For the first time since 2004, Ferrari delivered a one two finish at the Hungaroring when Sebastian Vettel, who started from pole position, took the much needed victory on his 50th start for the Scuderia to lead his teammate Kimi Raikkonen across the line in second place.
“A great race and a result obtained in far from easy circumstances,” said Ferrari's Maurizio Arrivabene. “Once again it demonstrated the strength of character at Ferrari. Congratulations to the guys here and back in Maranello, working together in what is the mark of a great team."
"Seb drove a magnificent race, managing to keep the lead despite the problem with the steering wheel. He was helped by a great performance from Kimi who demonstrated, not only that he is a champion, but also that he is a true team-player. Next week, here in Hungary, prior to the FIA mandatory shutdown, we continue our development work, in preparation for the Grands Prix in Spa and Monza.”
Valtteri Bottas, who had switched places with Lewis Hamilton earlier in the race so that Hamilton could try and chase down the two cars from Maranello, was allowed back through on the last lap to reclaim his third place and rightful position on the podium while Lewis Hamilton was forced to settle for fourth place.
“We would have preferred to head into the summer break on the back of a result like the one we enjoyed in Silverstone, but in its own way this was a race that demonstrated many of the truly great things about this team,” said mercedes man James Allison. “For the drivers to treat each other with such a degree of respect, that they both could have a go at attacking the Ferraris but then reverse the positions under intense pressure, was both extremely challenging and required a great deal of trust."
"To do it in such a professional manner, with the looming threat of Verstappen running right behind Valtteri, was a great thing. After a well-earned summer break, we will look forward to resuming the fight in this intense and intriguing championship, and all our focus will be on ensuring that, come the end of the season, the Mercedes flags are flying high.”
This result sees Vettel go into the month long mid-season break as the clear leader in the championship and all Hamilton fans can hope for now is that their man doesn't return from holidays the way he did last year and fail to win a race until close to the end of the season.
As for the rest of the race, it was a typical Hungarian Grand Prix, little to no overtaking, apart from a very unorthodox move from Max Verstappen on his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo right at the start, a move that put the Aussie racer out of the race and stewards handing down a ten second time penalty for Max for dangerous driving causing a collision.
"A very frustrating day for us,” said Christian Horner. “After both cars made good starts, Max ran wide at Turn 1 which allowed Daniel to get past on the run to Turn 2 and unfortunately Max made a mistake under braking, locked up and hit the side of Daniel's car causing sufficient damage for him to have to retire on the spot.”
“Not only did it eradicate one car but it also landed Max with a 10 second penalty for the contact. It was particularly frustrating today because it was clear we had a very competitive race car despite the time penalty that he had to serve. His pace during the race was certainly capable of being on the podium today and gave nothing away to our competitors. It was pleasing to see Max put his hand up and immediately apologise to Daniel and to the team and we all move on from that."
Other than that, whenever the cars would get close enough to pass, even with DRS, the moves were impossible to make as they damaged their pace and tyres in the turbulent air.
All we can look forward to right now is the next event, which is sure to be spectacular as is always is in Spa, however the bad news is we have to wait until the end of August to see it unfold.
