Frenchman Esteban Ocon won a chaotic Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday while an exhausted Lewis Hamilton finished third to take the Formula One championship lead from Max Verstappen by six points heading into the mid-season break.
Hamilton needed a check from the Mercedes team doctor after the race.
"Had really big dizziness and everything got a bit blurry," he said. "I have been fighting all year really with the health, staying healthy after what happened at the end of last year (with coronavirus)."
Verstappen placed 10th after being taken out early in the race by Hamilton's Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas in a first-lap crash that caused him and four others to retire.
It was only the 24-year-old Ocon's second podium, following a second-place finish at the Sakhir GP in Bahrain late last year. The Alpine driver finished ahead of Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel, with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz fourth ahead of Ocon's teammate Fernando Alonso. Daniel Ricciardo was 12th, having been affected by the early drama.
"What a moment, feels so good," Ocon said, patting his heart.
The crash in the rain was caused by Bottas, who retired as a result.
The race restarted in absurd fashion with only Hamilton on the grid, while others were changing their tyres because the track had dried. Hamilton did the same a lap later and came out in last place, a couple of spots behind Verstappen.
But a clever second tyre change by Mercedes for hard tyres on Lap 20 outwitted Red Bull and Hamilton moved ahead of Verstappen after he came in for new tires.
With 30 laps to go, the top four was Ocon-Vettel-Sainz-Hamilton.
To give Hamilton a shot at victory, Mercedes made a third tyre change with a little more than 20 laps remaining.
But he had to get ahead of the 40-year-old Alonso first, a driver with 32 wins and 97 podiums, and among the most talented of his generation.
Alonso held off a first attack on Lap 55 and blocked him two more times on Lap 57 with stellar defending on the inside.
Alonso's nous was enough to repel two more attacks.
"He is one of hardest drivers but fair," Hamilton said. "I would say today was a little bit on the limit, but I totally get it and I would do it for my team."
When Hamilton finally got past there were only five laps left and Sainz just ahead. He overtook him but by then the front two were too far ahead.
Hamilton's bid for a 100th win resumes on August 29 at the Belgian GP in Spa, where Bottas will start that race with a five-place grid penalty.
Alonso's brilliant defensive driving helped Ocon secure the victory and they hugged after the race, with Alonso lifting him up in the air.
"We are forming a great team and pushing the team in the right direction," Ocon said.
Hamilton was again loudly jeered by sections of the crowd, as he was after taking pole position on Saturday. He won the British GP two weeks ago despite a 10-second penalty for taking Verstappen out on the first lap.
Heavy rain fell shortly before Sunday's race and the track was soaked. Hamilton got away from pole but Verstappen shot ahead of Bottas into second.
McLaren's Lando Norris also overtook Bottas, who bumped into the back of him — sending Norris sliding into Verstappen and both off track. Bottas went into a tire wall and took out Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez on his way.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was jammed between Aston Martin's Lance Stroll and McLaren's Ricciardo. After a red flag halted the race to allow stewards to clear the wrecked cars, Leclerc, Stroll, Norris and Perez also retired.
When the race restarted, Hamilton was alone on the grid while others were ditching their wet-weather tyres to suit the now drying track.
Hamilton had to do the same on the next lap and came out in last place with Verstappen 11th, while Ocon led from Vettel. Nikita Mazepin was the sixth to retire after colliding with 2007 F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen's Alfa Romeo in the pit lane.
The sinewy and tight 4.4km Hungaroring circuit is arguably the hardest track to overtake on after Monaco.
"I can't get close to people," said Hamilton, who fell short of winning the race for a record-extending ninth time.
Ocon was once part of the Mercedes development program and the team's reserve driver two years ago after losing his F1 seat.
He showed the talent Mercedes saw in him with a composed drive under pressure from Vettel, a four-time F1 champion with 53 wins.
"Esteban didn't make a single mistake," Vettel said. "It's his day and his moment."
VERSTAPPEN FUMES AT LOUSY LUCK
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was quick to express his frustration after being taken out on the first lap of a Formula One race for the second straight time and losing the championship lead.
"Again, taken out by a Mercedes," Verstappen said after Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix. "I was missing the whole side of my car. And the floor was damaged as well, so almost impossible to drive."
He was actually nudged off track by McLaren's Lando Norris when in second place and he finished 10th. It meant that he conceded significant points and the overall lead to Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton heading into the midseason break.
But Norris was not at fault, since he had been hit from behind by Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas and lurched into Verstappen — who was knocked off track at the British GP two weeks ago by Hamilton and scored no points in that race.
From being 33 points ahead of Hamilton and on pole position at Silverstone, Verstappen now trails him by six points — 192-186 — after Hamilton finished third in a chaotic Hungarian GP.
"I still tried my very best and I still got one point. It's at least something but it's not what you want," Verstappen said, before adding on Twitter. "Disappointing to have two races in a row (with) so much bad luck."
Norris also appeared to blame Bottas, who lost position quickly despite starting from second behind Hamilton.
"All of us are in Formula 1 for a reason, because we're good drivers and we know where to brake, where to judge braking zones and so on. Especially when it's wet, especially on the first lap," Norris said. "But obviously some misjudged it completely. That's the annoying thing, you expect a little bit more when you're racing those top guys at the front of the field."
Norris is third in the standings and five points ahead of Bottas in fourth.
The season resumes at the Belgian GP in Spa on August 29th.
"I know that when we go again after the break, I will be there again and I will try my very best," said Verstappen, who leads Hamilton this season 5-4 in wins, 5-3 for pole positions and 4-3 for fastest laps.
But Hamilton now has the momentum as he bids for a record eighth F1 title.
F1 HUNGARIAN GP RESULTS (starting spot)
1. (8) Esteban Ocon, France, Alpine, 70 laps, 1:32:54.762.
2. (10) Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Aston Martin, 70, +1.859 seconds.
3. (1) Lewis Hamilton, Great Britain, Mercedes, 70, +2.736.
4. (15) Carlos Sainz Jr, Spain, Ferrari, 70, +15.018.
5. (9) Fernando Alonso, Spain, Alpine, 70, +15.651.
6. (5) Pierre Gasly, France, Alphatauri, 70, +1:03.614.
7. (16) Yuki Tsunoda, Japan, Alphatauri, 70, +1:15.803.
8. (18) Nicholas Latifi, Canada, Williams, 70, +1:17.910.
9. (17) George Russell, Great Britain, Williams, 70, +1:19.094.
10. (3) Max Verstappen, Netherlands, Red Bull Racing, 70, +1:20.244.
11. (13) Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Alfa Romeo Racing, 69, +1 lap.
12. (11) Daniel Ricciardo, Australia, McLaren, 69, +1 lap.
13. (20) Mick Schumacher, Germany, Haas F1 Team, 69, +1 lap.
14. (14) Antonio Giovinazzi, Italy, Alfa Romeo Racing, 69, +1 lap.
15. (19) Nikita Mazepin, Russia, Haas F1 Team, did not finish, 3.
16. (6) Lando Norris, Great Britain, McLaren, did not finish, 2.
17. (4) Sergio Perez, Mexico, Red Bull Racing, did not finish.
18. (2) Valtteri Bottas, Finland, Mercedes, did not finish.
19. (7) Charles Leclerc, Monaco, Ferrari, did not finish.
20. (12) Lance Stroll, Canada, Aston Martin, did not finish.
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
from WWOS https://wwos.nine.com.au/motorsport/f1-hungarian-grand-prix-race-results-esteban-ocon-wins-after-first-lap-chaos-daniel-ricciardo-12th/3c93c436-b52f-46e5-89f4-a7e5849a8c57
0 Comments