Hungarian Grand Prix 2018
Lewis Hamilton is now the undisputed king of Hungaroring after a record-extending sixth win in the Hungarian Grand Prix 2018.
The Mercedes star expected a difficult challenge from top title rival and Ferrari star Sebastian Vettel, with pre-match SBOBET odds even favouring the German ace over the British world champion. However, Hamilton made no sense of the numbers as he dominated from start to finish to establish himself as the winningest driver in the race.
The event, though, wasn’t without drama as Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas missed out on the top three after starting second while Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo impressed with his fourth-place finish.
Highlights of the game
With the track temperature up to 57’C in the build-up of the race, Mercedes and their drivers were resigned that Ferrari would be faster. After all, had it not been raining in the qualifying, the Silver Arrows would have probably lost the pole positions to the Scuderia.
Nonetheless, with Hamilton starting first and Bottas at second, Mercedes made sure to exploit their advantage on a track where overtaking is remarkably difficult.
In a race that eventually turned into a strategic battle, Hamilton opted to start with the quickest ultra-soft tyres, allowing him to pull away and dictate the race. Meanwhile, Vettel chose to use the more durable soft rubber with a plan to run long and attack Hamilton on fresh tyres at the end.
Hamilton, as expected, controlled proceedings until he pitted on Lap 25 to change for the softs. Vettel—who climbed to third after passing teammate Kimi Raikkonen on Lap 1 and then second after Bottas pitted—used the opportunity to take the lead and gain more ground.
The plan now for Vettel was to pit in order to rejoin the race behind Hamilton but still ahead of Bottas, a move that would have allowed the German to stay close behind the leader. Nonetheless, Ferrari let Vettel drive to lead by up to 25 seconds…until he hit traffic and began to lose time.
Vettel pitted on Lap 39 as Hamilton regained the advantage. Bottas, on the other hand, went second as he blasted past Ferrari’s top driver who was left in danger of finishing third.
Hamilton cruised to victory from then on, while Vettel succeeded in passing Bottas on Lap 65 to settle for second.
Bottas, who took damage to his car’s front wing after clipping Vettel when the German passed him, missed out on the podium places as Raikkonen also overtook him. The Finn then lost a place to Daniel Ricciardo, having received a 10-second penalty after hitting the Australian in their battle for fourth.
While Mercedes would rue the fact that Bottas wasn’t able to get into the top three, there is still enough reason for them to celebrate the Hungarian Grand Prix 2018 results—their second win in a row after also taking a surprising victory in the German Grand Prix.
Key statistics
Hamilton finished the race with a comfortable 17-second lead to Vettel. With the victory, he has now won exactly half of the races he contested at the track with six.
Interestingly, for the past 14 years, no driver has gone on to win the world title after taking the Hungary race flag in the same season. The last driver to do so was Michael Schumacher in 2004.
Another interesting statistic worth noting in the race was Ricciardo’s climb to fourth after starting from P12. With his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen failing to finish after losing power, the Australian racer gave his team a reason to smile as he battled back to secure fourth place.
Ricciardo, indeed, didn’t disappoint the Hungarian Grand Prix 2018 odds as he took 12 points for the fighting Red Bull.
Overall, Hamilton now has a 24-point lead over Vettel in the driver standings, 213-189. Mercedes, meanwhile, retook the lead in the best constructor battle, though with only a 10-point advantage over Ferrari.
What’s next?
The Formula One season takes a month-long break before returning to action at Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian Grand Prix 2018.
Mercedes have the most titles in the race, but it was Hamilton who won the event last year after edging Vettel in a close fight.
Heading to the break, however, Hamilton issued a warning to their rivals and vowed to turn up the heat in the second half of the season.
“The second half of the season is always intense but it is usually when it gets a bit better on our side,” the four-time champion said via BBC. “So we will go away and prepare and make sure we come back stronger.”
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