Race - 2018 Hungarian GP team quotes

Williams

— Sergey Sirotkin finished 16th and Lance Stroll 17th in the Hungarian Grand Prix
— Sergey started the race from P19 on the soft Pirelli tyre
— Lance was forced to start the race from the pitlane, after changing his front wing during parc fermé following his accident in Saturday’s qualifying session
— Both cars made clean starts and gained positions on the opening lap
— Sergey pitted on lap 31 for the medium tyre whilst Lance pitted on lap 47 for the ultrasoft tyre

Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer

It was a very long, hot afternoon in Budapest with all our attention unfortunately on the blunt end of the race, rather than the sharp end. We ran a split strategy across the two cars with Sergey starting on the option and Lance on the prime, hoping to take advantage of incidents as they may arise with two one-stop strategies. Unfortunately, Lance had to start from the pitlane because we had no spares of the front wing specification he’d been using in qualifying. Sergey gained some positions at the start on the two Saubers, although one of them Leclerc retired very early. The rest of our afternoon was a fight between our two drivers and the other Sauber of Ericsson, who took an early pitstop at the first VSC, which gave him an extremely long stint. We hoped it wouldn’t work for Ericsson but unfortunately it did, so that meant we finished the race in 16th and 17th. Ultimately our pace was only good enough to compete with each other today, but the team did a good job, executed good pitstops and it was a well-controlled race, so we know our pace is where we need to focus. We’re ready for a rest after this first half of the season and next week’s test, so we’ll come back refreshed and ready for the next push in Belgium.

Sergey Sirotkin

I think we can say we have finished the first half of the year on a high. Obviously, it’s not that visible in the results but, being realistic from where we started, the strategy we had and dealing with blue flags we can be happy with how we performed. There’s still some room for improvement, which we will analyse and correct throughout the summer break, but we can take quite a lot of positives from this race and all of us can take a deserved rest.

Lance Stroll

Yesterday it was nice to get into Q2, but obviously Q2 didn’t go the way we wanted it to and today, we had to start from the pitlane. We put the old front wing on, which we haven’t had for a couple of races now. I definitely felt the loss in performance, and the car felt like it wasn’t cooperating as well as it has been since we got the new front wing. We went on a different strategy to Sergey and tried to pick up the pace at the end of the race with the qualifying tyres, but there just weren’t enough laps left. It was one of those races.

Force India

Force India missed out on points today as Esteban Ocon ended the Hungarian Grand Prix in P13 ahead of Sergio Perez in P14.

ESTEBAN OCON

“A difficult race for us and we knew it was going to be a big challenge to score points today. The start of the race was strong and we made up a few positions, but we didn’t have enough pace to recover from the back of the grid and fight for points. I enjoyed some good battles with the Renaults, but the problems in qualifying yesterday really determined our result today. We have a few weeks off now and there is still a long way to go in the second half of the season. Everybody deserves a rest so that we can come back stronger in Spa.”

SERGIO PEREZ

“It hasn’t been an ideal day for us, but we knew it was going to be a tough Sunday all along. We started from the back and chose to go with an aggressive strategy, but in the end we just didn’t have the pace to make it work. I had a good start but lost some places after touching with Leclerc and after that it was always going to be difficult to recover on a circuit where overtaking is very difficult. I am glad we have the summer break now. The last few months have been tough mentally but I’m still here and I’m in the top ten of the drivers’ championship. We will come back stronger after the holidays – all the off-track issues will have been settled down and we can come to Spa with the right approach and a stable environment around us.”

OTMAR SZAFNAUER

“Today’s result was largely compromised by the issues we encountered in qualifying yesterday. Starting from the back, both drivers had eventful races, with battles keeping them busy from start to finish. We tried two different strategies, with Esteban starting on soft tyres and Sergio on ultrasofts, but in the end this made little difference and they finished within ten seconds of each other. The summer break gives us a chance to regroup, deal with the issues that are taking place away from the track and come back for the second part of the season in a much stronger position. We are confident in the work we are doing back at the factory and we are still in the thick of the action when it comes to the midfield battle, so we can look forward to recharging the batteries once this week’s test is over.”

