Vettel leads Ferrari one-two in tense Hungarian Grand Prix

2017 Hungarian Grand Prix summary

Posted on

| Written by

Sebastian Vettel led a Ferrari one-two in the Hungarian Grand Prix despite having to manage a steering problem on his car for much of the race.

Vettel took the chequered flag ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, who was clearly frustrated at being forced to spend the race behind his ailing team mate despite repeatedly urging Ferrari to let him past.

The Mercedes drivers swapped places twice during the race. The last change of positions came on the final lap as Lewis Hamilton restored Valtteri Bottas to the final podium position. Bottas had previously let Hamilton by into third to attack the Ferraris.

A chastened Max Verstappen took fifth place for Red Bull after collecting a ten-second penalty for hitting his team mate on the first lap. Daniel Ricciardo retired after the contact at turn two.

Fernando Alonso gave McLaren their best result of the season so far with sixth position. He overtook Carlos Sainz Jnr and set the fastest lap on the penultimate lap.

Stoffel Vandoorne took his first point of the year in tenth place, separated by his team mate by Sainz and the two Force Indias.

Romain Grosjean joined Ricciardo in retirement after leaving his pits with a suspected cross-threaded wheel nut. Paul di Resta also failed to take the chequered flag when Williams called him in with nine laps to go. Nico Hulkenberg dropped out three laps from home while running outside of the points places.

2017 Hungarian Grand Prix reaction

    Check back shortly for more race reaction

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

166 comments on “Vettel leads Ferrari one-two in tense Hungarian Grand Prix”

  1. Kimi should’ve won…

    1. Michael Brown (@)
      30th July 2017, 14:45

      I agree.

    2. petebaldwin (@)
      30th July 2017, 14:56

      Kimi didn’t win because he started the race 79 points behind in the Championship. If he was 79 points ahead, they’d have made the switch.

      Ferrari have a good car but on lots of tracks, the Mercedes engine is too much for them. If they are going to win the title, they have to make sure Vettel wins whenever he can and Kimi has shown so far this year (and the previous few years) that he’s not going to score enough points to compete with Vettel over a full season.

      1. To let Kimi past would’ve lost Ferrari the one-two! Was it THAT straight forward? Not at all… they made the absolute right decision, Seb was suffering and Kimi played the team game but it’s also lucky for Ferrari: it’s the Hungaroring. Had it been Spa or example, Kimi would’ve passed, and Seb would’ve finished 3rd as Lewis would’ve then posed a much bigger danger.

        1. @makana

          would’ve finished 3rd

          I’m think VES and BOT would’ve been fast enough to take hima s well.

          1. Bottas finished 12 seconds behind Vettel. He would not have been able to get past as he was not even fast enough to stay with Vettel’s train.

        2. I just hope Kimi wins at SPA (I have money on it).

          1. put your money on Ham, this truck is his… if not put split bet on ham vs vet,dont waste money on kimi… realistically he can finish second at best even if ham cant take it to chequered flag… they wont let him win… Schuey vs Bar … Ferrari rules this way and always has been…

    3. On this race track, Ferrari monitored the performance… they considered letting kimi past, but saw that Mercedes could not overtake anyway, and kimi could not overtake vettel…so fair play, kimi didn’t qualify well enough so should not be given special consideration, especially as he is not in the championship race. Kimi had good pace because Vettel was being cautious, but vettel knew there was no overtaking possible on this track and won the race in qualifying, so well done to him.

      1. Kimi never got ok to overtake Vettel. He served as a shield against mercedes. If you think that Ferrari even consider Schumacher give position to Barichello, then I have a bad news for you.

        But anyway, I would have done the same but I never say Ferrari considered that.

    4. Justin (@boombazookajd)
      30th July 2017, 16:29

      no, he shouldn’t have. He qualified in 2nd and would have only won by a team order. Seb deserved that win and Ferrari the 1-2.

      1. I would love to see Kimmi and Bottas in the same team. “You go first, ma’am”.
        “No, you, miss”.
        “No really, you madam.”

    5. Anele (@anele-mbethe)
      30th July 2017, 21:11

      What was stopping him from attempting a move. We all know deb was much faster without the steering issue

  2. Was the swap back an instruction, or just Hamilton’s initiative? I don’t think even Hamilton’s worst detractor would have complained if he kept the podium, seeing as how Bottas dropped behind after the first swap.

    Hamilton just gave up 3 points in his title battle against Vettel and Bottas – very gentlemanly of him.

    1. 3 points to Vettel, 6 points to Bottas (as Bottas gained 3 and Ham lost three).

    2. Lewis loves fair racing, he knew he did not gain that position through merit. Mercedes best team in f1!!!!!!!

      1. Let’s dissect your comment before and after the comma.
        He knew he didn’t gain that position through merit – Fair enough, props to HAM
        Lewis loves fair racing – Abu Dhabi 2016.

        1. What did Hamilton do in Abu Dhabi that wasn’t fair?

        2. @pratyushp276 ….vs the team mate who deliberately collided with him twice and sabotaged quali to ensure pole…of course you should expect Hamilton to drive that way in Abu Dhabi!

