Here we are again, the last race before the summer break is now over and we have an agonising wait till the Belgium GP at the end of August. That’s right no F1 or MotoGP for the next few weeks (though MotoGP will be back in Brno 12-14 August.)
This weekend we’ve seem many celebrations including: Jenson Button’s 200th race start, Nico Rosberg’s 100th and Scuderia Toro Rosso’s 100th GP start – congrats boys!!
Qualifying saw another exciting battle for pole with Lewis Hamilton setting an early benchmark of 1:19.978. With the likes of Alonso and Button unable to match the pace of the McLaren driver it was down to one young German to snatch pole, Sebastian Vettel did just that pipping Hamilton on his last lap after the flag had dropped.
With an impressive Felipe Massa out qualifying his teammate for the first time this year and despite Mark Webber having KERS difficulties, the top 6 on the grid qualified with just over half a second between them.
F1 teams and personnel waking up in Budapest had a fairly unexpected surprise in the form of water falling from the sky (opps, best not mention that word!) to add to the mix of what was set to be a thriller of a race.
Many driver’s including Jenson Button were reporting ”very slippery” conditions, intermediates were put on, the gird was cleared and the light’s went green for a crucial first lap.
It was very evident the conditions were treturous, the track resembled an ice rink on tarmac for the first 8 or so laps.
With early slip up’s (no pun intended) from Alonso running wide and Massa running off into the barrier just saving his back end and rear wing from any major damage, there was plenty of over taking, from the battle for 1st with both McLaren’s and Sebastian Vettel sliding their way past each other like grease in a pan, the change of position’s continued with some great over takes all the way through the field to the back of the grid, for the pride of being at the front of the new teams.
Lap 10 and we saw the first to blink – Webber and Massa boxed for super-soft tyres as the racing line was rapidly drying up however off the line and it wasn’t so pleasant. With most drivers changing to slicks soon after, like ever, there was no margin for error.
Several retirements took place throughout the race; Jarno Trulli was the first to go on Lap 20 followed by the explosive Renault of Nick Heidfeld that probes questions as to how safe the car is with this being his second fire of the season, luckily no harm was caused to either the driver or the marshals that reacted swiftly in the situation. Michael Schumacher wasn’t far behind him in the Mercedes retiring out of the race on lap 29, along with Heikki Kovalainen being the last of the non-finishers; a disappointing day for Lotus.
The McLaren drivers repeatedly took the lead from each other, both hung(a)ry for 1st. The fans soon lost hope of a 1,2 finish when Lewis Hamilton was handed a drive through penalty for ‘forcing another driver [Paul di Resta] to leave the circuit’ making sure his chances of a podium less likely.
Button made sure he kept Vettel behind him and took the win of 2011 Hungarian Grand Prix, a well-deserved 1st place for his 200th GP! Congratulations JB!
Meanwhile, Sebastian took a respectable 2nd extending his Championship lead over the pack. Fernando Alonso came 3rd giving himself and the Ferrari team some much needed points before the summer break. At the back of the grid Daniel Ricciardo finished in 18th ahead of his more experienced teammate Tonio Liuzzi as well as Jerome d’Ambrosio in the Marussia Virgin racing car.
RACE RESULT'S:
We’ll be seeing Formula 1 at the end of August for the Belgium Grand Prix, which could possibly be another corker like the previous few races as the Championship hot’s up!
[McLaren post-race celebrations]
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