A.Albon | 580 (1%) |
C.Sainz,jr. | 313 (1%) |
Ch.Leclerc | 334 (1%) |
D.Ricciardo | 339 (1%) |
E.Ocon | 331 (1%) |
F.Alonso | 256 (1%) |
G.Russell | 314 (1%) |
K.Cunuda | 346 (1%) |
K.Magnussen | 236 (0%) |
Kuan-jü Č. | 232 (0%) |
L.Hamilton | 44875 (88%) |
L.Norris | 254 (1%) |
L.Sergeant | 228 (0%) |
L.Stroll | 338 (1%) |
M.Verstappen | 334 (1%) |
N.Hulkenberg | 221 (0%) |
O.Piastri | 243 (0%) |
P.Gasly | 316 (1%) |
S.Pérez | 367 (1%) |
V.Bottas | 308 (1%) |
The Hungarian GP, which was the 100th GP for the Finnish blond Heikki Kovalainen and the thirtieth for the trio Hülkenberg, Maldonado and di Resta, kicked off the second half of this season. And although the battle on the circuit not far from Budapest did return McLaren and also Lewis Hamilton back to the game, however the Woking team couldn't take a single point from their current rivals - Lotus. It was because the drivers of the golden-black cars, using a new aerodynamics element, were attacking the podium during the whole race and also ended up there.
Romain Grosjean proved the big ambitions of the Enstone team as soon as the qualification, which was a distinct failure for Toro Rosso, where its technical director Giorgio Ascanelli has probably finished (he should be substituted by James Key). This 26 years old driver born in Geneva, who has a French licence, managed to win the start from the first row. However, Lewis Hamilton again didn't let the pole position slip away from him on his favourite circuit. And his 22nd qualification victory means he caught up with Fernando Alonso in the charts and he won the jubilee 150th pole position for McLaren (most Ferrari 207).
And because the 27 years old Briton changed his best starting position into his already third Hungarian victory meaning also the 35th victory for the number 4, also the statistics changed: Hamilton managed to jump over the second man in the finish of the Budapest race, the Finn Kimi Räikkönen (18 so far) in the number of the won Gps in his career.
The race, which was the 245th for Sauber in F1 and meant their worst position when both drivers finished (14th and 18th place), wasn't even too successful for the Germans. For them it was the 650th race in the Championship, but they didn't shine: Sebastian Vettel - the most successful - had only the shortest pit stop to boast about and the fastest lap, which was also the 25th fastest lap for Red Bull.
Even though the already mentioned Romain Grosjean took the most kilometres in the lead of an F1 race (nine), he couldn't resist the pressure of his team mate Räikkönen and finished third. Which was for Lotus, taking its 540th race (even if there were three different subject with the name Lotus), their 55th third place and 180th podium in the Championship and also the 65th podium for the number 10. Mercedes is not going to have nice memories of Hungaroring (the least points after seven races this season). Similarly to Mark Webber, who scored the least points since the last year's Italian GP already second time in a row, because of his wrong strategy. Not to mention the 41 year-old veteran Pedro de la Rosa. With his HRT F112 not far from the Danube he reached the worst standings in his 96 GP races so far.
The post-race total looked much better for McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull. These teams went on collecting points, so after 11 races they enjoy pretty strong position in the Championship. McLaren scored points already the 49th race in a row, Ferrari in the 39th and Red Bull in the 32nd (however Ferrari remains the most successful team in the Championship with points won in 55 races without a break).
Even more successful in the series of scoring points is Fernando Alonso, whose fifth place helped him to strengthen his position in the lead of the Championship. The Spaniard stretched the number to 23 and he is one short of leveling off with Michael Schumacher's, which lasted from Hungarian GP 2001 to GP Malaysia 2003. So it's clear that in the September GP of Belgium in Spa-Francorchamps Alonso won't race just for the victory, but also for his record in history...
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