Jul
29th
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Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) started from pole and led most the Hungarian Grand Prix on his way to a second win this season, but had a lot of work to do to keep both Lotus drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean behind.
First, it was Romain Grojean who, putting his front row start to good use, pressured Hamilton. The pair fled from Jenson Button (McLaren) and Sebastian (Vettel), who where were fighting together for the third spot.
At the time, Raikkonen was only sixth, sitting behind championship leader Fernando Alonso (Ferrari). As the laps went by, he proceeded to climb back the order and emerged as Hamilton's biggest threat in the final stint.
Even though the Finn seemed faster, he failed to find a way by Hamilton around the tricky and tight Hungaroring.
Behind the two, Grosjean brought home to Lotus another good but slightly disappointing result, finishing third where the team had surely hoped for a win.
Vettel, who had lost a spot to Button at the start, eventually managed to get rid of the Brit but couldn't climb any higher than fourth. In fact, Button fell down to sixth because of a bad three-stop call.
Alonso squeezed between the two, therefore ending a discrete but good race in fifth. As Webber only finished eighth, the Spaniard stretched his lead in the championship to 40 points. It was Bruno Senna (Williams) who, in one of his strongest performance, denied Webber a better result by finishing seventh.
Felipe Massa (Ferrari) fell back from his honourable starting position to ninth at the finish, while Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) made his way from 13th up to 10th and therefore grabbed the last point available.
His teammate Michael Schumacher endured probably one of his worst race weekend ever. The seven-time world champion first crashed in Friday's free practice, then qualified a lowly 17th, which ultimately didn't matter because he stalled on the grid and had to start from the pit lane.
And it kept on coming.
Pitting for an early tire change, Schumacher picked up a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. In the end, he didn't even get to see the flag, as he retired only a handful of laps from the finish.
Race results* - Hungarian Grand Prix (Hungaroring, Budapest)
1 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 69 laps 1.41'05"503
2 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E20-Renault) - 1"032
3 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E20-Renault) - 10"518
4 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 11"614
5 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F2012) - 26"653
6 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 30"243
7 - Bruno Senna (Williams FW34-Renault) - 33"899
8 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 34"458
9 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F2012) - 38"3
10 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W03) - 51"2
11 - Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 57"2
12 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 1'02"8
13 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW34-Renault) - 1'03"6
14 - Sergio Perez (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 1'04"4
15 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 1 lap
16 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 1 lap
17 - Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 1 lap
18 - Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 2 laps
19 - Vitaly Petrov (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 2 laps
20 - Charles Pic (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) - 2 laps
21 - Timo Glock (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) - 3 laps
22 - Pedro De La Rosa (HRT F112-Cosworth) - 3 laps
Fastest lap by Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) 1'24"136
Retirements
Michael Schumacher (lap 61)
Narain Karthikeyan (lap 63)
Drivers' championship
1.Alonso 164; 2.Webber 124; 3.Vettel 122; 4.Hamilton 117; 5.Raikkonen 116; 6.Rosberg 77; 7.Grosjean, Button 76; 9.Perez 47; 10.Kobayashi 33; 11.Maldonado, Schumacher 29; 13.Di Resta 27; 14.Massa 25; 15.Senna 24; 16.Hulkenberg 19; 17.Vergne 4; 18.Ricciardo 2.
Constructors' championship
1.Red Bull-Renault 246; 2.McLaren-Mercedes 193; 3.Lotus-Renault 192; 4.Ferrari 189; 5.Mercedes 106; 6.Sauber-Ferrari 80; 7.Williams-Renault 53; 8.Force India-Mercedes 46; 9.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 8.
*Unofficial
First, it was Romain Grojean who, putting his front row start to good use, pressured Hamilton. The pair fled from Jenson Button (McLaren) and Sebastian (Vettel), who where were fighting together for the third spot.
At the time, Raikkonen was only sixth, sitting behind championship leader Fernando Alonso (Ferrari). As the laps went by, he proceeded to climb back the order and emerged as Hamilton's biggest threat in the final stint.
Even though the Finn seemed faster, he failed to find a way by Hamilton around the tricky and tight Hungaroring.
Behind the two, Grosjean brought home to Lotus another good but slightly disappointing result, finishing third where the team had surely hoped for a win.
Vettel, who had lost a spot to Button at the start, eventually managed to get rid of the Brit but couldn't climb any higher than fourth. In fact, Button fell down to sixth because of a bad three-stop call.
Alonso squeezed between the two, therefore ending a discrete but good race in fifth. As Webber only finished eighth, the Spaniard stretched his lead in the championship to 40 points. It was Bruno Senna (Williams) who, in one of his strongest performance, denied Webber a better result by finishing seventh.
Felipe Massa (Ferrari) fell back from his honourable starting position to ninth at the finish, while Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) made his way from 13th up to 10th and therefore grabbed the last point available.
His teammate Michael Schumacher endured probably one of his worst race weekend ever. The seven-time world champion first crashed in Friday's free practice, then qualified a lowly 17th, which ultimately didn't matter because he stalled on the grid and had to start from the pit lane.
And it kept on coming.
Pitting for an early tire change, Schumacher picked up a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. In the end, he didn't even get to see the flag, as he retired only a handful of laps from the finish.
Race results* - Hungarian Grand Prix (Hungaroring, Budapest)
1 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 69 laps 1.41'05"503
2 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E20-Renault) - 1"032
3 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E20-Renault) - 10"518
4 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 11"614
5 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F2012) - 26"653
6 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/27-Mercedes) - 30"243
7 - Bruno Senna (Williams FW34-Renault) - 33"899
8 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB8-Renault) - 34"458
9 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F2012) - 38"3
10 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes MGP W03) - 51"2
11 - Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 57"2
12 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM05-Mercedes) - 1'02"8
13 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW34-Renault) - 1'03"6
14 - Sergio Perez (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 1'04"4
15 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 1 lap
16 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR7-Ferrari) - 1 lap
17 - Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 1 lap
18 - Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber C31-Ferrari) - 2 laps
19 - Vitaly Petrov (Caterham CT01-Renault) - 2 laps
20 - Charles Pic (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) - 2 laps
21 - Timo Glock (Marussia MR01-Cosworth) - 3 laps
22 - Pedro De La Rosa (HRT F112-Cosworth) - 3 laps
Fastest lap by Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) 1'24"136
Retirements
Michael Schumacher (lap 61)
Narain Karthikeyan (lap 63)
Drivers' championship
1.Alonso 164; 2.Webber 124; 3.Vettel 122; 4.Hamilton 117; 5.Raikkonen 116; 6.Rosberg 77; 7.Grosjean, Button 76; 9.Perez 47; 10.Kobayashi 33; 11.Maldonado, Schumacher 29; 13.Di Resta 27; 14.Massa 25; 15.Senna 24; 16.Hulkenberg 19; 17.Vergne 4; 18.Ricciardo 2.
Constructors' championship
1.Red Bull-Renault 246; 2.McLaren-Mercedes 193; 3.Lotus-Renault 192; 4.Ferrari 189; 5.Mercedes 106; 6.Sauber-Ferrari 80; 7.Williams-Renault 53; 8.Force India-Mercedes 46; 9.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 8.
*Unofficial