Vettel Wins in Hungary; Ties Senna For Third All-Time In Wins

A Scuderia Ferrari fan flies a team flag during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Just when everyone Sunday at the Hungarian Grand Prix thought that Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton would dominate, the formula one gods thought otherwise as Sebastian Vettel’s aggressive start plus a brief safety car period gave the Four time world champion his second victory of the season, just under 16 seconds ahead of Red Bull’s Dani Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo.

For Vettel, this victory ties his wins record with the late Aryton Senna with 41, with Ferrari’s first win at the Hungaroring since 2004.

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“An incredible day, but we had an incredibly tough week”, said Vettel to race interviewer Kai Ebel. “And this one is for Jules (Bianchi) and for the team. And sooner or later, he would have been part of our team. There was no need for it (the safety car) but it made the race more exciting at the end. It was crucial to get into the lead, and the car was good, but difficult to drive. Great race, great pace and thank you very much for the team and the recovery and it just came together.”

The lineup to the start was tense enough as Williams Felipe Massa went over his yellow starting marker and the grid had to take one more warm up lap, making the race distance for the day 70 laps instead of the original 71.

When the lights finally went out, both Vettel and his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen shot out in front of both Hamilton and his Mercedes companion Nico Rosberg, with the German blocking Hamilton that the Briton went off the track and dropped to 10^th place. Vettel continued for the first part of the race, leading Raikkonen by as much as seven seconds by the half way point.

However, things began to change in the race on lap 42, as Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India’s front wing exploded coming down the front straightaway , sending debris all over the track. The virtual safety car period began and then the actual car itself followed.

When the track became clear to race again, Vettel went out in front, but Hamilton was the target of Valterri Bottas, Raikkonen and Ricciardo as all three attempted to grab the last two podium positions behind Vettel. Bottas got the bad end of the deal as the Finn flattened his tire and only a few laps later Hamilton struck Ricciardo, giving the Briton a drive through penalty. Raikkonen continued onto second, only to have a power failure in his energy system after being passes by Ricciardo, had to abandon the race on lap 57.

With only a few laps to go, Ricciardo attempted to pass Rosberg, who was now in second place, but as the Red Bull driver did, Rosberg swung back in front of him, ripping off Ricciardo’s front wing and sent last year’s winner to the pits. Rosberg’s condition was even worse, as the rear left side tire was punctured and the German also had to return also to the pits for a replacement. Kvyat by this time, had caught up with the top three and suddenly found himself in second place, where he finished on the podium for the first time in his career.

Max Verstappen at 17, became the youngest driver to place in the points in fourth; while both McLaren Hondas placed for the first time with Fernando Alonso in fifth and Jenson Button in ninth, respectively. Hamilton ended up sixth, Romain Grosjean finished in seventh, Rosberg eighth and Marcus Ericsson took the last point in tenth.

Despite the setback, Hamilton still leads Rosberg by 21 points with now a three-week break until the end of next month in Belgium. But for Vettel, this was a much-needed celebration.

“I am sure it is going to be a great night, like it was in Malaysia (his last race win) very similar.” Concluded Vettel to Ebel.