HEAD BOY LEWIS
Hamilton overtakes Rosberg in title race JOE DOWNES
What a difference there is between defending a lead and chasing one. the contrast was highlighted within a few seconds of yesterday’s hungarian Grand Prix.
Lewis hamilton won here for a record-breaking fifth time to lead the title race for the first time this season. Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg started both championship and race at the head of the field. But he conceded his advantage on all fronts before he and hamilton had reached the hungaroring’s first corner.
When the two Silver arrows crashed out on the opening lap of May’s Spanish Grand Prix, Rosberg led by 43 points. Six races later and hamilton is in front by six, having won five of those.
From hunter to hunted, will hamilton now abandon attack for caution? No chance, it’s why he is a three-time world champion and Rosberg is still seeking his first.
‘I’m still in the mentality of chasing,’ said hamilton. ‘It’s been great to be able to come back after the struggle we had at the beginning of the year. It’s important we try to go from strength to strength. I need to make sure I stay on it.’
he added: ‘Spain was definitely a turning point. I was rock bottom and the only way was up. I just managed to get my s*** together and get on with it. I honestly feel we’re in the strongest position we’ve been all year.’
Both made clean if unspectacular getaways as the lights went out, but Rosberg’s mistake was that he only had eyes for hamilton. the German drifted to the inside to cover him off but it didn’t work. hamilton braked later and, with Daniel Ricciardo making a bold bid around the outside, the German was squeezed down to third and hamilton eased away.
‘the race was decided there,’ said Rosberg. ‘I was slightly down on Lewis, who had the inside line, and I lost out. he had part of his car alongside me and I couldn’t close the door.’
Now chasing, Rosberg was bolder at turn two, passing the australian’s Red Bull around the outside to take second. that was how it stayed as hamilton claimed a fifth win in Budapest which saw him surpass Michael Schumacher’s tally here. ‘It’s pretty incredible to hear that,’ said the Briton. ‘I grew up watching Michael so to have one more than him is incredible.’
at 20 laps, hamilton reported he was ‘struggling for pace’. Engineer Pete Bonnington gave him the hurry up, threatening to hand Rosberg the advantage amid concerns that Ricciardo was quickly catching the pair. ‘If the cars bunch up, we’ll be bringing Nico in first,’ warned Bonnington.
‘Why would they do that?’ asked hamilton. ‘It’s not like I’m driving slow, I’m trying.’ Bonnington told him: ‘We’re putting the win in jeopardy.’
hamilton insisted after the race that he wasn’t trying to force Rosberg into Ricciardo’s clutches, saying his team-mate ‘could have closed the gap if he wanted to’. the German wasn’t so sure.
‘at times he [hamilton] was driving a bit overcautiously,’ he said. ‘I was trying to put pressure on and sometimes I got very close. I tried everything, but it didn’t work out.’
Rosberg came closest with seven laps to go. he was within half a second when hamilton locked a wheel and ran wide as he struggled to negotiate the backmarkers, gesturing to the uncooperative Esteban Gutierrez.
‘It was definitely difficult to navigate through the traffic,’ said hamilton. ‘Gutierrez just didn’t abide by the flags. I lost so much time behind him and Nico was watching me.’
But Rosberg is now looking up and not down as he heads to his native Germany next weekend in dire need of a win.
If hamilton was in dreamland, his compatriots endured a nightmare afternoon. a brake pedal failure ruined Jenson Button’s race and, to make matters worse, he was handed a drive-through penalty after his team told him how to manage it over the radio.
‘I don’t think you should get punished for that,’ raged Button. ‘It could have ended in an accident.
‘It’s a joke really. Stopping an incident should be praised, not penalised. the sport’s got a long way to go before it’s good again.’
If things were out of Button’s control, Jolyon Palmer had the first points of his fledgling Formula One career firmly in his grasp only to spin off from 10th.
‘It’s a disaster,’ said the disconsolate Renault driver who finished 12th. ‘It was there for me. It was the best drive of my career but I spun it and we didn’t get any points. I was driving well and the next thing I know I was facing backwards. I’m gutted.’