2016 F1 Grand Prix of Hungary — Results & aftermath

Hamilton overhauls Rosberg with victory in Hungary; Ricciardo 3rd for Red Bull

In something of an anticlimactic procedural of a race, Mercedes Lewis Hamilton jumped his pole -sitting teammate Nico Rosberg right at the start and then drove flawlessly to take victory at the Hungaroring. Hamilton’s third victory in a row and his remarkable fifth in the last six contests saw the current World Champion leap past Rosberg into the points lead for the first time this season. Rosberg, who had never been out of the top position in 2016 and trails Hamilton by 6 points, did come home P2. But now he will now have to face the psychological pressure of once again finding himself behind his nemesis and archival just as he has the prior two campaigns when he was runner up. After getting off to such a blistering start by winning his first 4 GP, Rosberg’s season has foundered amidst controversies and internecine warfare between the two Silver Arrows in which Rosberg always seems to somehow get the blame and the short end of the stick. He will be desperate to get a decent result in Germany next week to regain some sort of momentum to take into the long. lonely August break.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Further back in the field, the two Red Bulls diced all race long with the two Ferraris, with Daniel Ricciardo able to hold off Sebastian Vettel for the last podium spot and wunderkind Max Verstappen playing rough with an increasingly irate Kimi Raikkonen to best the veteran Finn, P5 to P6. Fernando Alonso did excellent work for McLaren with a solid P6, finally showing signs of  the legendary F1 powerhouse getting back towards the top with a solid P7. But his teammate Jenson Button was plagued by mechanical gremlins and had a nightmare race, running 60 laps at the back of the field before retiring, so reliability on the Honda-powered McLaren MP4-31 chassis remains a serious issue. Carlos Sainz was string again for Toro Rosso, coming home P8, while Valtteri Bottas had to settle for P9 in his rather uncompetitive Williams, a team which has definitely taken a step or two backwards this year after a couple of improving seasons. Nico Hulkenberg grabbed the last points paying position for Force India with P10 and his teammate Sergio Perez might also have been in the mix had the team not inexplicably been caught unprepared on a pit stop for tires.

Top 10 finishers for the Hungarian Grand Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 70 1:40:30.115 25
2 6 Nico Rosberg MERCEDES 70 +1.977s 18
3 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 70 +27.539s 15
4 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 70 +28.213s 12
5 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 70 +48.659s 10
6 7 Kimi Räikkönen FERRARI 70 +49.044s 8
7 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN HONDA 69 +1 lap 6
8 55 Carlos Sainz TORO ROSSO FERRARI 69 +1 lap 4
9 77 Valtteri Bottas WILLIAMS MERCEDES 69 +1 lap 2
10 27 Nico Hulkenberg FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 69 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week, the German Grand Prix from Hockenheim. It’ll be the last race for nearly a month as the F1 circus gets ready for its enforced summer break. Hope to see you then to find out whether Rosberg can recapture some of his mojo or if Hamilton will keep laying down the law!