          (Btw I do like Rosberg!)

        3. @pratyushp276

          What you and others who think along the same lines as you fail to understand is that in 2016 Lewis Hamilton was the defending champion, and had every right to defend his title… even against his team mate in the final race of the season.

          1. So if it’s defending a title it’s cool, but not a podium?

            (I can sort of understand the difference between Hungary this year and Abu Dhabi last year, but I don’t see how the fact he’s defending champion’s got anything to do with it)

          2. Monaco 2016: Rosberg should have defended his lead and not let Hamilton past. Then Abu Dhabi would not have mattered.

      2. No doubt that the move was a gentlemanly one, but I think it is going a little to far to say that about his general performances (see various incidents between 2007, 2014 – 2016). Then again, I hardly doubt any driver contending for championships in recent years has ever been gentlemanly all the time (except perhaps Button, Massa, Hill, or Berger).

        1. @kimiraikkonen1207, I’d question a few of those drivers – was it a gentlemanly thing for Berger to deliberately provoke a crash with Arnoux in the 1988 Australian GP, knowing full well that it would be Arnoux that would be blamed instead of him?

          As for Hill, we know from his autobiography that he engaged in much more psychological warfare behind the scenes than his public persona suggested – we also know from Pay Symonds that he and Hill developed a tactic of driving slow formation laps because they were intentionally trying to make Schumacher’s engine overheat and fail back in 1994, which I wouldn’t call a gentlemanly tactic (especially since it hit a lot of other drivers on the grid). Equally, in the 1998 Belgian GP, didn’t he threaten to take both himself and his team mate Ralf out of the race if Eddie Jordan didn’t order Ralf to back off and not challenge him for the win?

          With Massa, he did have a few wild moments when he was at Sauber, especially in 2002, and was the first driver to rack up a grid penalty after he shunted de la Rosa in the 2002 Italian GP (though Sauber managed to get around the rule by sitting him out for a race). He did mature with age after that, but his initial career wasn’t without flaws.

          1. Now that Hill’s mentioned though……Phil?

          2. You have good points, but some of your arguments have questionable points too. I would agree with you on the Berger incident, but (granted I might not have the knowledge of older F1 drivers like many on this site) I always saw Hill as a generally good natured guy – he was usually nice to his teammates when racing, and even tried to vouch for Schumacher calling the 1994 adelaide crash a racing incident (which it wasn’t from my point of view). However, looking over your points I suppose you are right about those. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think Hakkinen would have been a better example for kind drivers). As for Massa, he never intentionally crashed into others (like I mentioned with Hill), and never complained for team orders (or made promises he couldn’t keep) like Hamilton or Alonso. He might have been wild, but he was never a flat out jerk.

    3. Michael Brown (@)
      30th July 2017, 14:45

      it is nice that Hamilton did give the position back as promised but being nice won’t win championships. Still, that’s a rare team swap where the position was given back as promised.

      Last lap was ideal actually to keep the chance of Verstappen taking a position from either Mercedes low.

      1. “being nice won’t win championships.”

        Next time Bottas is asked to move over to let him have a run at a Ferrari, he’s far more likely to trust him. Which means he’s far more likely to let him, which can give Lewis a chance at more than three points.

        If being nice doesn’t win chanpionships, neither does being dishonourable. You know who wins championships? Those who are nice when it’s appropriate and cutthroat when it’s appropriate.

    4. @phylyp Hamilton had Bottas well beaten here, pulling out 2 secs through 1.5 laps when Bottas let him past and then 8secs ahead at the end of the race despite racing the Ferrari’s. Bottas didn’t have the pace here to challenge Raikonnen, Hamilton leaves Hungary with team brownie points in the back pocket now for later in the season, the team and both all know who was the faster driver by some margin, I expect to see Bottas making way again later in the season of the championship remains tight.

      Kudos to Mercedes and the drivers for their behaviour!

    5. The pass was Hamilton’s initiative. He requested that Bottas let him through, on the understanding that if he could not pass Raikkonen he would give the place back, which he did, as agreed.

    6. I was expecting Lewis to do the dirty and not give back the place – even behind bottas he had no chance of passing, bottas did the great team mate thing first (even though he IS in the championship hunt), so it would have been disgusting for Hamilton not to return the position – Hamilton had no option at this stage of the season – otherwise it would have caused team conflict. at the end of the day qualifying determined a lot of the race, as Hamilton was faster in race but didn’t achieve in qualifying, but this is hungary, a go kart track hard for f1 cars to pass.

    7. Toto’s reaction when HAM let BOT through

      https://abload.de/img/ezgif41ffed98ff3ucyw5.gif

      1. @goofy was toto happy or upset i cant seem to read this reaction.

        1. @lucifer
          I really don’t know. You could read it both ways but i think he was upset
          1) Positive: His reaction was “that’s the way how you do it”
          2) Negative: Look at Niki’s, the mechanic’s and Russell’s facial expressions. It just looks like Toto was swearing and they were wondering about his reaction. Especially because we saw Niki’s reaction to the teamorder against BOT during the race. Niki seems to be satisfied that HAM let BOT trought while Toto is jumping around.