Haas F1

Haas F1 Team earned its second double-points result of the season in the Hungarian Grand Prix Sunday with drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean finishing seventh and 10th, respectively, in the 12th round of the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship.

The seven points from the collective result of Magnussen and Grosjean at the Hungaroring in Budapest allowed Haas F1 Team to take sole possession of fifth in the constructors’ standings. The American squad now has 66 points and trails fourth-place Renault by 16 points, but has a seven-point advantage over sixth-place Force India, a 14-point gap to seventh-place McLaren and a 38-point margin on eighth-place Toro Rosso. Magnussen is eighth in the driver’s championship with 45 points and Grosjean is 14th with 21 points.

Both Haas F1 Team drivers employed a one-stop strategy in the 70-lap race around the 4.381-kilometer (2.722-mile), 14-turn circuit. Grosjean, who started 10th, was the first to pit, bringing his Haas VF-18 in for service on lap 29, swapping his Pirelli P Zero Purple ultrasoft tires for Yellow softs. Magnussen, who started just ahead of Grosjean in ninth, followed on lap 31 and emulated the tire choice of his teammate.

Grosjean dropped to 12th after the stop and Magnussen, who drove to as high as sixth at the start of the race, fell to ninth. But as pit stops began to cycle through, Magnussen rose to seventh and Grosjean climbed to 11th.

When Stoffel Vandoorne was forced to retire his McLaren after 49 laps, Grosjean inherited 10th.

For the remainder of the race, Magnussen and Grosjean raced comfortably in seventh and 10th, respectively, with sizeable margins between the cars ahead and behind each of them. The finish extended Haas F1 Team’s streak of point-paying results to five, dating back to the June 24 French Grand Prix.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the Hungarian Grand Prix by 17.123 seconds over Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. The win was the 67th of Hamilton’s Formula One career, his fifth this season and his sixth at the Hungaroring. The victory allowed Hamilton to widen his lead in the championship standings over Vettel, his nearest pursuer. Hamilton came into the Hungarian Grand Prix with a 17-point margin on Vettel and leaves with a 24-point advantage.

Nine races remain on the 2018 Formula One schedule, with the next event coming in four weeks with the Belgian Grand Prix Aug. 24-26 at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

Romain Grosjean

“Both of us in the top-10 is really good. The race was frustrating. We need to understand how to get the tires better in these circumstances. I spent 50 laps behind (Carlos) Sainz, being half-a-second to one second faster. As soon as you get close to the car in front of you, it just goes and there’s nothing you can do. That was a bit of a shame but, overall, I think we really did a great job. We jumped (Nico) Hulkenberg and (Brendon) Hartley, showing that we had an amazing pace. Generally, I think we had a great pace, so it’s good to have two cars in the top-10. We’ve had a really good weekend. The race pace was so much better than P10.”

Kevin Magnussen

“I was quite happy today. Had a good first lap, gained some positions, and took it home from there. Not a very eventful race, except for the first lap, but that’s fine for us. We scored a double-points finish for the team and that’s a good way to go on holiday.”

Gunther Steiner

“Two cars in the points – good end to the first half of the season and for everyone to go into the summer break. Closing in on our opponents and moving away from the others is fantastic. Everyone can relax a little bit, come back stronger and try to get more points after the summer break.”

Sauber

It was a disappointing race outcome for the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team at the 2018 Hungarian Grand Prix. Starting from P14 (Marcus Ericsson) and P16 (Charles Leclerc), the two drivers went into the race ready to work their way into the midfield. Unfortunately, Charles Leclerc was involved in an incident on the opening lap of the Grand Prix, and sustained damage to his car that required him to retire from the race immediately. Marcus Ericsson was also involved in an incident on the first lap and fell to the back of the field. From there he was faced with recovering positions on a track where is very difficult to overtake. Marcus did his best to gain places during the race and ultimately finished in P15.

The Budapest test, which is taking place on the 31st July and 1st August 2018, will be completed by Marcus Ericsson on day 1, and Antonio Giovinazzi on day 2.

The Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team heads into the Formula One summer break holding P9 (18 points) in the Constructors’ Championship. Charles Leclerc is currently in P15 (13 points), and Marcus Ericsson in P17 (5 points) in the Drivers’ Championship.

