Hungary win sends Hamilton top
DEFENDING champion Lewis Hamilton produced a trademark triumph of pace and panache to win Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix ahead of his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg and replace him as leader of this year’s world title race.
Hamilton outpaced pole-sitter Rosberg at the start and then controlled the 70 laps with a mixture of speed and flawless judgement in sweltering heat at the Hungaroring circuit.
His v ictor y completed a hat-trick of successes in consecutive races, was his outright record fift h in Hungar y, his fifth of the season and the 48th of his career.
Rosberg came home second ahead of Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull, fourtime champion Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari and Dutch teenager Max Verstappen in the second Red Bull.
Kimi Raikkonen was sixth in the second Ferrari, ahead of two-time champion Fernando Alonso of McLaren and Carlos Sainz of Toro Rosso, Valtteri Bottas of Williams and Nico Hulkenberg, who was 10th for Force India.
Hotly contested start
Hamilton’s win increased his points total to 192, six more than Rosberg as Ricciardo moved up to third.
“Awesome race Lewis. Mega result,” his Mercedes engineer said on team radio. “Well done, mate. Fantastic drive.”
Hamilton responded generously. “As always, thank you guys, so much, for your had work all weekend. This is a great result for the team.”
After the deluge in Saturday qualifying, the race began in searing heat with air temperatures of 32 degrees Celsius and a track temperature of 52 degrees.
Hamilton made a flawless start to pull alongside Rosberg while Ricciardo surged forward on the outside in the run up to Turn One.
As they turned into the descending right-hander, Ricciardo attacked and briefly led before Hamilton responded as the front five squeezed through a sweeping trio of corners.
Rosberg, pushed back to third, fought back and emerged from the opening tussle back in second place ahead of the two Red Bulls, but struggling to match the pace of the defending champion.
Seeking his third consecutive victory of the season and the champion- ship lead for the first time, Hamilton was also aiming for an outright record fifth Hungarian triumph. By lap 15 he was 2.5 seconds clear, and the two Silver Arrows were running away, more than six seconds ahead.
Hamilton pitted shortly after, leaving Rosberg to lead, but the German came in a lap later as Hamilton returned to the front.
Behind him, after 25 laps, Rosberg was just 1.1 seconds away and Ricciardo, third, only 5.4 seconds adrift, ahead of the two Ferraris, led by Vettel.
By lap 34, the leading “train” had closed up and Ricciardo was threatening Rosberg, a scenario that forced Mercedes to warn the leader to go faster – or face the German pitting before him.
Unflustered, Mercedes stayed calm, Hamilton found extra pace and made his second pit stop on lap 42, followed by Rosberg, on lap 43, the duo retaining control, separated by 4.3 seconds ahead of Ricciardo, who was back to third and 8.3 seconds away.
Ricciardo was more than 10 seconds away in third, ahead of Vettel, when, after 57 laps, Raikkonen clipped Verstappen’s rear right wheel as he attempted to jink by him in vain, losing bits of his Ferrari front wing in a shower of debris.
With 10 laps to go, the two Mercedes remained comfortably clear in their personal duel, well ahead of Ricciardo’s Red Bull.