          But that’s just folk psychology

      2. I think he and Niki had a bet on whether he’d let him back through :D

        1. Sundar Srinivas Harish
          31st July 2017, 0:52

          That’s probably it.

        2. petebaldwin (@)
          31st July 2017, 11:16

          That’s 100% how it looks! The reaction of Hamilton Sr was spot on.

    8. petebaldwin (@)
      31st July 2017, 11:13

      @phylyp Really? For me it would have shown Hamilton isn’t a team player or a man of his word. I was glad to see that he was grown up about it – as was Bottas in letting him past in the first place. If Hamilton had kept the place, do you think Bottas would have let him past the next time he was asked to do so?

  3. Well. That was tense.

    Mad respect to Hamilton for that though. I know if I was in his situation and I was 7 seconds ahead of my team mate who was just 1 second ahead I wouldn’t have let him through.
    Made sense for Ferrari not to let Raikkonen past, as then Vettel would’ve been a sitting duck for Hamilton without the DRS to defend like Kimi had, so it was either a 1-2 or a 1-3 for them, much as I’d have liked to see Raikkonen win again.
    And where to start with Hulkenberg… First he gets the gearbox penalty for having to change it after it failed at the end in Silverstone (though he still came 6th), so he had to start 12th instead of 7th. Cut off by Palmer into turn 1 so he had to break well before he needed to, then was 3/4 wide at turn 1 and made some contact with Grosjean (racing incident). Then did well to get right up Ocon’s gearbox and go longer, putting in lap times to a point where he’d be fighting with Perez on the pit exit. But nope, his team make a complete hash of it and he ends up behind Magnussen instead. Then when trying to pass Magnussen, he pushes him well off the track (while well off the racing line, Kevin clearly had no intention other than to force Hulk off the track, expecting penalty points there), which then put him behind Kvyat. Then the car fails on him (unsure why) and he’s forced to retire. Weekend where he outdrove the car completely (1s quicker than Palmer in qualifying), but gets the worst luck out of everyone, as per usual for him… Sigh…

    Alonso fastest lap though, woop.

    1. It’s really hard to be more unlucky than Massa haha

      1. And yet, he still manages it. Love how even after the team lost him a ton of time at the pits and Magnussen had forced him off the track, he was still ahead of Palmer.

        1. How many dollars (or euros) says Kubica will achieve a faster lap in the Hungary test than Palmer in Qualy? By the way, could anyone tell me when this testing begins?

    2. Justin (@boombazookajd)
      30th July 2017, 16:31

      @hugh11 “Made sense for Ferrari not to let Raikkonen past, as then Vettel would’ve been a sitting duck for Hamilton without the DRS to defend like Kimi had, so it was either a 1-2 or a 1-3 for them”

      yes, thank you! Glad to know other people out there understand this tactic!

  4. Michael Brown (@)
    30th July 2017, 14:40

    If Alonso finishes on the podium, will he get to sit in his deck chair?

    1. That would be awesome!

    2. Jonathan Parkin
      30th July 2017, 16:18

      I would like both McLaren drivers to finish on the podium. With one Sauber. Such a result would make sure the race would be remembered forever

    3. He did anyway.

    4. What @donnington said – he did sit in his deckchair after the race, on the painting.

  5. Mercedes best team in F1!!!!!!!!!!!

    1. Since 2014 that is a fact. 3 wcc 3 wdc titles, winning every race and poll and dtivers 1 and 2 in every wdc. At the end of this year hopefully they won’t be.

  6. Kimi is the true winner today. Team sport, yes, I know why Ferrari played it this way, but Kimi clearly had more pace today. Surely Kimi’s contract extension is sealed deal now?

    Kudos to Hamilton for letting Bottas rightfully past as he promised. Fantastic sportsmanship from him. Don’t think Vettel or Alonso would’ve acted the same in similar situation

    1. And that crowd reaction at podium interviews when it was Kimi’s turn to answer. No question who’s the most popular driver in F1. Kimi! Kimi! Kimi! chants all over the place.

    2. Was the quickest driver today. Like I mentioned in my post though, if they’d let Raikkonen through, he’d have just gone off into the distance and Vettel would’ve been a sitting duck for the Mercedes powered Hamilton with no DRS to defend and a broken steering wheel. With Kimi defending round this track, they were confident of a 1-2.

      1. Kimi was the cushion for Seb’s win. Ferrari took the right decision – and when Seb says “I prefer Kimi” (when asked if he has any objection to Alonso being in the Ferrari next year), we see why, IMAGINE Fernando in the car behind :D :D :D

        1. @makana San Marino 1982?

          1. (which also came before a Belgian GP…)

          2. Point being? San Marino is NOT the Hungaroring… being at the Hungaroring made the decision easier for a lucky Ferrari.

          3. @makana I mean

            IMAGINE Fernando in the car behind

            Fernando takes win, VET becomes furious, VET crashes and dies in Belgium FP? (I didn’t mean that too seriously, of course!) :p

          4. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Wow, some imagination! Nice one!