Marcus Ericsson

“It was a difficult race. I lost positions after the collision on the first lap and fell to the back of the grid. From there on, it was a difficult race. I tried to overtake the cars ahead, but it is quite tricky on a track like this. When the safety car came out early on during the race, we decided to box and change to medium tyres. It was a good move, and we managed to gain a few positions back. Unfortunately, not much more was possible. Overall, it was not a great race for us, but we will analyse it and come back stronger. I have a day of testing ahead this week and will head into the summer break after that. I look forward to having some time to review the season so far, and to come back even stronger.”

Charles Leclerc

“It is a bit unfortunate to finish the last race before the summer break like this. Shortly after the start, I got stuck between two other cars which caused damage to my car. I had to retire from the race as a consequence. On the other hand, the season has been positive so far. We have made more progress than expected, and I have learned a lot and have scored some points. I look forward to my summer break now, and will use the time to relax and train for the second half of the season.”

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal

“It was not a good day for us. Both of our drivers were involved in incidents in the opening lap which defined the outcome of their races. Charles was involved in a collision during the start and damaged the car. We had to instruct him to stop and retire from the race. Marcus was also involved in an incident on the first lap of the race, and lost all positions as a result. It was a tough job to fight his way back after that, and he finished the race in P15. All in all, the season has been positive so far. Both Marcus and Charles have brought points home, and we have made progress race after race as a team. We are confident that we will continue doing so after the summer break, and I look forward to the second half of the season.”

McLaren

A day of mixed emotions for McLaren at the Hungarian Grand Prix as Fernando brought home four points in eighth position, but the team was cruelly robbed of a double-points finish due to a gearbox problem for Stoffel.

Stoffel made a great start, ending lap one in 13th place, just two spots behind his team-mate. The team executed a near-perfect strategy, and both drivers drove superbly to manage their tyres and pace to the maximum. Two solid pit-stops – a one-stop strategy for each car – later than most other teams compounded the strong rhythm of both cars throughout the race, and the pair were sitting in eighth and ninth positions from just over mid-way through the race.

A mechanical issue on Stoffel’s gearbox put paid to any hopes of points to reward his performance, and he retired from the race after 49 laps.

Fernando Alonso

“It was definitely a good Sunday for us and it was down to the pit-wall, as they executed the perfect strategy. They decided to extend the first stint as much as we could, doing something around 15 laps more than the others, and that meant Stoffel and myself recovered three or four positions.

“We really deserved eighth and ninth places today, but unfortunately the gearbox problem prevented Stoffel from taking any points, otherwise it would’ve been a perfect Sunday for us.

“I’m happy we’ve delivered the result and have scored another four points for the team. Sunday is where it finally counts!

“Now it’s time to relax, before jumping in a car again mid-August.”

Stoffel Vandoorne

“A really disappointing race for me. We had a superb start, after we started a bit further down the grid than we wanted after yesterday, and gained a few places on the opening lap. We had really good tyre management in the opening stint and strong pace when it counted, a good pit-stop and we managed to jump a lot of cars during the pit window. It was a great strategy from the team to come out in the points with both cars and we were feeling comfortable, so it was just about bringing the car home.

“Unfortunately, we had a technical problem and I had to stop the car. It shows it’s a mechanical sport. It’s disappointing to finish like that but I think as a team we did everything right today. We got ourselves as high as we could and it’s a shame not to finish the first part of the season with a few more points.

“On a personal note, I felt good this weekend. I think we’ve shown today that the pace was back to where it had been before, with a more ‘normal’ feeling, and I can be happy with my performance. I’m looking forward to the summer break, to relax a bit, clear my head and turn up in Spa for my home race.”

Gil de Ferran

“Today was a very positive day for us. We had good pace on both cars and came very close to a double-points finish.

“Obviously we’re very disappointed for Stoffel, who was driving very well and had to retire due to a gearbox failure.

“Fernando had his typical perfect drive, with the right blend of aggression and pace and tyre management. Although we’re supposed to give him a present on his birthday, he gave us yet another one in the form of points!

“I want to congratulate our strategy team and pit-crew for executing the race to perfection, and thank everyone for the extremely hard work they’ve put in over this long and busy stretch of races.

