Only a week after the thrills of the German Grand Prix; which kept all on their seats until the final lap, Formula One heads over to Budapest for the final race before the mid-season break. Join The Roar for a live blog of the Hungarian Grand Prix, starting from 11:10pm AEST.
The Hungarian Grand Prix is another race which typically provides plenty of action over the years, with its high-downforce twisty layout essentially like a big go-kart track.
Rain in the past has thrown up some memorable races, such as in 2006 and 2014 which was won by Daniel Ricciardo and there is said to be rain predicted for this weekend.
The Hungaroring is 4.3km in length and the race consists of 70 unforgiving laps, where tyre degradation is also a key component. If the grand prix were to remain dry in this instance, a minimum of two-stops will be expected.
Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton arrive as the favourites, despite their horror weekend at Hockenheim. The Hungaroring has been their domain, with the partnership having yielded four wins – whilst the Briton has a record six victories.
Ferrari may not be the immediate challengers to the Silver Arrows this weekend, though Sebastian Vettel has won two of the last four Hungarian Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc has also boasted good form, despite his crash last time in Germany.
It’s Red Bull and Max Verstappen who pose the greatest threat, with the high-downforce layout of the track to favour their car.
And it was the Dutchman who at last broke through for his pole position in Formula One, becoming the 100th different pole sitter in the sport, qualifying ahead of the Mercedes duo led by Bottas.
It was also the first pole for a Honda-powered car since 2006, which was also the last time they won a grand prix before Verstappen’s Austria victory.
Starting fourth and fifth will be the Ferrari combination led by Leclerc, who out-qualified Vettel despite having crashed at the final corner in Q1 and having his rear-wing replaced.
Both McLarens made it into Q3 once again with Lando Norris set to start as the best of the midfield, ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz and the Haas car of Romain Grosjean – which is still using the Australia-spec car.
Can Verstappen make it back-to-back wins for the first time in his young career? Or will it be the Silver Arrows who bounce back on race day.
With this being the last race before the break, please join me on The Roar from 11:10pm AEST for live blog coverage of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
That then wraps up this live blog of the Hungarian GP and also the first half of the 2019 Formula One season. What have your thoughts been so far Roarers? Feel free to share them here. Otherwise, thanks for tuning in, it has been a pleasure as always and I look forward to returning on the first weekend of September for the Belgian Grand Prix at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps. Ciao!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-------- DRIVER'S -------- 250 - Lewis Hamilton 188 - Valtteri Bottas 181 - Max Verstappen 156 - Sebastian Vettel 132 - Charles Leclerc 63 -- Pierre Gasly 58 -- Carlos Sainz 31 -- Kimi Räikkönen 27 -- Daniil Kvyat 24 -- Lando Norris 22 -- Daniel Ricciardo 18 -- Lance Stroll 18 -- Kevin Magnussen 17 -- Nico Hulkenberg 16 -- Alexander Albon 13 -- Sergio Perez 8 --- Romain Grosjean 1 --- Antonio Giovinazzi 0 --- Robert Kubica 0 --- George Russell
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 438 - Mercedes AMG 288 - Scuderia Ferrari 244 - Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 82 -- McLaren Renault 43 -- Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda 39 -- Renault 32 -- Alfa Romeo Racing 31 -- Racing Point Mercedes 26 -- Haas Ferrari 1 --- Williams Mercedes
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RACE REPORT Whilst it didn’t deliver the same excitement as the previous three races, the Hungarian Grand Prix did see a close finish in the dying laps, which saw Lewis Hamilton win his seventh race in Budapest. Now tied with Michael Schumacher’s record for wins in Hungary, Hamilton with four laps remaining in the race was able to pass first-time pole sitter Max Verstappen for the win – with Mercedes having gambled on a two-stop strategy. Verstappen struggled for most of the race on his tyres and it was Mercedes who bit the bullet to put Hamilton on a two-stopper, going from a set of hard tyres to medium midway through the race, whilst the Red Bull driver was just on the hards. Eventually on Lap-67, Verstappen was passed by Hamilton who was doubtful that this strategy would work, leaving Red Bull and Verstappen to make an additional pit-stop having secured second and to set the fastest lap of the race. Such was the pace of the top two drivers throughout the race, that all drivers barring the top four were lapped. Behind them, the Ferraris finished a distant third and fourth, with Sebastian Vettel on the soft tyre coming back to strip a podium finish off his