Not many would have bet on him at the start, but Jenson Button has won the Hungarian GP in unpredictable weather conditions. Reigning world champ Sebastian Vettel couldn’t catch the Brit, and had to settle for second. Back to becoming a podium regular, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finished third. The team mates of the podium trio filled places 4 to 6 in the same order, starting from Hamilton, Webber and Massa.
Jenson must love Hungary, as it was the venue of his first ever Formula 1 victory back in 2006 with Honda. This is his second win of the season after that super dramatic race in Canada.
The race started on damp tarmac, and all cars started on intermediate tyres. Pole man Vettel made a great start, pulling ahead of the McLarens, who were side by side in the first set of corners. Hamilton made it stick and was second.
In the meantime, the Silver Arrows of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher made brilliant starts to occupy 4th and 5th, having started in 7th and 9th respectively. In contrast, Adrian Sutil (8th on grid) and Sergio Perez (10th on grid) made bad starts.
Double world champ Alonso, who got Ferrari back to winning ways in the British GP, was on a charge, and overtook both Mercedes cars by the third lap, the same lap where DRS was enabled despite plenty of sideways action. By now, there was a good battle for the lead with Lewis challenging Vettel; the Brit finally taking over when Seb went wide on lap 5.
Speaking of getting wide, Alonso was clearly pushing very hard and visited the runoff areas more than once.
The second and third sectors were getting dry, and everyone was waiting to see who would blink first and dive in for slicks. It was Red Bull for Mark Webber on lap 11. He came out blazing, and the subsequent two laps saw all the front runners pit, starting with Button. The earlier the better, and Button came out to harass Vettel, succeeding on lap 13. Webber passes Alonso for fourth. Hamilton widens his lead.
Meanwhile, Team Lotus’ Jarno Trulli retired on lap 19, joined later by teammate Kovalainen on lap 60. Lotus Renault GP’s Nick Heidfeld provided some drama on lap 25, when his car seemed to explode and catch fire when exiting the pitlane. Another man out is Schumi on lap 29 when he fought with Massa.
The list now reads Hamilton, Button, Vettel, Webber and Alonso. The Ferrari man pitted earlier for fresh rubber and took Webber’s place. The next piece of drama was on lap 46, when leader Hamilton spun at the chicane, letting pass Button for the lead. The rain came into play again at about lap 49, and Button concedes the lead to Lewis, while Vettel spun more than once. Hamilton pitted for inters on lap 50, but Button, now the leader again, stayed out on slicks. Alonso did the same.
This proved to be the right move, as the track dried up. Hamilton is then passed by Alonso, and after a drive through penalty, he is out of contention, yet another frustrating afternoon for the ex-champ. The positions now read Button, Vettel and Alonso, which remained till the end. Ever the fighter, Hamilton didn’t give up after all that’s happened to him, and overtook Webber for fourth. This happened in the midst of a packed midfield scrap.
McLaren is on form, and Vettel doesn’t look invincible anymore, but he still leads the championship by a big margin – Button is fifth and 100 points behind the German’s 234. In the constructors list, Red Bull leads McLaren 383 to 280 points.
The Formula 1 circus will now have a summer break, returning to Spa in Belgium from 26-28 August.