“I wish everyone a nice break and I can’t wait for the season to restart when we can hopefully keep stepping forward.”

Red Bull

DANIEL RICCIARDO

“We had a pretty good car and I was able to make it to fourth having been at P16 at one point on the first lap, so in the end it was a good result for us. The start was pretty chaotic and I took a hit on my front left tyre which caused some vibrations and we lost a few positions there. Ocon then went really deep in Turn 6, cut the chicane and stayed in front of me for two laps. That was frustrating, especially at the beginning when everyone is so close, you lose a lot of ground. After this with the pace advantage we had we were able to get on and do some overtakes, and I had some fun with that and could get up the field. Before the incident at the end with Valtteri in Turn 1, I knew he had some damage, so I knew it should be relatively easy to pass him, but he obviously just went too deep into that turn. I couldn’t see his car in my blind spot so I left room, and then I got the hit but fortunately I didn’t spin. I thought it was likely he would get a penalty but I really wanted to pass him on track, which fortunately I could do on the last lap. I was happy today, happy to finish and get some points and have a race I feel I maximized.”

MAX VERSTAPPEN

“Today didn’t go the way we planned. I felt good with the car and had a strong start but the race was then over within six laps. It is really frustrating after putting all the effort in and being in a promising position, but then having to stop due to reliability. As I was happy with the car I think we could have had a good battle with the front group, it’s a shame to have missed out on that and some valuable points. It’s such a shame for not just myself and the team but also the fans that travel all the way here supporting me. It’s not fun to watch me complete a few laps and then retire. I’m not sure if this will mean engine penalties for Spa, we will look into it as a team and discuss the best way to come back strong after the summer break. I don’t really feel like going away on holiday now as this isn’t the way I wanted to finish the first part of the season. I would like to get back in the car to race again and finish on a strong result, unfortunately I can’t.”

CHRISTIAN HORNER, Team Principal

“A fantastic recovery by Daniel who actually completed the first lap down in P16. He made his way through the field with some decisive overtaking and had rapidly moved up to P5 by the halfway stage of the race. We then changed on to the Ultrasoft tyre for the final 26 laps and he started to catch the group consisting of Bottas and the two Ferraris ahead of him. After Valtteri and Sebastian had had contact ahead, the wounded Mercedes then hit Daniel when he was attempting to pass him at Turn 1 causing significant damage. However Daniel was able to keep going and then pass him for good on the last lap taking P4 at the flag. Max had a hugely frustrating day with an engine failure with only five laps gone. He had made a great start and we knew we had a competitive race car here and would have been in a fight for a podium having seen the pace that Daniel had today. It’s enormously frustrating and we just hope not to incur penalties at his home Grand Prix in Spa in a few weeks’ time.”

Toro Rosso

Pierre Gasly

“It was an amazing day for us to finish sixth! Yesterday was already fantastic for the team, but this is even better! The car was mega, the strategy was fantastic, I just had to give everything I could which wasn’t easy in these conditions, in the end we managed to do it. After the past few races, which were quite difficult for us, it’s a great result for the team. When you’re fighting in the midfield you know there will be races where opportunities present themselves, and you just need to make sure you take them when they come. We did it in Bahrain, Monaco and again this weekend, so it’s great and it’s a nice way to end the first half of the season. I had a good start and managed to pass Sainz at the beginning, then I had free air to focus on my driving and make the tyres last and it ended up being a great race. The main thing was not to make any mistakes; I was on the limit for 70 laps which was a challenge, but I did my best to have a clean race and push as hard as I could to take these fantastic 8 points home.”

Brendon Hartley

“I’m disappointed not to score points after a strong qualifying. I had a great start but decided not to dive up the inside of Gasly which ultimately lost me a place to Magnussen. My race was then destroyed as I was stuck behind Sainz during the first half of the race when he was on a harder tyre. We then reacted too early to Hulkenberg pitting behind and putting the Medium tyre, which didn’t give me the best performance. I fully understand why the team split the strategies but today it didn’t work out for me. I made no mistakes, I had a good start but unfortunately no points to show for it. I’m happy for the team to score more points which is a nice reward for all the hard work over the last months.”

