Tops
The big day of Esteban Ocon
The unexpected victory of Esteban Ocon. Carried in triumph by his double world champion, Fernando Alonso, the Norman won his very first career victory after an incredible race, marked by a chaotic start at the end of which the Alpine pilot found himself the first to get out of traffic. Emerged in second position, the 24-year-old driver was propelled to the front after leader Lewis Hamilton's poor choice not to wear dry rubber. A position that he will never give up again, apart from the time of two laps, to his teammate Fernando Alonso, who has managed to contain the ardor of Hamilton behind. "
All of Fernando's battles have given us air
", greeted Ocon at the microphone of Canal +
.
The person concerned only had to worry about another size, the quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel, for 65 laps, which he managed to do. To achieve the pinnacle and succeed Pierre Gasly, 6th with the fastest lap in the race this Sunday, 11 months after his coronation at Monza.
The great works of Fernando Alonso
Fifth in the race, Fernando Alonso received public honors by being elected driver of the day by Internet users. A distinction that does not steal the show from its teammate winner. A distinction deserved above all for the “
Bull of Asturias
”, who celebrated his 40th birthday during this Hungarian weekend. And the latter has never appeared so dashing as this Sunday, when he fought a great battle in Hamilton to keep his fourth place, finally given up five laps from the term. 4th or 5th, the essential was elsewhere, because this heroic defense allowed Ocon to make his race in the lead: "
I knew that Hamilton had a big rhythm and that he could come back to the leaders
, he said. entrusted to
Canal +
.
Every lap I kept him behind was a winning lap for Esteban
. ”
Read also: Ocon after his victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix: "Something crazy"
Lewis Hamilton's Remembrance
Third after a fantastic comeback, Lewis Hamilton managed a real tour de force to climb back up from the abyss of this Grand Prix to climb onto the podium and take back the controls of the championship. A “comeback” which he could have done without, if he had not chosen to stay on intermediate tires at the restart which followed the pile-up at the start. Thanks to his talent but also that of his team, who made up for his blunder at the time of the restart - he found himself alone on the grid for having kept his intermediate tires -, by achieving the winning "undercut" on his rival Verstappen, the seven-time world champion went to the end of himself and did not even have the strength to stand on the podium. He will remain one of the great men of this GP,before delivering a big battle to Alonso to regain a six-point lead at the top of the championship. The glass half full.
Flops
Valtteri Bottas scuttles the start of the race
Stuck to the ground at the start, Valtteri Bottas was the cause of a gigantic pile-up at the first corner.
Second on the grid, the Finn tried to catch up in traffic before hitting from behind Lando Norris who was on the inside to get into the three in front.
But the Briton in turn hit Max Verstappen, pushed into the gravel, before retiring before the restart.
"
They played bowling,
" plague Charles Leclerc, collateral victim of this carnage.
An identical fate for Bottas, who will suffer from a penalty of five places on the grid during the Grand Prix of Spa-Francorchamps at the end of August.
Read also: F1: pileup in the first round, the Hungarian Grand Prix interrupted (video)
The misfortunes of Verstappen and Red Bull
Second nightmare weekend for Red Bull. After the setbacks of Max Verstappen and his family at Silverstone, the Dutch driver, leader of the fallen world championship, saw his chances in Hungary soar at the first corner following a shock at the back of his car. Pushed into the gravel before returning to the track - unlike his teammate Sergio Perez, forced to retire - the Dutchman took advantage of the work of the great mechanics of the Austrian team to go to the end of this Grand Prix and snatch a point (10th) with a damaged single-seater in large widths. But this small point in two GPs is naturally not enough to satisfy the overflowing ambition of the sulphurous Christian Horner and his team.