          5. @ David Not Coulthard

            “Fernando takes win, VET becomes furious, VET crashes and dies in Belgium FP? (I didn’t mean that too seriously, of course!) :p”

            That’s amusing is it? I don’t believe there’s any excuse for such a comment.

          6. Jeeeeeez Baron. It’s called a joke.

  7. I think dirty air is the winner, every single car that was 1sec faster than the one ahead could not overtake.
    As for those claiming Kimi should have won, was he actually instructed by Ferrari to stay behind and not try to overtake? If not then he doesn’t deserve higher step when he couldn’t overtake his teammate who seemingly had a problem.

    1. Michael Brown (@)
      30th July 2017, 14:48

      @ivan-vinitskyy That’s right, we don’t have any proof of that. Of course, since I was watching Sky all they would say was, “Would he be allowed to overtake?”

    2. dirty air… the thing preventing Hamilton from also challenging bottas, but at least vettel had a reason for being slower than team mate. Kimi had no chance to pass vettel because of dirty air.

    3. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      31st July 2017, 4:30

      It’s beyond disappointing how difficult it is to pass another top car this year. The Mercs are practically Saubers when it comes to passing. Your odds of passing a Ferrari with a Merc are about the same as passing it with a Sauber.

      1. Guybrush Threepwood
        31st July 2017, 4:39

        And yet some romantics want to throw logic out of the window and get rid of DRS.

  8. I never liked Lewis….but massive respect for that switch…..having said that…..that might cost him.

    1. Massive respect for Valterri for moving aside right away too, no!? Or is he too nice to be World Champion.

      1. True…Bottas deserve respect as well….but as a newbie in a team , he is expected to move aside…..but just did bot expect Lewis to give the place back..

      2. Valterri is playing the waiting game. Though it is possible for him to win the championship this year, he knows if he plays the #2 role and helps to bolster Hamilton’s chances while getting consistent results, he will eventually be in Hamilton’s position when he retires. Once Bottas becomes the clear #1 driver, I predict a more aggressive side will be brought out in him.

        1. His first year at 2017, you’re right, he must behave.

    2. Massive thumbs up to Bottas who let the idea get off the ground. He could have replied with a Kevin Magnussen response.

  9. Great to see Hamilton honour that agreement and let Bottas past. Somehow, though, there will be a few that find a reason to hammer him for this or that.
    Anyway, great race. Enjoy the summer break!

    1. petebaldwin (@)
      30th July 2017, 14:52

      He could have said no and fought Bottas instead but agreed to be let past and have a go at Kimi. He couldn’t pass so it’s 100% the right thing to do to honour the agreement. Bottas gave the place up so Lewis had to do the same as per the deal they made.

      If it was me, I’d have said “Lewis is clearly quicker so let him past. Team order. Do it now” but I respect Mercedes for deciding to treat their drivers as equals instead of 1 and 2 and I respect the drivers for working as a team.

  10. Crashtappen strikes back.

    1. @jerejj Maxalnado! ( I do love him though!!)

    2. Time to send Max back to Toro Rosso to learn the basics of F1. Eleven races, five DNFs on his own plus now a sixth charged to his account today – he’s costing RBR far too many points, points Carlos Sainz would have bagged easily. Let DNF-Max battle it out with DNF-Danil at Toro Rosso for the remainder of this season where they won’t cost RBR oodles of points!

      1. on his own

        ?

      2. Carlos Sainz would have bagged easily.

        Yes, with a broken car, or after being collected by another STR driver.

        1. Like I said; let DNF-Max battle it out with DNF-Danil at Toro Rosso (STR) where they won’t cost RBR oodles of points! Capishe? ;-)

      3. Henrik, erm, I think you’ve perhaps been living up to your avatar and been drinking a bit too much, because I fail to see how you could accuse Verstappen of having five DNF’s this season due to his behaviour on track. For a start, I’m struggling to see how he could be blamed for the brake failure that put him out of the Bahrain GP – especially since Ricciardo retired with exactly the same problem in the very next race – nor for the electrical failure in Canada or the oil pump failure in Baku (let alone the fact that, in Austria and Barcelona, he DNF’d because of accidents caused by other drivers).

        You also overlook the fact that Sainz has a fairly high DNF rate himself (four DNF’s this season), and in his case he caused one of those DNFs himself (when he slammed into Stroll with his botched passing attempt in Bahrain).

        1. The grin should be sent to Torro Rosso. Verstappen is so much faster everywhere. Sainz seemed cliser to Verstappen when they were teammates. The Grin is living of luck and 2014. Nice to see Verstappen put him where he belongs today.

      4. Next place for Max is either Ferrari or Mercedes. Red Bull will get rid of Ricciardo than losing max. So, sorry mate.

    3. Maxtor Maldostappen

  11. Big kudos to HAM and RAI, they were two great team players.

    HAM for backing position with BOT and RAI for ensuring a 1-2 for Ferrari, he could have pass VET but then it would have been a 1-4

  12. What was Lewis/Mercedes thinking giving that place back to Bottas??? What a silly decision, Bottas dropped right back, he never stayed with Lewis AND you are risking losing a position to Verstapen too.
    Now he lost three points to Vettel and 6 to Bottas. What nonsense….