Franz Tost (Team Principal)

“The team showed a good performance from the beginning of the weekend, Pierre was always around the top 10 in the practice sessions, which showed we had the pace to make it into Q3 and to score points. Yesterday, the weather conditions helped us a little bit and the team and drivers did a really good job to get the most of out the session, resulting in us lining up in sixth and eighth position on the grid. Pierre made a very good start, while Brendon got caught in a battle between Sainz and Hulkenberg meaning he dropped to ninth after the first lap. Pierre had a fantastic race where he controlled the tyres and the fuel consumption, and was able to increase the pace at will, which he highlighted towards the end of the race when Magnussen attempted to close the gap. Brendon was stuck behind Sainz and Grosjean, but was able to keep Hulkenberg behind him. I think with a better first lap he would have had the pace to finish in the points. Sixth position is a really good result and very important for the team as we didn’t score many points in the past few races. I’d like to thank the strategists, all the engineers and the mechanics for their incredibly fast pit stops. Now we have the summer break to look forward to, and with all of us recharged we will go to Spa and push for the second half of the season.”

Toyoharu Tanabe (Honda F1 Technical Director)

“Our car worked well all weekend and this sixth place and eight points for Pierre is a very good result. It was partly down to the way we managed yesterday’s complicated qualifying, when the whole Toro Rosso Honda team did a very good job, just as they did today. It was a shame that Brendon missed out by one place on giving us a double points finish. We have had some tough race weekends recently, so it’s good to go into the summer break having finished in the points in the last two races. We hope to keep up that momentum starting in Spa.”

Renault F1

Renault Sport Formula Team endured a frustrating race where Carlos Sainz finished in the points, but wasn’t able to fully capitalise on his fine fifth position on the grid.

As a contrast to yesterday’s wet Qualifying session, the Hungaroring basked in searing sun for the Grand Prix, bringing tyre management considerations to the fore. Both Carlos and Nico Hülkenberg made strong starts, but it proved hard work moving up the order thereafter. Nico was P10 at the end of the first lap, but finished in twelfth position, pushing hard after a late stop to change to the Ultrasoft tyres. Despite the challenges of today, the team remains in fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship heading into the summer break.

— Carlos started from P5 on new Pirelli Soft (yellow) tyres, pitting on lap 25 for a new set of Medium (white) tyres.
— Nico started from P13 on new Softs, stopping on lap 23 for new Mediums then lap 50 under a Virtual Safety Car for a set of new Ultrasofts (purple).

Nico Hülkenberg

“We didn’t have the pace in the car today, and the balance felt poor. Ultimately, we weren’t fast enough. We had a good one last weekend and it wasn’t so good this weekend, but that’s racing. When you don’t have the pace, everything gets difficult and I was in traffic most of the time, which makes things hard. We thought this track layout would suit us, so we need to understand what’s gone on this weekend and why the car was difficult to drive. We look forward, though, testing this week before a bit of time off. The team, the engineers and the mechanics deserve the break.”

Carlos Sainz

“It was a frustrating race. It was a tough first lap with the Soft, but I got off the line well until I was pushed out at turn one and lost some positions. As the race settled, I started to pick up the pace and put in some fast laps when we boxed. Traffic then didn’t help and it cost us time against both McLarens, who came out in front after their first stop. We need to see what happened there but for sure we could have done things better today.”

Cyril Abiteboul, Team Principal

“It was a frustrating day for us and we know we are capable of better. We had a good start from both cars, but then Carlos lost positions on the first lap and neither driver was able to make any headway thereafter. We were too conservative in terms of start tyres, strategy and the balance of the car was not good. We have two days of testing ahead of us here at the Hungaroring to work on these specific areas in addition to completing a busy program for development items for the second half of the season and directions for next year.

“Aside from today’s race, we can reflect on the first half of the season as being in line with our target, but we cannot satisfy ourselves just with our championship position. We need to accelerate in every area of the team so that we not only reach our goal this year but to make sure we carry on our progression towards our long-term plan to be competing at a higher level in subsequent years.”

