F1 Wednesday – Hungarian GP

What’s this? Another F1 Wednesday post? Yes people I have found my F1 blogging mojo!

Last weekend it was the Hungarian GP which takes place in Budapest. It’s somewhere I’d love to visit – lovely looking city and a water park right next to he track! And if this years race is anything to go by then it’s also a pretty impressive race!

Prior to the race there was a minute’s silence to remember Jules Bianchi. All the drivers gathered in a circle at the front of the grid and in the middle of the circle they placed all their helmets with Jules’ helmet in the middle. The solidarity of the sport was clear for all to see.

The race itself was also a good one. If you know me then you’ll know how much it pains me to say that we were actually cheering Vettel on into the first corner! He managed to jump the Mercedes and headed off into the distance in his prancing horse (Ferrari). Raikkonen also jumped the Mercs on the start and so it was looking as a Ferrari 1-2. Unfortunately things didn’t pan out for Raikkonen who had to retire the car in the end.

Things were good for Vettel as he led from start to finish*. And fair play to him he dedicated his win to Jules Bianchi:

Merci, Jules. Cette victoire est pour toi.You will always be in our hearts. We know sooner or later you would have been in this team.

*something he was used to doing during his 4 world championships with Red Bull – something I hated!!

Hamilton made an unusual error on the first lap and went wide which saw him go from pole to I believe 10th place. He ended up coming back through the pack and finished the race in 6th. Rosberg was also looking to finish high up however an overtaking move from Ricciardo saw both cars collide which resulted in Rosberg getting a puncture. Unfortunately for Rosberg this saw him slide down the pack and end up in 8th place.

McLaren clearly listened to my plea two weeks ago as both cars finished in the points – yay Alonso finally has some points on the board! A 5th place finish for him is pretty impressive given McLaren’s current poor form.

Another impressive finish was Verstappen’s 4th place finish in the Torro Rosso.

The Red Bulls saw some good pace and managed to finish on the podium – Kvyat’s first podium (2nd place) and Ricciardo took 3rd place). I’m so glad to see the Red Bulls doing well again. I noticed that Adrian Newey was back on the team wall and his title (per Sky) was “Chief Technical Officer” which to me seems to suggest he’s back in his old job. So I’m hoping this signals the start of a recovery for Red Bull.

I know this was not the best synopsis of the race so if you’re looking for further reading then I found the following articles to be good reads:

• BBC – Vettel Wins Classic Hungarian GP
• BBC – Jules Bianchi: Sebastian Vettel dedicates win to Frenchman
• Formula 1 – Vettel Beats Kvyat and Ricciardo in Hungarian Thriller
• The Guardian – F1 Hungarian Grand Prix As It Happened