IT’S LEWIS IN BLUNDERLAND

LEWIS HAMILTON raced around the Hungaroring like a man driving back from the Dog and Duck after eight pints. He was self-destructive, a danger to others and weaving willy-nilly. that might be a mild exaggeration but there is no libel in saying so. He admitted as much afterwards.

Hamilton’s transformation from driver supreme to ersatz amateur summed up the rank unpredictability of the most see-sawing race in recent memory.

Before recounting the mayhem that unfolded over 69 spellbinding laps, the salient facts, and they are mad enough: Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel won the Hungarian Grand Prix for Ferrari, Red Bull’s 21-yearold Daniil Kvyat was second and his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo third.

Hamilton somehow finished in sixth place despite a drive-through penalty and sundry incidents. He extended his l ead i n the championship to 21 points.

nico Rosberg, his mercedes team-mate, finished eighth after lying second for much of the race. a late puncture ruined it for him.

all this, and more, on a day of poignancy, when Formula one remembered i ts f allen driver, 25- year- old Jules Bianchi of marussia.

a minute’s silence was held before the race. His family and former race rivals stood in a circle, arms linked, around his and their helmets.

But it only took for the lights to go out for minds to turn to the here and now. Suddenly, four cars were side by side at 160mph down the long run into the first corner.

and, lo and behold, the Ferraris were in front. there were people here who would have bet their life savings on Hamilton taking victory from pole, a triumph that would have put him in total command of the World Championship.

this is his favourite track and he had been fastest in every session of practice and qualifying. He had won here four times i n eight years.

But, no, he was down the field in a trice, later admitting he had slept badly the night before.

the astonishing start to a dramatic race unfolded with Vettel, from third on the grid, charging down Hamilton’s left on what little of the road remained. they got so close that they fitted together like jigsaw pieces.

on the other side of the track, Rosberg was duelling with Kimi Raikkonen.

Hamilton braked earliest. Vettel was through into the lead. and at the next corner Raikkonen found a line to sweep inside Rosberg for second place.

It was Ferrari, Ferrari, mercedes, mercedes.

that order answered Bernie Ecclestone’s prayers; he had gone to see mercedes team principal toto Wolff before the race and told him, tongue in cheek, that another mercedes win would be bad for the sport.

Hamilton, always willing to race hard even to the point of impetuosity, tried to pass Rosberg on lap one, but ran into the gravel and mowed across the chicane. He dropped to 10th.

‘nico crossed over my line,’ said Hamilton on the radio. ‘He pushed me wide.’

that declaration seemed unfair on the German, who appeared only to hold his line, and Hamilton withdrew his criticism after watching the incident back on video.

the Ferraris were comfortable in front. Where was Rosberg’s challenge? He had just been handed an unexpected chance to take a serious bite into Hamilton’s lead at the top of the standings, yet he could make no incursion into the cars ahead of him.

as for the British driver, he was on a charge as he got up to fifth, a position he held before and after his first pit stop.

He next t ore past Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull like a bullet. He was now fourth and a place behind Rosberg, who was struggling.

the next chapter unfolded when the front wing of nico Hulkenberg’s Force India went under his car and smashed into pieces.

He went on to hit the tyre wall. the safety car was deployed and it took the entire field down the pit lane a couple of times so the debris could be cleared from the track.

the safety car inevitably bunched the field. Vettel’s lead was reduced to next to nothing.

Raikkonen, running second, had an energy deficiency that reduced his car’s power and ultimately caused him to retire from the race.

Rosberg, now third, had Hamilton right on his tail. ‘We are racing for the win, mate,’ the world champion was told. But he made a mistake immediately after the restart 21 laps from the end, locking up at the first corner and drifting into Ricciardo. He went down to sixth place before returning to the pits for repairs.

Setback followed setback, as he was hit by a drive-through penalty for causing the collision. Quite right. ‘I am so sorry, guys,’ said Hamilton.

Rosberg, meanwhile, passed Raikkonen without a problem to take second place. the fight for the win was now down to Vettel v Rosberg. or so it seemed.

But Rosberg was passed by Ricciardo. Rosberg went to fight back. they collided. Rosberg’s tyre shredded. Disappointment for him going into Formula one’s summer break.

the victorious, wide- smiling Vettel equalled ayrton Senna’s record of 41 wins, but he could think only of dedicating the victory to Bianchi.

‘this is for Jules and his family,’ he said. ‘You are always in our hearts, sooner or later we know you would have been in this team.’

a word for mclaren after their hopeless early season. It was great to see them restored to respectability, with Fernando alonso finishing fifth and Jenson Button ninth.

that was almost as strange as any phenomenon that unfolded here. and when the race was over, Ecclestone went back to see Wolff. ‘You overdid that a bit,’ he joked.

In fact, no scriptwriter could have concocted such a crazy race.