Lewis Hamilton leads the Formula One championship for the first time this season after cruising to a record-breaking fifth victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix. With the half races for the season complete, the German GP is up next, which is Rosberg’s home ground and will give the driver an opportunity for redemption.
Advertisement
“The start was everything”, said Hamilton as he reflected on his 48th career win.
Rosberg has long said that he is taking the season race by race. Hamilton had a better start than Rosberg and took the lead by the first turn.
With Hamilton not pushing his auto the move initially caused some consternation at Mercedes with the leader warned by his team that they may pit Rosberg before him if his pace did not improve. Raikkonen, 36, was unhappy with 18-year-old Verstappen’s defensive driving, and at one stage lost part of his front wing as he attempted to overtake the Red Bull driver.
“I grew up watching Michael so to have a similar number, and now one more than he had here, is incredible”, said Hamilton. “I went 20 km/h slower into that corner, 20 km/h is a different world in an F1 auto”.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff thinks the momentum will continue to swing between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg until the final race of the 2016.
“I’m just still in the same mentality of chasing, I’m still chasing”, he told reporters.
Daniel Ricciardo would take third from his triumphant start, well ahead of the Ferraris that challenged his teammate Max Verstappen throughout the afternoon. The Australian, however, was able to close that gap to 2.8 seconds by lap 30.
In order to limit the damage to his title hopes, Hamilton is aiming for maximum points with races like Silverstone two weeks ago, where he claimed a sensational win on home soil after dominating all weekend.
Rosberg felt Hamilton did drive “over-cautiously”, but did not go as far as what unfolded in China.
Stopping ten laps earlier than expected meant Ricciardo had to manage soft tyres to the end, leaving him anxious about holding position and ultimately fending off the fast-finishing Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. On the other hand, his team mate Jenson Button had a awful day after he was asked by the team to retire from the race with seven laps to go, as his vehicle was suffering from some hydraulic problems.
It marks an astonishing turnaround from being a whopping 43 points behind team-mate Nico Rosberg when they both crashed out in Barcelona.
Advertisement
The German Grand Prix is next on the calendar, with the race being held on Sunday, July 31st..