    1. Honor mate, simple as that. By keeping the agreement to switch back everybody wins. Hamilton has done the right thing, and will get the respect for that, and some will say he needed to do something to restore his image. Mercedes keeps the mood in the team calm and relaxed. No team points were lost either, and the 3 points Hamilton lost, he gained tenfold in popularity cred, and I bet that feels good to him as well. All in all a wise decision by the team, and Hamilton!

      1. Even disregarding the honour argument, it was the right call from a purely selfish point of view.

        There’s a good chance that there will be a similar situation later on. Had he not let Bottas past, there’s a good chance he’d meet resistance when he needs it later. 3 points keeps the good will. Unless he loses the championship by less than that, he’ll definitely feel it worthwhile.

        Even if he does lose out because of it, it’s storing up good will for the future, which could well win him more.

      2. in popularity cred

        @testacorsa I doubt that really gains him anything – Murdoch media’s Singapore (I think) studio suggested how that would make BOT less unkeen on being a good team player towards the end of the season when Lewis would clearly and more tangibly need team orders his way though.

        1. @davidnotcoulthard Well, maybe. I’m just comparing this to Vette/Webber multi 21 thing, and that messed up the relationship between them completely. This being the exact opposite, although I know the Ham/Bot relationship isn’t (as) stained as the Vet/Web one was.
          @drmouse Totally agree with that. By being honorable he was paving his way with goodwill into a smooth second part of the season. A good deep is never unselfish :)

          1. the Ham/Bot relationship isn’t (as) stained as the Vet/Web one was.

            @testacorsa Ha, yeah, probably. They haven’t had a Turkey 2010, after all!

          2. Remember Silverstone 2010

          3. I keep being amazed on how uneducated the average F1 fan is. Before multi 21, there was a multi 12. Meaning Webber had to let Vettel pass. Webber didn’t agree with it, but Vettel passed him anyway with some effort.
            This is the reason why Vettel didn’t listen to multi 21…
            You can all find it back on the web, basic stuff. Would you let a teammate through if he failed to do so a few races earlier? Don’t think so.

      3. In such a tight championship battle this could make a difference.

    2. Bottas didn’t need to stay with Lewis, knowing he would get the position back if Lewis couldn’t pass Kimi. Who’s to say Bottas couldn’t have stayed closer had he wanted to?

  13. Evil Homer (@)
    30th July 2017, 14:53

    Great work Max – again no respect for anyone including his team mate. Dan’s comments about being amateur spot on – kid needs to learn !!

    Pitty Kimi could not grab the win, he seems to disappear sometimes then shows he still has it. Great drive!!!

    Kudos to Lewis for the swap back – surprised by that but happy. Great team work Mercs…. have a look at that Max …

    1. Seb’s steering was OFF, that’s why Kimi was on his tail! Not because he became faster all of a sudden…

    2. Evil Homer (@)
      30th July 2017, 15:11

      I just heard his response to the incident …. I retract my comment but only by 50%. Cost Dan a solid race 😐

  14. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Raikkonen keeps his seat for next year. Just a tenth off Vettel in qualifying and as quick as him in the race.

    1. @sravan-pe right we hit summer break with two very strong drives from Raikonnen faster driver in Silverstone and round the Hungaroring. I so want him to win a race though before the end of the season!

      1. And it’s Spa next, Kimi’s favourite track

        1. I’ve got 50$ on him winning

      2. @sravan-pe, @ju88sy Surprise; Kimi was not faster in Silverstone, he just had the better start and free air, didn’t have to overtake a feisty Verstappen. Another surprise; Vettel finished ahead of Kimi today. Kimi did not have superior pace has Vettel his car been fine.

        That being said I do think they’ll retain the Finn.

    2. Yeah, let us ignore that Vettel had car issues …

  15. Great for Vettel, unfortunate but justifiable for Raikkonen, galant gesture from Hamilton, awkward for Bottas. As for Verstappen I have criticized him may times and now I am happy for 2 reasons, he proved me right once again and fortunately this time he hit the right target. RBR letting him do whatever he wants with no consequences so time for them to suffer!

  16. People banging on about Hamilton losing 3 points but if he loses the Championship he needs to look at his performances in Monaco and Russia first. keep Bottas in mind too, he’s still in touching distance at the halfway point. A poor race or DNF from Hamilton and it could be between Bottas and Vettel. 3 points isn’t much to give away to keep things friendly within the team and keep everyone motivated over the summer. We all saw what happened last time Mercedes went into the mid season break with tension between the drivers.

  17. How about McLaren going back to using Mercedes engines with Alonso and Kubica as their drivers for 2018.

    :)

  18. Let the Max-Bashing begin!

    1. I’m getting tired of these first-lap crashes taking out some leading contenders and making the race less interesting.

      I suggest double penalty points for first-lap crashes.

      1. I suggest double penalty points for first-lap crashes.

        Especially perfect for Abu Dhabi!

