Formula 1: The big winner of Sebastian Vettel’s disqualification

Nine Formula 1 drivers and seven teams benefited from Sebastian Vettel’s disqualification, but there was one winner who stood out.

Sebastian Vettel’s second place finish in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring was all for naught, as the four-time Formula 1 world champion was disqualified due to a technical infraction.

Under the technical regulations, competitors must ensure that a 1.0-liter sample of fuel may be taken from a car at any time during an event, and after Sunday’s race concluded, it was only possible to retrieve a sample of 0.3 liters from Vettel’s Aston Martin.

So every driver who finished below him was promoted by one position, meaning that eight drivers who scored points ended up scoring more points than they did initially and one driver who didn’t score any points ended up scoring one.

Vettel initially scored 18 points, so 18 points were distributed among nine drivers, with some gaining more than others. Naturally, the 18 points initially scored by Aston Martin were also distributed among the seven teams which ended up in higher-paying points positions than they did initially, again with some gaining more points than others.

See here for a full breakdown.

While several drivers and teams gained good ground in their respective battles throughout the standings as a result of Vettel’s disqualification, there was one big winner from this process who stood out, and that was none other than championship leader Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton entered the race trailing Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by eight points in the driver standings after making up 24 points on him in controversial fashion in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit.

For the second consecutive race, Verstappen was involved in opening lap contact with a Mercedes driver this past Sunday, this time with Valtteri Bottas. Verstappen was able to continue, but with a damaged car, and he only managed to finish in 10th place before he was promoted to ninth, gaining two points instead of one.

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Hamilton was able to rally back to finish in third place after a tire strategy misjudgment sent him from the lead to the tail end of the field after the ensuing restart. So he was promoted to second with Vettel’s disqualification, scoring 18 points instead of 15.

After the race ended, Hamilton had a six-point lead over Verstappen in the driver standings, his first lead since he led by 14 points after winning the season’s fourth race, the Spanish Grand Prix at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

After the disqualification, that six-point lead turned into an eight-point lead, which could end up being quite significant moving forward if things stay as tight as they’ve been between the pair.

Obviously, the few points gained by other drivers from Vettel’s disqualification are probably going to be more valuable in and of themselves, given the fact that points scored by drivers further down the standings are harder to come by.

But the fact that Hamilton was able to gain two crucial points on his championship rival without actually doing anything on track is huge.

The next race on the 2021 Formula 1 schedule is the Belgian Grand Prix, which is scheduled to take place on Sunday, August 29. ESPN is set to broadcast this race live from Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET. Hamilton leads Verstappen 195-187 in the driver standings through 11 of the season’s 23 races.