The Hungarian GP was full of surprises. Two big collisions at the start damaged multiple cars, and a strategy mistake from Lewis Hamilton meant that it was Esteban Ocon’s day.
The Frenchman surprisingly took the lead and went on to win the race, in front of Sebastian Vettel (later disqualified) and Lewis Hamilton.
Esteban Ocon: 9.5
It’s never easy to keep composure when you are leading a race for the first time and suddenly you realise you can win with a midfield car.
Ocon was relatively lucky to avoid chaos at the start, settling in second and gaining the lead thanks to Mercedes’ blunders.
The tightness of the Hungaroring meant that overtakes were hard and Ocon just needed to do his job, taking the car home for an astonishing maiden win.
Embed from Getty ImagesLewis Hamilton: 6.5
Today was a great chance to give Max Verstappen another big blow.
His pole position helped him to avoid chaos, but once everyone boxed for dry tyres, he was the only one to start on intermediates.
This meant he was put at the back of the grid and struggled to clear cars.
The car was fast, meaning he recovered to the podium, but he was racing without rivals and finished only third on track.
Embed from Getty ImagesCarlos Sainz: 8
His Saturday crash affected his Sunday chances. Who knows, though? Had he qualified higher, maybe he would have been involved in the turn one mess.
Rather, Carlos Sainz moved up to fifth and overcut Yuki Tsunoda and Nicholas Latifi.
He gained a very useful podium, but, with so many cars out, there was a chance to win the race.
Fernando Alonso: 9.5
The Spaniard showed why he is one of the best drivers in the world.
His car positioning was at its finest, as he defended perfectly from Lewis Hamilton for many laps, holding the Brit off and allowing his teammate to win the race.
It’s true that the sister car won, but it was rather a lottery after the first lap. Fernando Alonso recovered from seventh to finish fourth, with a spectacular fight and fast pace.
Embed from Getty ImagesPierre Gasly: 8
Pierre Gasly’s race was affected by the chaos at the start, as he took evasive action which dropped him many places.
He had to recover from the back, finishing ahead of his teammate in a solid fifth.
Yuki Tsunoda: 7
Yuki Tsunoda was one of several backrunners who benefitted massively from the start.
A poor qualifying avoided him chaos, as he shot from P16 to P4.
With Nicholas Latifi in front, it was possible to aim for the podium, but he dropped back a little and settled to sixth.
Nicholas Latifi: 9
It was one of those once in a lifetime occasions for Latifi.
The Williams driver found himself in a shocking third place after a couple of laps and drove perfectly.
He never put a foot wrong and got Williams their best result since 2017.
He was flawless and, even though there was a lot of luck, he made sure it was his day.
Embed from Getty ImagesGeorge Russell: 8
Finally, George Russell finished in the points.
The Brit was in the top 10 after the start and just held off the drivers behind to finish a strong eighth.
He kept Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo at bay under pressure and even caught up to Latifi and Tsunoda in front after losing time early on.
Max Verstappen: 8
May lady luck shine back towards Verstappen. For the second race running, he was hit by a Mercedes driver on the opening lap.
He had maximised everything until then, he qualified third, was second going into turn one and his chances were up there.
Hats off for continuing the race with such a damage and never complaining, as these two points may just come in hand.
Embed from Getty ImagesKimi Raikkonen: 7
Kimi Raikkonen surprised in qualifying, with a strong 13th place, his best since Turkey last year.
However, Alfa Romeo lost a great opportunity, as he was penalised for an unsafe release.
He moved back up to the points with a decent drive, but the team just had to do more on such a race.
Daniel Ricciardo: 5
Ricciardo’s race was compromised by the damage at the start. He had qualified a poor 11th, exiting in Q2, but for a moment it appeared he had the perfect start.
He was momentarily second, when he was span off by Lance Stroll’s crash.
He suffered and tried to score some points, but spent the whole race behind Russell.
Mick Schumacher: 7
He crashed on Saturday’s practice, having to start from the back.
However, he found himself in the top 10 after the first lap. The difficulty of overtaking in Hungary meant he spent some time fighting with faster cars, before eventually losing out.
Still, the pace wasn’t too bad, and he remained close until the end.
Embed from Getty ImagesAntonio Giovinazzi: 4
The opportunity to score points vanished as he made a rookie error.
He was over the speed limit in the pit lane, with a 30 seconds penalty ruining his chances.
How necessary was it to force the pit entry, considering he was boxing during the formation lap?
Nikita Mazepin: 5.5
A mistake from the Alfa Romeo garage meant that Raikkonen exited the pits as Nikita Mazepin was coming by.
This caused a crash which ended the Russian’s race and meant he lost an opportunity in a crazy race through no faults of his own.
Lando Norris: N/A
The Brit’s incredible points streak is ended by Valtteri Bottas’s crazy move at the start.
What a day it could have been…He was fast in qualifying and had made an excellent start to climb up to third, before being taken out.
Embed from Getty ImagesSergio Perez: N/A
It appeared like Sergio Perez was condemned to a difficult race regardless of the crash.
He was sixth tenths off Verstappen in qualifying and struggled the whole weekend.
However, he was taken out at the start and again left with no points.
Charles Leclerc: N/A
For Charles Leclerc, there were chances to score good points in the race.
He is fast in the wet and it was a suitable track to Ferrari.
Perhaps, seventh in qualifying was quite disappointing, but the race was full of opportunities. Stroll’s shunt meant he couldn’t take any.
Lance Stroll: 3
The Canadian’s error at the start is quite inexplicable.
He broke incredibly late and entered turn one with too much speed, taking out two cars.
It was a bad mistake, which affected two other drivers due to his lack of caution.
Valtteri Bottas: 0
What is going on with Bottas? It appears like the Finn has nothing more to give.
He lost pole to Hamilton, meaning the start was his chance. He was off very poorly and reached turn one in fifth.
He then took out three podium contenders at the same time by locking the tyres and going straight off.
It’s not an acceptable mistake for one like Bottas, who may well have done his team a favour, but made a fool of himself in front of the world.
Embed from Getty ImagesSebastian Vettel: 8
Vettel’s second place was removed due to failing to provide enough fuel after the race.
The German drove a good race, he settled in second and appeared quicker than Ocon. He probably should have tried an attack to the lead, but it’s well known how difficult it is to overtake in Hungary.
It could have been the second podium of the season, but it wasn’t to be.
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