2021 Hungarian Grand Prix Report

Esteban Ocon won his first Formula 1 victory in chaotic Hungary after a pile-up at the first corner.

Half an hour before the lights went out, rain started to fall and caused chaos at Turn One. After a bad escape, Valtteri bottas braked too late, and drove into Lando Norris' back, which in turn punted the young Briton into Max Vertappen. Bottas slipped into Sergio Perez's Red Bull.

Charles Leclerc was now looking for second place. Lance Stroll crashed into him after also failing to maintain his brake point. Instead of being the projectile, this time a McLaren was the one receiving the ball, with Daniel Ricciardo being spun around by the helpless Ferrari.

Bottas, Perez and Norris both retired immediately following the red flag. Verstappen, Ricciardo could continue their work but suffered significant damage despite the best efforts of the Red Bull mechanics during this stoppage.

However, the drama was not over.

The sun had dried the track extremely quickly as the drivers followed the safety car around for a standing restart. Lewis Hamilton was back in pole position...but no one followed him...

All other drivers had arrived to change dry tyres. The pits were chaotic with everyone lining up to the end of the pit lanes, while George Russell tried unsuccessfully to overtake.

It was lights out, and Hamilton left, knowing that he would need to stop at the finish of each lap. He rejoined the race in last place after completing his lap.

The Hungaroring is notoriously hard track to master and the World Champion was struggling. Although he had passed Antonio Giovinazzi, Mick Schumacher and the Hungaroring, he was unable to pass Pierre Gasly's AlphaTauri.

Mercedes decided that a two-stop strategy was best and pitted Hamilton on lap 20. He was the fastest car at the track immediately after he got fresh air and he also undercut Ricciardo and Verstappen when they stopped a lap later.

Hamilton began to pick drivers off when they pitted or were on track. The highlight was an bold move around Yuki Tsunoda's outside at Turn 4. He soon rose to fifth.

Ocon and Sebastian Vettel were leading the pack at the front after Hamilton's long overdue tyre replacement. For an impressive spell, the Williams of Nicholas Latifi maintained third place and allowed them to widen their gap. The four-time champion was just a few seconds ahead of the unlikely leader, who eventually pitted on lap 38.

Hamilton was a little behind Carlos Sainz in fourth, but he built enough distance to be able to pit for medium tires and rejoin fifth. He was now three seconds faster than any other car at the track, but he had to pass Fernando Alonso, who was a formidable obstacle.

The Spaniard is not one to back down in a wheel-to–wheel battle and was even more motivated to protect his fellow teammate's lead.

A thrilling battle ensued between the old rivals as Alonso tried every trick to keep the faster Mercedes behind. Hamilton was finally freed after Hamilton locked himself in Turn One for 10 laps.

There were still six laps to go. Hamilton quickly defeated Sainz in third place and closed in on Vettel and Ocon, but it was too late. Ocon drove an impressively mature race, maintaining his head while leading the race for the first time to win the chequered flag.

The AlphaTauris were sixth and seventh respectively, behind the top five. Gasly took the point for the fastest lap on the final tour. Williams got his first points since Germany 2019, with Latifi eighth, and George Russell ninth.

Verstappen battled valiantly with half of a car in order to win the last point in tenth. However, Hamilton took the lead in the championship.

After the chequered flag, there was more drama as Vettel was disqualified. The fuel pump problem in his Aston Martin meant that the FIA could not take the required one-litre sample as the regulations require. Although Vettel is likely to lose the podium, it appears that Vettel's disqualification will be appealed.

Sainz was promoted to third. This means that half of his four podiums are now late.

WHY DID HAMILTON NOT PIT?

Mercedes found themselves in a tough spot.

Mercedes would have been foolish to go into the pits with Hamilton leading the charge, not knowing what the rest of the cars behind them are doing. Even more important, if they did so, and everyone had followed them in to the pits, it would have been difficult for their driver to be released into the stream of cars going down the pit lane.

Hamilton stated that they believed more rain was coming, and there was no radio traffic between the driver and the team during the lap behind safety car. They may have thought it was prohibited, as others on social media initially believed. This is also true for the regular parade lap.

This was the third lap of the race and therefore no regulation was in effect. This is a stupid mistake, if it was, as it may have contributed to the incorrect call, which, in hindsight, is clearly a foolish one.

It was a classic Hamilton comeback. He seemed to be struggling to stay on the podium. Hamilton revealed that he is worried about his long COVID. Let's pray that the summer break will allow Hamilton to continue his recovery.

MORE SPARKS IN TITLE FIGHT

Red Bull and Mercedes tensions were boiling before the Hungarian Grand Prix. This will not have been enough to cool them down.

A Mercedes was in contact with a Red Bull for the second consecutive race. The obvious consequences in points are not the only ones. However, the Austrian team is now facing a steep increase in costs due to the damage. This was the first year with a budget cap.

Toto Wolff, Mercedes Team Principal, apologized to Christian Horner, his Red Bull boss, but he didn't seem to be too pleased and asked Wolff if he would pay the bill.

"I am sure he was not so sorry to see the end result. Although I am certain he did not tell Valtteri, the consequences for us are severe. The FIA should be looking into this in a cost-cap environment."

Hamilton has regained the title lead. Mercedes also beat their rivals in constructors standings. The reigning champions brought a significant performance improvement to Silverstone. Silver Arrows held the lead on a track that hasn't been their best in recent years.

Despite all the drama that we had at the halfway point of the season it is now back to square one, with both championships virtually level.

We have four weeks to rest, recuperate and then we are back on the road.