track. That's not happened much this year.
McLaren
Jenson Button 8 - Kevin Magnussen 3
Race: Button
"We win as a team and we lose as a team," said Jenson Button afterwards, whilst moaning as an individual. The strategy call from hell, which demoted him from an effective P1 to an ultimate P10, probably wasn't as disastrous as it seemed. Given the pace of the cars who finished in the top four on a dry track, the McLaren was probably destined for P5 ahead of Felipe Massa.
Williams
Valtteri Bottas 6 - Felipe Massa 5
Race: Bottas
Valtteri Bottas suffered doubly in the race; once when the Safety Car divide split the field in two, and once when a delayed tyre stop put him at a big strategic disadvantage. He qualified in front of Massa, made a place up at the start, but the fates conspired. It was good to see Felipe having a straightforward race, but the FW36's appetite for tyres meant they were never going to be pushing the Red Bulls around for long.
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