  19. Honestly i just want make a comment on the Hulk. He was driving an awesome race, staying out for over 40 laps on the first stint and still maintaining the 15 second gap to Alonso on new tires even after he was able to pass Palmer. Yet of course he suffers from bad luck completely out of his own control, which seems to happen on a regular basis. Every race he is outperforming a car that shouldn’t be the best of the rest, yet it is constantly overlooked due to the quality of his teammate. The Hulk has some serious pace and i really want to see him at a big team (is Ferrari entirely out of the picture?), but unfortunately he isn’t getting any younger.

    1. @harbhajahn The Renault is coming through, this years car + Hulk is much racier, will be interesting next year I expect Renault to step past the rest of the midfield, although it depends on Honda and if they deliver a decent PU to McLaren whose car this year is looks good.

    2. big team

      @harbhajahn Like team Enstone backed by the same manufacturer with which ALO won 2 titles with them?

      We can still hope

    3. He is already at a factory team – he only needs to wait a few years (hopefully).

    4. Sundar Srinivas Harish
      31st July 2017, 0:56

      That Renault has not only made strides from where it was last year, but also from where it was in the beginning of this year. They’ll be knocking on the doors of Ferrari, Merc and RB soon.

  20. GtisBetter (@)
    30th July 2017, 15:02

    i don’t get how bottas vs kimi in baku was a ruled a race incident, but ves vs ric was a collision? Ves just locked his wheel and went wide. Would love the reasoning behind both incidents to get a clear picture.

    1. @passingisoverrated Probably because Bottas suffered more than Kimi and behind one lap when he rejoined the race in Baku but Verstappen practically losing nothing here.

  21. First of all, driver of the day was Kimi Raikkonen. What loyalty he showed to his team and team-mate and how perfectly he executed the job.
    Secondly Hamilton really grew on me today. The reason he gave the place back to Bottas was because he asked the team to let him by Bottas to get a shot at the Ferraris. When he asked he promised to let Bottas by if he wasn’t able to pass Raikkonen. Hamilton was unable to pass Raikkonen and thus had to give the place back as promised.
    Of course Hamilton could have gone back on his word, but since Bottas had been fair snd let Hamilton have his chance that would not have gone down well with Bottas. If Hamilton had gone back on his word today it would probably have been the last favour Bottas would ever grant him.
    But regardless of these obvious facts Hamilton does deserve credit for sticking to his promise today. God job Lewis Hamilton.

  22. Other hook into the race;
    The Kimi Seb story? THIS is also the reason Verstappen (bloke of the day) will stay stuck at Red-Bull. Only Christian Horner accepts the drivers ignoring team orders. Verstappen would have not hold put behind Seb.

    Look, not switching I understand championship-wise, but they allowed Mercedes to make up a 13 second deficit, so it stays weird but fine. However in Monaco Kimi said on the radio ”Do we stay out or Now he said I had the pace to stay out. Max extending his stint and Alonso being able to set the fastest lap after 30 laps – even though not under full load for some time – proves again the knowledge the tyres were fine enough to stay Kimi out = Enough proof for me. They’re using him as a second Mark Webber. So I understand, but I don’t think it’s right. There goes my analysis.

    Furthermore;
    Alonso is a hero. Truly.

    1. Oh no, you can be sure Kimi will get another year at Ferrari in 2018. That’s because Ferrari are doing everything in their power to sign Verstappen in the future. They want Verstappen and so do Mercedes. It doesn’t matter what Hamilton or Vettel wants, they’re in the twilight of their career while Verstappen is the future.
      Today he again showed his class (appart from that stopid clash with Ricciardo). He’s 19 and in my view allready better than the other top drivers in F1 today. Given a Ferrari or Mercedes he would have a big lead in the Championship by now as he really does not have any weaknesses. He’s good in qualifying, he has great starts, he’s great at overtaking, he’s great defending his position and he’s great at taking care of his tyres. What more do you need, really I’m asking a serious question here!

    2. Only Christian Horner accepts the drivers ignoring team orders.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIHbQxyYwUc ?

      1. @davidnotcoulthard

        So, you’re gonna ignore the fact that, Toto (along with James Vowles) was screaming to order Paddy (who is the director here) to ask Lewis multiple times to listen after which Paddy Lowe left the team, and that same Toto Wolff after(!) that increasingly toxic rivalry, with no signs of the turbo hybrid-aero-era ending (aka Mercedes dominance), hired a maybe even better driver then Rosberg, which could cause the rivalry again and therefore allow that same Lewis who has had fights with every teammate before Bottas – to not let him take him mentally control of the team?

    3. Alonso = God

  23. GtisBetter (@)
    30th July 2017, 15:27

    for everybody who says kimi should have won. Saturday is about who is fastest. Sunday is about racing. If you can’t overtake (like nobody could), you don’t win. Even if he was allowed i highly doubt he could do it clean and vettel would defend tooth and nail.

    1. Ferrari still gave Vettel the win by pulling Kimi into the pits when he had better pace and wanted to stay out. If they had let Kimi run his first stint the way he wanted he would have won. Disappointing but not unexpected from Ferrari.

      1. GtisBetter (@)
        30th July 2017, 15:44

        He would most likely have been undercut by Bottas and maybe hamilton (have to check up on that though with the lap times). He would have been in front of Vettel, but would not win. Position is king here.

