Both Mercedes men admitted the race had been won and lost in that opening lap battle.
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The German was a whopping 43 points clear of Hamilton after soaring to four victories in as many rounds at the beginning of the year, but in the six grands prix following their crash in Spain, Hamilton has turned the title race on its head by winning five times.
“The race was decided there”, he said. Ricciardo, also single, added with a smile, “You know that Sunday we’re focused on the race and the task ahead, but it would be nice if we raced on Saturdays and then had Saturday evening to explore the city a bit more”. “We’ve had very open discussions with them, we’ve been with each other four years now and it’s important that each one of them concentrates on their strengths”. Strong finishes from Red Bull Racing close the gap between them and Ferrari as they sit just one point behind in the constructor’s championship. “My start was okay, but slightly down on Lewis’s start and Daniel’s also ever so slightly. I hope I can get the win after I got it in 2014, so good memories there, and I’m feeling good”. From thereon, he would continue to remain in second place all through the race.
Unflustered, Mercedes stayed calm, Hamilton found extra pace and made his second pit stop on lap 42, followed immediately by Rosberg, with the duo retaining control ahead of Ricciardo. “Race from hell this is going to be”. “I guess that’s what we’re not too pleased with at the moment”. Then the fight was with Sebastian.
It was a masterful Hungarian Grand Prix victory from Hamilton, and one which never appeared in doubt after arguably his best start of the season.
Max Verstappen finished fifth ahead of Kimi Räikkönen after a last-stint stoush over position that resulted in the Finn losing part of his front wing.
McLaren teammate Jenson Button wasn’t so fortunate, however. It lasted until he was told to retire seven laps from the finish.
Finishing seventh was Fernando Alonso, who maintained the spot right from the start of the race and seemed quite comfortable in his unchallenged solitary stint.
The stewards handed the Haas F1 man a five second time penalty for ignoring the flags, which Gutierrez felt was somewhat harsh stating that he was just looking for the safest place to let the two cars come by.
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Don’t miss the F1 Report: Hungarian GP review on Sky Sports F1 at 8.30pm on Wednesday as Marc Priestley and Ben Hunt join Natalie Pinkham in the studio to discuss the fallout from the Budapest race.
