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A first-time winner, a battle between two greats and an opening lap crash were just a few things that we witnessed during a crazy Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring.
In what was a hectic race, we witnessed six retirements in the opening laps as only a few minutes of rain created utter chaos. Whilst all of that went on, Esteban Ocon went on to claim his maiden Formula 1 victory as the Frenchman stayed out of trouble and drove a stellar race to cross the line in first place.
Esteban Ocon joins the F1 race winner club
What a race it was for the Esteban Ocon. After the restart, everyone bar Lewis Hamilton pitted for slick tyres with the Frenchman emerging out of the pit lane in third place.
He was second before the end of lap three as George Russell was told by the FIA to give the hand positions back after making them up in the pit lane.
After Hamilton’s pit stop at the end of that lap, Ocon started the fourth lap of the Hungarian Grand Prix as the race leader.
The Alpine driver controlled the pace and held onto the lead for the entirety of the race as he jumped onto the top step of the podium. Fernando Alonso played a massive part in this as he held back Hamilton for a number of laps with the team claiming a massive points haul due to the driver’s efforts at the Hungaroring.
Sebastian Vettel loses his second-place finish
After failing to provide a one-litre fuel sample after the race, Sebastian Vettel was disqualified from the Hungarian Grand Prix and as a result, lost his second place and 18 Championship points.
The German provided fans with a fantastic race-long battle for the lead with Ocon but ultimately looked like he used too much fuel in his battle with the Frenchman.
Aston Martin did launch an appeal into the decision with the team desperate to keep ahold of their championship points and saying that they were able to extract a sufficient amount of fuel out of the car, however, the FIA made their final decision and stripped Vettel of his finishing position and disqualified him from the race.
This means that Lewis Hamilton is promoted into second with Carlos Sainz claiming his second Ferrari podium of the year moving up into third place.
Battle of the greats: Lewis Hamilton v Fernando Alonso
An enthralling battle between the Alpine of Fernando Alonso and the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton was probably one of the biggest highlights of the race.
The Spaniard, who celebrated his 40th birthday last week, put on a superb defensive masterclass to keep the seven-time world champion at bay.
Lap after lap, Hamilton looked to dart down the inside and then down the outside but to no avail as Alonso made his Alpine car as wide as humanly possible.
A lock-up from the Alpine driver allowed car number 44 to get through and chase down the podium which he was able to get but failed to get the win, falling two seconds short of claiming the top step which proved how much of an excellent job Alonso did to make sure that Ocon came out as the winner of the race.
Lap one crash sees Red Bull lose the lead in both Championship Standings
The antics from lap one saw plenty of cars crash and spin out which in turn caused five retirements. A chain reaction after Valtteri Bottas collided with Lando Norris saw Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez and a few others come together and sustain big damage.
A separate incident between Lance Stroll, Charles Leclerc and Daniel Ricciardo also occurred as Stroll and Leclerc both retired but Ricciardo was able to carry on.
Ultimately, Red Bull were the biggest loser after that crash as Perez had to retire from the race and Verstappen was only able to score two points after sustaining massive damage.
Bottas, of course, was also out of the race but Mercedes claimed both championship leads after Hamilton’s second-place finish.
Williams secure a double points finish
Tears of joy, delighted mechanics and two drivers that did their all to make sure they scored the points. Nicholas Latifi’s P7 and George Russell’s P8 saw Williams claim 10 championship points and propel them ahead of Haas and Alfa Romeo in the Constructors’ Standings.
The Canadian moved up into third place after the chaos ensued on lap one with his teammate Russell not far behind as the race was red-flagged.
From the restart, everyone pitted for fresh slick tyres but the Williams duo battled well to keep ahold of their points positions and even made some good overtakes throughout the race.
Russell, with one of the best overtakes in the race, darted around the outside of Mick Schumacher to move up a place, but it was the sheer amount of confidence and determination to pull off such a move that proved how talented the Brit is.
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