        1. @passingisoverrated he couldn’t be in front of Vettel AND loose the undercut to Hamilton/Bottas. If Kimi had stayed out I’m fairly sure he would’ve fallen behind all three. The Mercedes boys did stellar laps right after the pitstop.

          1. GtisBetter (@)
            30th July 2017, 17:58

            You are right!

          2. I agree, Kimi might think he could have made the overcut work against Vettel but the lap times suggest it wouldn’t have suceeded and would just have left him vulnerable to being undercut by the Mercedes.

  24. Bottas / Hamilton, this is one of those rare (in F1) examples of championship quality leadership.
    Hats off to Hamilton. Nicely played.

  25. Adam (@rocketpanda)
    30th July 2017, 15:35

    Impressed Vettel could hold the race lead with dodgy steering. As for Raikkonen should have won… well do we even know he was told to hold station? If he could have passed I’m sure he would have – what made sure Vettel won was more the layout of the track making overtaking a bit difficult than Ferrari team orders. Going on orders… by no means a fan of Hamilton, but respect to him for giving 3rd back. I wonder if he’ll come to regret those points later.

  26. I see a lot of folk saying Kimi is the real winner today…. Well, why should we assume that he would definitely have made the overtake? When stuck behind him, Lewis could not make the move, so there’s little reason to believe that, even if trying hard, Kimi would’ve been able to get past Seb. His car had problems, but not on a straight line. I doubt Sebastian would’ve lost the position anyway. Remember guys, this is Hungaroring.

    Let’s stop the moaning. Boring race, but good results for the championship, as Lewis will be all over the Ferraris again in Spa.

    Cheers.

  27. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    30th July 2017, 15:42

    I think Hamilton showed his class – different level driver in F1! He could have poled yesterday and won this race with a 30 second gap to the Ferraris with a slower car :)

    I would not be surprised if that Ferrari was faster by a 0.5-1 seconds over the Mercedes with Hamilton driving it…

    1. I would not be surprised if that Mercedes was faster by 1.5 seconds over the Ferrari with Vettel driving it.

      He could have poled yesterday

      He could not even out-qualify his teammate yesterday.

      1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        30th July 2017, 16:08

        Lewis was trying to outqualify the Ferraris, not Bottas. He couldn’t do it but I’m fine with that – he went for it and he had the pace.

        As for Vettel being faster, I think Kimi proved that he was faster than Vettel today throughout the race and Lewis was faster than both Kimi and Vettel in a slower car and would have lapped them both with 100 laps…

        1. @freelittlebirds

          What race did you watch today?

          1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
            30th July 2017, 23:26

            The one where Vettel was 5th quickest :-)

    2. Do you live in Wonderland?

      1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        30th July 2017, 17:40

        Actually that’s where Vettel lives :-) It’s his official address.

    3. @freelittlebirds Is everything ok with you?

      1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        30th July 2017, 17:36

        @xtwl lol, I’m fine – Thanks for asking:-)

        I suppose it’s the only argument available given that Vettel was the 5th slowest driver today in the quickest car and barely eked out a victory and a 0.5-1 second off-pace pole.

        1. @freelittlebirds Doctor it’s serious. Please act quick, we’re losing him to delusional Mercedes-itis.

  28. Renault expected 2 cars in the points.. Hulkenburg had an excuse, he had a 5 spot penalty for gearbox, and then being driven off track by another driver, and then car failure, all while being ahead of teammate. Palmer was just palmer, no excuse.

  29. Alonso’s performance was superb. He finally got the upper hand on Sainz after a race-long battle. Sainz did pretty well too. As for Vandoorne that failed pitstop costed him dearly! Up until that point his weekend was a nice effort and it could have been 6th or 7th. He really need to put all the pieces together now. Big points lost unfortunately.

  30. Had to laugh at how everyone is congratulating Hamilton on being so sporting.

    Bottas was the sporting one to trust Hamilton to keep his word (which he hasn’t always done with Rosberg).

    To move over for a guy you are only 19 points behind in the championship is sporting. Begging on the radio for team orders is not sporting. Still had to make Bottas sweat by waiting until the final corner of the final lap despite no chance of passing Kimi.

    Had to laugh also at the Sky pundits furrowing their brows talking about Ferrari’s number one driver policy.

    Ferrari haven’t issued a single team order against Kimi this season.

    Mercedes have issued four team orders against Bottas by my count, plus you had Hamilton begging for the team to issue team orders against Bottas in Baku I think it was.

    Yet Ferrari maintain this perception of a team favouring one guy over another, while Mercedes somehow maintain the perception of letting both of their guys fight.

    Vettel is simply faster and more consistent than Kimi. That’s why he has a big championship lead over him and often finds himself ahead of him on the track.

    Hamilton is often faster than Bottas, but lacks consistency. That’s why he’s only marginally ahead of his teammate. Just like Hamilton was often only marginally ahead of Button, only marginally ahead of Rosberg, now only marginally ahead of Bottas.

