[fz_rider]

Well I was expecting a boring race. It was still a procession, but a lot closer. Sad for Ricciardo, he manages his pace really well, lost a chance for podium. I didn't expect Hamilton to give back the place, but Kudos!
Nice gesture for Alonso on his birthday. And he followed it up with a blistering last lap, the fastest lap, securing P6.
Finally Forza Ferrari ! Not a convincing win, still will do.

Off to break.

[Meccanico]

What a drive by Vettel! Flawless drive with that off-centre steering wheel. Meanwhile Alonso manages to get the fastest lap of the race despite the faulty Honda power unit. The best moment of the GP for me was the Alonso mural in parc ferme.


We definitely need more of this in F1

[jfxavier]

A tense final few laps as Vettel keeps ahead for a 1-2 for Ferrari.
Race was quite uneventful after the initial entertainment provided by the RedBulls.



The results:



Driver's standings as of now:



Meanwhile ALO takes the "fastest lap" honor on the last lap of the race.



Off to a well deserved Summer break.
Once again reminding everyone that he is the coolest one on the paddock.
Well deserved I say after executing probably the only genuine overtake of the race.

[Chetan_Rao]

An important takeaway from today's race and this weekend overall is Kimi being competitive.

Ferrari will need him, given a majority of the remaining tracks are power-oriented and Vettel can't afford to finish behind both Mercs too many times.

Hoping RB can find some more pace and mix it with the front-runner post the break.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by Meccanico

What a drive by Vettel! Flawless drive with that off-centre steering wheel.

While due credit to Vettel to have finished inspite of his handling problem. He wouldn't have even stood in the podium, if not for Raikkonen's defending the position against Hamilton.

Massive respect to Hamilton to give the place back to Bottas on the final lap. He managed to thread the needle between Bottas and Verstappen and finish 4th

The collision among the bulls ensured they were nowhere in the mix for the podium fight. Verstappen has quite an awful season going into the summer break, lets see if anything gets better for the latter half of the season.

[deetjohn]

The toast of Budapest was Alonso - that overtake on Sainz, the fastest lap, the P6 and that living that meme from that deck chair! Well done! Alonso finally looks to be totally at peace with what he got currently. And guess the no expectations - no pressure zone is also helping.

Kimi had the pace and could have won today. He is playing the perfect tail gunner which is kind if sad. Check his interview after the race when that journo is trying to dig it in. Got to hurt! Driving for a contract in 2018 perhaps?

Here is the race highlights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU72heP0uH0

Post race interviews:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLZbVo47nQg

PS: Don't miss the Hulk at the end. Max and Mag both screwed up!

[jfxavier]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

PS: Don't miss the Hulk at the end. Max and Mag both screwed up!

https://youtu.be/21T8d0SA5Js

This is what Hulk was referring to.

[sgiitk]

In a way an uneventful race. However, the way Vettel adjusted to the off centre steering was excellent. Also, for the first time I saw Hamilton conceding to his team mate. Was he told off, or (unlikely) has he learnt.

It is excellent to see the Honda mill coming up to speed. So we have Mercedes, Ferrari with Honda and Renault snapping at their heels. Good for the rest of the season and racing in general.

[ashwinsadeep]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

It is excellent to see the Honda mill coming up to speed. So we have Mercedes, Ferrari with Honda and Renault snapping at their heels. Good for the rest of the season and racing in general.

I believe McLaren's pace this weekend has more to do with the track layout than Honda sorting out the issues with the PU. Hungary is high downforce track with just one not so long straight.

We'll know for sure at Spa after the break. I hope you are right though.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

In a way an uneventful race. However, the way Vettel adjusted to the off centre steering was excellent. Also, for the first time I saw Hamilton conceding to his team mate. Was he told off, or (unlikely) has he learnt.

I think Hamilton realises that it is best to maintain healthy competition and relationship within the team. Last year created an emotional toll on everyone

[johannskaria]

Felt like Ferrari got saved because of some brilliant team effort and back markers.
Very ice cool driving from Kimi and kept entertaining with the radio messages till the end.

But felt Verstappen and Alonso were stars of the race with some brilliant driving. Verstappen giving Mercs a scare and Alonso being the fastest driver on the grid.

As usual Force India with double points finish. Consistent and much better than the qualifying results.

https://youtu.be/pU72heP0uH0

Now back after the break.

[SilentEngine]

With both Ferrari and Mercedes, faster car/driver ended up behind their slower teammates. Both Kimi and Lewis felt that they could have gone longer in their first stint. In fact, Kimi set purple sectors in S1 and S2 in his in lap, and came out less than a second behind Seb. Another lap perhaps before the pit stop, and he could very well have taken the lead. In similar circumstances in Monaco, Seb used over-cut to his advantage to jump Kimi in the pits.

Unfortunately, all this means for Kimi is that he is now the unofficial number-2 and his race strategy will be used only to maximize Vettel's points. And from time to time, his boss will not hesitate to brand him as "laggard" publicly.

[gtonsing]

What started out to be a procession "boring" race picked up towards the end. Nice fight by Hamilton and what gamesmanship (irrespective of the motivation) to give way to his team mate when he knew he could not catch the Ferraris.
Force India continue to score and did much better than I expected them looking at their performance in Practice and Qualifying. Good Job. Next half is mostly unfavourable for them (IMHO) and good to gain as many points as possible while they can.
Overall, good race.

[jfxavier]

Originally Posted by ashwinsadeep

I believe McLaren's pace this weekend has more to do with the track layout than Honda sorting out the issues with the PU. Hungary is high downforce track with just one not so long straight.

We'll know for sure at Spa after the break. I hope you are right though.

Originally Posted by sgiitk

It is excellent to see the Honda mill coming up to speed. So we have Mercedes, Ferrari with Honda and Renault snapping at their heels. Good for the rest of the season and racing in general.

It's amazing to see that after all this 'hybridisation" still the largest gains are being found in the good old "Internal Combustion Engine". Such is the progress made in the combustion technology by the other manufacturers now, and Honda is still chasing them.

The last Honda ICE hardware upgrade (spec 3) was not a comprehensive one although it improved the fuel efficiency more than outright max. power.
Honda has been refining the package continuously with refining the mapping and energy management etc.
The drivability issues and the harmonic vibrations from the drive train has been sorted out too.

Question is whether the next big hardware upgrade (spec 4) will be ready in time for Spa after the summer break. If not hopefully before Suzuka atleast
The worst possible outcome would be the 2017 spec 4 becoming 2018 spec 0



Mercedes still enjoy a healthy lead over Ferrari in the Constructors championship.
McLaren should make rapid progress upwards on that table if the Honda Spec 4 PU makes a successful debut at Spa.

[Fullrevs]

Thanks to Ferrari for making it such an eventful race. What could have been a walk in the park became a huge drama filled event. Kimi can complain about Monaco and Hungary but where has he been in the other races? Agreed he was in prime position to win both races but its time the team realized that a drivers title will come courtesy Vettel only.

Very generous move by Hamilton to let Bottas through in the final corner. Now I know why he didn't allow Rosberg through.

Good show by Paul di Resta as well. To come in and drive a car that he has no experience in at all. A possible candidate for Williams if Massa quits end of the year?

Finally some points for Mclaren. Loved the mural and Alonso parked alongside it. What a comedian. :-)

Looking forward to Robert Kubica's times in the test. Eagerly hoping to see him back in F1 soon.