Triple world champion Lewis Hamilton has taken pole position in the race to the 2016 Formula One title after cruising to victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
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McLaren had their best qualifying result since renewing their engine partnership with Honda at the start of past year with Spaniard Alonso and Briton Jenson Button, who both had their first race wins in Hungary, in seventh and eighth.
Rosberg led by 43 points at one stage after winning the first four races of the season as Hamilton was hit by bad starts in the first two races in Australia and Bahrain and then failures of engine parts that left him down the grid in China and Russian Federation.
Hamilton started second but passed Rosberg, the pole-sitter, on Turn 1 and went on to win by 1.977 seconds. Their optimistic charge lasted just a lap, and by the next time the field entered turn 1, the top two were as they would finish: Hamilton leading Rosberg. “If it is a double yellow flag, you have to be prepared to stop”, he said.
With ten more races left this season, Rosberg still has a huge chance of bagging the championship that has evaded his grasp since Mercedes F1 team came into dominance in 2014.
And when Ricciardo made an early final pit stop on lap 33, the true pace advantage of the Mercedes became clear.
Hamilton, however, was able to speed up when needed and despite being held up when lapping Esteban Gutierrez near the end – and also locking up into Turn 12 – proved unbeatable.
The Hungary GP saw only one retirement occur, that of Jenson Button, who faced a stuck pedal as his vehicle lost hydraulic pressure and was asked not to shift. That was it really. It s not possible to pass on this track.
Daniel Ricciardo threatened to make it a three-horse race but was forced to settle for third ahead of the fast closing Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.
“It’s great to have another podium this year”, he said.
Here he started second but got a getaway to steal the lead through the first bend and never looked back. “For sure the smile is back”, Ricciardo noted. “I don’t really want to go back to there”.
“Thanks to everyone and thanks to the team”. Raikkonen, who ended the race sixth, would later state that Verstappen wasn’t right to defend as aggressively as he did – with the pair even coming into contact on Lap 47, resulting in front wing damage for the Ferrari.
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The race is a 190-mile contest that will run 70 laps around the track. 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”. Valtteri Bottas of Williams and Nico Hulkenberg of Sahara Force India finished ninth and tenth respectively with teammate Sergio Perez (+1 lap) finishing 11th. It’s now possible for you to only lose one tenth of a second in a double waved yellow flag section, which is one of the most risky scenarios, so they need to clear that up. He had been running eighth in the opening few laps.