    Also, the Sky pundits harp on about Vettel being advantaged by not having to fight his teammate.

    But back when Alonso was as Ferrari, the complaint was that Alonso is unfairly disadvantaged by not having a teammate that could consistently takes points off of Red Bull.

    1. Yet Ferrari maintain this perception of a team favouring one guy over another

      Which based on their past is understandable, if not necessarily right

    2. Marian Gri (@)
      30th July 2017, 18:38

      +1. Couldn’t have said it better.

    3. Hamilton was not ‘begging’. He had a lot more pace, when the radio finally started working he was cleated to go and have a crack at the Ferrari’s, which was clearly the right thing to do.

      Bottas was a very long way behind after Hamilton was cleared to get going, and yet he still had the integrity to hand the place back. What he did was rare in modern F1 and that is why he is getting credit for it. I am not sure that is particularly hard to understand, but apparently for some, it is.

      1. So what if Hamilton had more pace than Bottas.

        Bottas had earned track position and is in a championship fight with Hamilton.

        When Hamilton in Hungary 2014 — who had spun off early in the race was on a completely different strategy to Rosberg — was asked by the team to let Rosberg through who had a chance at claiming a victory for Mercedes, Hamilton wouldn’t do it. Said if Rosberg can get close enough he can pass.

        1. Yep, and Rosberg could not get anywhere close enough and pretty much everyone agreed that lewis had handled that correctly.

          1. Hamilton couldn’t get closer than 1 second to Bottas. Was never a chance of passing Bottas without team intervention.

            Same as with Rosberg trying to pass Hamilton.

  31. Great results for Ferrari, but I wondow how many tracks left on the calendar would suit their car. Australia, Monaco, and Hungary are all tight-flowing tracks, and only Singapore and Abu Dhabi have the same characteristics. Would be hard for them in the 2nd part of the season.

  32. Ferrari protected Vettel on two races, the points difference is 14 points…
    I think it’ time Mercedes starts doing the same.

  33. My driver of the day is Kmag for putting hulkenberg in his place and tell him “Suck my balls, honey.” I’m sorry but Hulk was being an ass and had it coming. The car on the inside has the line and at any point Hulk could have backed off. He seems to be upsetting a bunch of people. Kmag shouldn’t have got a penalty but it is what it is. Either was that’s the best quote of the year 👍

    1. Ah the famous ‘He had the inside line, so the other car should just have lifted’ excuse. Don’t get me wrong, when you’ve got he inside line there is nothing wrong with positioning your car in a way the pushes the other driver wide, but in that same regard you still have to leave an acceptable margin of space.

      Take Vettel v.s. Verstappen at Silverstone, same thing, but in the end Verstappen left Seb enough space so he wouldn’t go off track. Magnussen never bothered with that and just shoved Hulkenberg into the grass.

      So yes, Magnussen was a bit naughty in doing so. He’s actually quite known in the paddock for pushing people off track. It was a much debated thing about him in his Renault 3.5 days and even in F1 it’s happened on occasion.

  34. Dr Marko should do his job. I understand Max is a very aggressive racer, but it is Marko’s job, and Horner’s, to pull the driver into line. They seem to let him do whatever…no control….

  35. Vettel’s car looked ridiculous with that broken steering wheel angle. He managed that one well.

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      31st July 2017, 0:03

      What exactly was the issue with Vettel’s steering wheel? If he had a broken steering wheel, he should have come in and replaced it or been instructed by the FIA to come in and replace it…

      No driver should have been allowed to drive a car with a broken steering wheel especially after the whole HALO debacle. It’s a major safety issue if you can’t steer the car and if it’s not at that moment, it has the potential to become a huge one any moment.

  36. suryana (@mursidsuryana)
    31st July 2017, 0:17

    I am Ferrari Fans, And never liked Hamilton either. His Behaviour will cost the Championship later this year, in good way!

    You just added one and much Fans today Lewis, i dont really care who’s gonna be Champion, i am okay with Seb or Lewis.

  37. Something that is being overlooked. Had Max passed Valtteri, Lewis would not have needed to give third back to Valtteri so that may be the reason Lewis waited until the last lap and last corner to do the right thing.

    Has Max decided who will win the WDC? Maybe if three points matter at the end. Had Max not taken out his team mate, Lewis may have lost even more points than he did by finishing sixth also by failing to get by (hardly a failure in real life) Valtteri Max again cost Lewis points through forcing the switch back.

    1. Yes, indeed, Lewis:
      1) was very lucky Verstappen took out Riciardo AND got the 10s penalty, otherwise he may have finished 6th.
      2) waited suspiciously long to give the position back (has was told he had 5 laps to try it, that was around lap 51-52 I think) I think he hoped Verstappen would pass Bottas in the final laps so he wouldn’t have to give position back.
      When that didn’t happen, giving back position was the smartest thing to do: keep good relations with Bottas, team and public. Those 3 points he will get back from Bottas in future races.

    2. You’re both overlooking that even had Max passed Bottas Lewis could still let Bottas back past as long as they both stayed within 10 seconds of Max.

      1. What?
        Max had already taken his 10s penalty during the pitstop.

Comments are closed.