It was "almost" a historic Hungarian Grand Prix for Lewis Hamilton.
Having to start on the pit lane because of disastrous qualifying (and an on-board fire), he almost became the first driver to go from pits to top step. Hamilton finished third, but the larger issue is again between Hamilton and teammate Nico Rosburg. Hamilton was given a suggestion to have Rosburg pass, but Hamilton wasn't going to slow down to make it happen. Rosburg was too far behind to use his in-car "push-to-pass," so Hamilton kept racing his normal race.
Hamilton finished third and Rosburg fourth- the end result being the lead for Rosburg for the title is now down to 11 points at the season mid-break.
Oh, Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo won and Fernando Alonso was second
Post race, Hamilton defended his stance- as well he should have...
((HT: SkySports))
Now, to the rest of the run...
Sauber was 1 for 2, but their highest finish was 11th- just out of points. Marussia finished 15th and 16th- good for finishing, but bad for points-gathering.
It was disastrous for Force India as both Perez and Hulkenberg
Vijay Mallya, Team Principal & Managing Director, waxed on a missed chance afterwards:
“It is disappointing to come away from this weekend with nothing, especially as the race was shaping up nicely for us. Both Checo and Nico were on course for a points finish, but it was not our day. Sometimes, this is how motorsport is. But a negative result must not detract from our great first half of the year because this is the first race in 2014 in which we have not scored points. Despite the missed opportunity, we remain in fifth place in the championship. It was also a fantastic race for Formula One with wheel-to-wheel racing and a great show for the fans. We have the summer break now, an occasion to regroup and come back stronger in Belgium and get ready for the final eight races.”
Caterham and Sauber are still pointless in the season and the day was a long one for Caterham. Both Kobayashi and Ericsson didn't finish the race.
Kobayashi: “It’s obviously a shame we couldn’t finish the race today but an issue with the fuel system meant I had to stop the car as I had no power.
“My start was pretty good – I stayed on the outside to avoid any issues going into turn one and I had good traction out of the first corner, helping me pass a couple of cars and straight away I could push. The car felt good in the wet / dry conditions, they seem to suit us, and my pace in the first stint was pretty strong. We boxed for the first time on lap nine and rejoined on softs and again I had good pace, enough to push me up to 14th.
“I had a big moment with Maldonado when he span after making contact with Bianchi. That’s the third race in a row I’ve had a very near miss and this time I saw him hit the Marussia and then start spinning – I managed to turn in just enough to avoid him hitting me, but there must have only been millimetres in it!
“After that I was into a good rhythm and the balance was fine. We were going to run quite long on that set but then on lap 24 I lost power just after turn 12 and that was the end of my race.”
Marcus Ericsson: “It was quite a good race up until the point where I crashed on lap seven. My start was ok and I was having a good fight with Chilton and Maldonado, trying to line them up through turn three and I was just a bit too eager in the throttle. The back stepped out and I couldn't catch the car and that was it, I was in the wall.
“It was a pretty big shunt! I went to the medical centre straight after the crash and they told me it was about 20g, but physically I feel fine. I’m sorry for the guys on track and back at Leafield though – they put in 100% all the time and it’s obviously not a good feeling for them to see one of their cars in the wall, but we’ll come back fighting in Spa where we have some new parts and we’ll keep pushing, there and for the whole second half of the season.”
Next up for F1 is Belgium in a little less than a month...
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