teammate Charles Leclerc. Carlos Sainz secured a consecutive fifth place finish for McLaren, having been the best of the rest again ahead of the struggling Pierre Gasly and Kimi Räikkönen who scored a solid haul of points for Alfa Romeo again. A shocker of a race for Valtteri Bottas saw him drop to the rear of the field after the opening lap of the race, where contact with Leclerc damaged his front-wing and required the Finn to change it. Dispatching Lando Norris in a late move, allowed Bottas to finish eighth overall to at least score some points, on what overall was another difficult day for the Finn seeking a renewal with Mercedes next year. Alexander Albon rounded out the points in the Toro Rosso, while there were no such fortunes for the warring trio of Nico Hulkenberg, Kevin Magnussen and Daniel Ricciardo – who started from the rear of the grid due to a penalty. The only retiree from the race was Romain Grosjean, who once again was in close proximity to his teammate Magnussen. An eighth win of the season for Hamilton sees him with an imposing 62-point lead in the standings over teammate Bottas heading into the mid-season break – who in turn is under threat from Verstappen who is only 7-points behind the Finn.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
STANDBY FOR RACE REPORT & UPDATED STANDINGS
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
POST-RACE INTERVIEWS - Hosted by Paul di Resta HAMILTON - "Feel really grateful for the day and to the team for believing in me." "We had brake problems all weekend and I was worried." "I didn't know if I could catch that 19 second gap..." VERSTAPPEN - "We were just not fast enough." "I tried all I could on that hard tyre to stay alive." VETTEL - "Sitting in P4 we had nothing to lose and we stayed out long in the first stint." "We couldn't go the pace with these two [Hamilton and Verstappen].
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RESULTS FROM THE 70-LAP HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX 1 L. Hamilton 2 M. Verstappen [FASTEST LAP] 3 S. Vettel 4 C. Leclerc 5 C. Sainz 6 P. Gasly 7 K. Räikkönen 8 V. Bottas 9 L. Norris 10 A. Albon 11 S. Perez 12 N. Hulkenberg 13 K. Magnussen 14 D. Ricciardo 15 D. Kvyat 16 G. Russell 17 L. Stroll 18 A. Giovinazzi 19 R. Kubica RET R. Grosjean
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
LEWIS HAMILTON WINS THE HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX! Mercedes wins the strategy gamble with Red Bull and manage to overtake Max Verstappen for the victory. Sebastian Vettel rounds out the podium for Ferrari, passing his teammate for third in the dying stages of the race.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 70/70: FINAL LAP
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 69/70: And now Vettel finally gets his teammate Leclerc to move up into the podium places!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 68/70: 3 LAPS TO GO With nothing more to lose, Red Bull decide to pit Verstappen so he can make it to the end of the race on fresh tyres and perhaps steal the fastest lap also before the end of the race. Hamilton, Verstappen and Leclerc still comprise the top three.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 67/70: 4 LAPS TO GO And there was no defence there from Verstappen, as Hamilton swoops past the outside of the Red Bull into the first corner and that is game, set and match for the Briton.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 66/70: Hamilton now within DRS range of Verstappen, but the Dutchman has engine modes at his disposal to try and keep himself ahead of the rampant Mercedes. But it is those fresher tyres which is giving Hamilton the edge at the moment.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 65/70: Still a difficult circuit to overtake upon, apart from out of the final corner and the pit-straight. Verstappen still lead by 2.2 seconds. Bottas also passes Norris for P8 as well.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 64/70: Gap now 5.5 seconds! Verstappen's tyres are well and truly dead now.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 63/70: Verstappen just about 2-seconds a lap slower than the Mercedes of Hamilton at the moment, with the gap just 6.8 seconds now! Vettel also closing in on Leclerc's third position.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 62/70: Hamilton finally has the gap to under 10 seconds to Verstappen.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 61/70: Hamilton still setting fastest times, as he keeps shaving off the tenths on that deficit to Verstappen. Mercedes predicting that the Red Bull will have 'no tyres' left at the end of the race.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 60/70: VER HAM LEC VET SAI GAS RÄI NOR BOT PER KVY ALB HUL MAG RIC RUS GIO STR KUB is the current order, Grosjean is the only retiree.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 59/70: Another fastest lap for Hamilton in the form of a 1:18.668, as he closes the gap to Verstappen to 12 seconds.