‘MOST UNSPORTING’
RENAULT’S Nico Hulkenberg branded Haas rival Kevin Magnussen the “most unsporting” driver in Formula One after a Hungarian Grand Prix clash between the two on Sunday. Hulkenberg had been frustrated by the Dane forcing him off as he tried to pass at turn two in the closing stages of the race. The Renault driver retired in the pits while Magnussen collected a five-second penalty but finished 13th. “When it comes to racing, he’s just nasty,” said Hulkenberg, who ‘congratulated’ Magnussen in front of television reporters in an angry exchange that turned the air blue when the Dane replied. “Hard defending is fine but what he does is just ruthless and sending people into the wall.” Magnussen had earlier criticised Hulkenberg over the team radio for an incident involving his French Haas team mate Romain Grosjean. “If you can do what Hulkenberg did to Romain, then it’s going to be a dirty race,” he said. Haas team principal Guenther Steiner defended Magnussen, calling Hulkenberg a bully. “He got away a long time with it and maybe now it’s time that somebody stands up to him.” will come back to bite me on the backside or not,” he said.
“I do think today was the right way to do things.”
Going into the race one point behind Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel (caricature), Hamilton saw the gap at the top stretch to 14 points after the German chalked up his fourth victory of the season.
It would have been an 11point difference had Hamilton, a triple world champion and the second most successful Formula One driver of all time after Michael Schumacher in terms of race wins, shown a more selfish streak.
Bottas had let his faster teammate through with 25 laps remaining, on the understanding that the positions would be reversed if the British driver failed to pass the Ferraris ahead on a track where overtaking is famously difficult. did it. Asked afterwards whether he had listened to his head or his heart, he pointed to the latter. “I think more from the heart, probably,” he said. “The mind is more cutthroat and every point counts and this is do-or-die. My heart tells me the right thing to do was to let Valtteri past. “I think today really shows, hopefully, that I am a man of my word, and also that I am a team player. I am just as much a part of this team as anyone and I think we’re working together better than we ever had, so I think today shows unity. “I think, in life, you do good things and good things do come round back to you.” For the last three seasons the title battle has been an internal one, with Hamilton fighting his now-retired teammate and 2016 champion Nico Rosberg, but this year has brought a new outside challenge in Vettel. While Ferrari have made little secret that the four-times champion is their main man, with Kimi Raikkonen chafing behind him in second place on Sunday, Mercedes have been firm about equal opportunities. “Me and Valtteri have a great amount of respect for each other,” said Hamilton. “Just as the team asked him to do a job and he did it, the same rules apply to me.” – Reuters