For the second time in succession, my visit to a Formula One
Grand Prix is hardly one I would want to repeat exactly as it occurred.
Whereas it was the rain and mud at Silverstone last year,
this time around it was the unbearable heat at the Hungaroring that took away
some of the enjoyment of the spectator experience. From Friday to Sunday,
temperatures in Budapest seldom dipped below 30°C (86°F), even in the evenings,
with race day reportedly reaching a maximum of around 38°C (100°F).
Needless to say, such searing heat made travelling to and
from the circuit – which involved a half-hour bus ride to the village of Mogyorod
and a further twenty or so minute walk from there to the circuit entrance – an
utter nightmare.
Once my girlfriend and I were seated in the grandstand, perched
just at the exit of the final corner, things weren’t quite so bad, and the on-track
action was a welcome distraction from the constant quest to avoid dehydration
and sunburn.
The race itself was an entertaining affair, surprisingly so
for a track that has produced some real snore-fests in the past. As much as I
dislike DRS, I will admit that, at a circuit like the Hungaroring, the system
works well as it makes overtaking possible (albeit still challenging) as
opposed to virtually unthinkable.
The temperatures also meant preserving the revised Pirelli
rubber was a challenge as well, with a three-stop strategy turning out to be
the quickest for most drivers despite the time lost in the pits being increased
by a pit-lane speed limit reduction.
On that basis, few would have predicted a victory for Lewis
Hamilton, even after the Brit took a fourth pole position of the season by just
under half a tenth from Sebastian Vettel. But, with some excellent overtaking
and a modicum of good fortune, Hamilton was able to secure his first win for
his new employers Mercedes in fine style.
Despite some jostling at the first corner, the top three
remained in grid order at the start, with Hamilton at the head of a leading
trio which also comprised Vettel’s Red Bull and Romain Grosjean’s Lotus.
The pivotal moment of the race proved to be just after
Hamilton’s first pit stop at the end of lap 9. The 2008 champion resumed just
behind his compatriot Jenson Button, but was able to quickly pass with a
decisive move into the first corner on lap 11.
Vettel on the other hand lost 13 seconds to Hamilton whilst stuck
behind Button until lap 24, who was one of a number of drivers top to opt for a
long first stint on prime tyres. It was a deficit that the championship leader
would be powerless to reduce by any significant margin.
Hamilton meanwhile made two characteristically bold passes
on the sister Red Bull of Mark Webber after each of his remaining pit-stops –
on both occasions at the unorthodox location of turn 3 – en route to his fourth
victory at the Hungaroing and the 22nd of his career, drawing him
level with fellow British champion Damon Hill.
Taking the runner-up spot wasn’t either of the Red Bull
drivers but Kimi Raikkonen. If not for starting down in sixth position, which led
to the Finn getting stuck behind the slower Ferrari of Felipe Massa in the
first stint and the first part of the second, Raikkonen may even have beaten
Hamilton to the win with his two-stop strategy.
Instead, it was another case of what may have been for the
Lotus driver, whose consistent pace once he cleared Massa put him in the
position to overhaul the other Ferrari of Fernando Alonso and both Red Bull
drivers as they made their third stops in the closing stages.
Raikkonen held on with his worn tyres to narrowly take the
runner-up spot after a dramatic tussle with Vettel during the final couple of
laps, with Webber several seconds further back in fourth.
Finishing a distant fifth place was Alonso, who never had
the pace to fight for a podium finish and was left to fend off Grosjean at the
flag. The result meant that the Spaniard dropped behind Raikkonen in the
standings, with Vettel extending his advantage to 38 points.
Grosjean had an eventful race, firstly making minor contact
with Button whilst trying to follow Vettel through during the second stint and
later getting a drive-through penalty for passing Massa by leaving the circuit at
turn 4 after his second pit-stop.
The stewards handed Grosjean a 20-second time penalty after
the race for causing a collision with Button, but this didn’t affect his
finishing position of sixth.
McLaren did well to get both cars in the points once more
with a pair of two-stop strategies for Button and Sergio Perez, who finished
seventh and ninth respectively. Splitting the pair was Massa, whose race was
compromised on the very first lap by contact with Nico Rosberg.
After a bruising first lap that saw Rosberg drop from fourth
on the grid all the way down to twelfth, the German did well to recover to
ninth place before a late engine failure halted his progress.
That allowed Pastor Maldonado, who drove faultlessly all
afternoon, to end the points drought for his Williams team and cross the line
in tenth place.
Nico Hulkenberg finished eleventh, costing himself a chance
at points with a drive-through penalty for pit-lane speeding, ahead of the Toro
Rosso teammates Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo. The latter made a fourth
successive Q3 appearance with eighth on the grid, but slipped down the order as
his two-stop strategy failed to pay dividends.
The only remaining finishers were the perennial tail-enders,
with Caterham’s Giedo van der Garde turning in a particularly impressive
performance to finish a creditable fourteenth.
The race had an unusually high rate of attrition, with both
Force India drivers, Valtteri Bottas and Esteban Gutierrez suffering mechanical
failure as well as Rosberg.
F1 now begins its four-week long summer break, with the
drivers and all the other team personnel taking a well-earned rest before the
next race at Spa in late August.
Despite the well-documented difficulties in his personal
life, Hamilton’s victory will surely beg the question of whether the Mercedes
driver can be considered a bona fide title
threat for the remainder of the year.
When you consider that the next two circuits on the calendar
are high-speed venues which are not traditionally Red Bull’s forte, and that
there are still 225 points to play for, Vettel’s advantage atop the championship
table looks far from insurmountable.
Hamilton has taken the last three pole positions, ought to
have won at Silverstone (only to be thwarted by his Pirelli rubber letting him
down) and took honours in Hungary. If he can bank some strong finishes at Spa
and Monza as well, he could well find himself in the hunt.
Raikkonen too can take heart in some strong performances
from Lotus lately, even if a second victory of the season is now a little
overdue. Alonso on the other hand, after the race, joked that the best 32nd
birthday present he could have had would have been “someone else’s car”.
Needless to say, such comments didn’t go down well at Maranello
but were indicative of just how far Ferrari has fallen away from the pace of
its three chief competitors. Alonso’s commanding home victory at Spain must by
now feel like a distant memory.
The forthcoming arrival of former Lotus technical director James
Allison at the Scuderia may be a morale booster, but is unlikely to make any
real impact on this year’s car.
It’s not too late for Ferrari to turn the situation around,
but time is running out to ensure that Alonso isn’t frozen out of what has the
potential to be a thrilling four-way title fight.
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