Mercedes

Lewis wins in Budapest with Valtteri in P5

— Lewis claimed his 67th career victory – his fifth in 2018 and sixth at the Hungarian Grand Prix
— Valtteri came home P5 after running P2 much of the race and defending the position strongly
— Lewis (213 points) leads the Drivers’ Championship by 24 points from Sebastian Vettel (189 points) with Valtteri (132 points) in P4
— Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport (345 points) leads Ferrari (335 points) by 10 points in the Constructors’ Championship
— Riccardo Musconi, Senior Race Engineer car #44, accepted the team’s trophy on the podium

Lewis Hamilton

We’ve definitely had ups and downs in this Championship, it’s such a rollercoaster ride – but the team has just remained strong. We’re in a great position right now, but what’s important is that we don’t drop the ball. The last two weekends have been such a blessing with the rain, I’m so grateful. The guys have worked so hard this year, they really deserve a good result. There’s still a lot of work to do because Ferrari are still slightly ahead of us, they had the pace this weekend, especially on this circuit. Today I had them covered, but had they been on pole, we would have struggled. So we’ve got some improvements to make in our overall package to try and close the gap to them, but I’m really happy with the job everyone’s done so far, we just have to keep going. The goal is now to really pull together and become even stronger for the second half. That will be key to add to what we’ve built in this first half of the season. I’m excited about the summer break; I will do different stuff over these two weeks, but I will be training through the whole period of time, trying to improve my physique. Physicality-wise, I’m not struggling out there at all, but there are always areas where you can be better, and I want to make sure I come back with more energy so we can turn up the heat in the second half of the season.

Valtteri Bottas

It’s a shame that I ended up in P5; we wanted more today and it would have been great to go into the summer break with a 1-2 finish. I was trying everything I could but the stint on the Soft tyres was just too long. In theory, a one-stop strategy should have worked but we had to stop earlier than we had planned to cover Kimi who pitted in the lap before me. Until about 15 or 20 laps before the end our plan worked out well, we controlled the pace and there was no threat to my position. But then the rear tyres started to die. Towards the end of the race, I had an incident with Sebastian going into Turn 2 – he was on the outside, I still had my nose inside. He turned in early, there was nowhere to go for me, so we touched and I had damage to my front wing. For me it was a racing incident – and so was the incident with Daniel. Again, I was on the inside, he was on the outside. Half of my front wing was missing at that time, I was locking up, and we touched. Now I’m looking forward to the next weeks, a bit of a break will be good, and then I want to come back stronger.”

Toto Wolff

We came to Hungary with damage limitation as our motto, so it’s pretty good to be leaving after out-scoring our rivals, even if by just a few small points. Lewis drove a faultless race: he made a perfect start, then started building the gap on the UltraSoft tyre. He took that first set longer than we had planned before pitting, then managed the Soft extremely well to the finish. It’s a simple race to summarise but that doesn’t take anything away from the skill it took to deliver such a polished performance. In the other car, Valtteri drove what I think was his best race in his time so far at Mercedes. He held position at the start and then did a perfect job after pitting early until he started to run out of tyres in the final laps. I saw the contacts with Sebastian and Daniel as racing incidents: he was on the dirty inside line in each case and was defending with everything he had left; the trouble was that he didn’t have a lot left at that stage. He raced hard and fifth place is not much of a reward after that drive. Lewis’ win is the perfect way to finish the first part of the season but we know that this one is going down to the wire. The momentum swings one way then the next from weekend to weekend. We need to keep on taking it one race at a time if we want to come out on top.

James Allison

It is tempting to reach for the clichés about a bittersweet afternoon but actually this just feels sweet. After a tough Friday at a track where we have not always prospered in recent years, today’s result is the cherry on yesterday’s cake. We made brilliant starts thanks to great work by the team and both drivers, held position and then began running our race exactly to plan. Both cars performed strongly just when they needed to: Lewis was in control throughout, managing his pace and tyre temperatures with consummate skill; Valtteri did an exceptional job, stopping very early to cover Kimi, and it was hugely disappointing for him that he was not able to bring home the P2 finish that his performance so richly deserved. Notwithstanding that, it was a fantastic win for Lewis and the team, which sends us into the summer break with a lovely feel-good factor.

Ferrari

From second row on the grid to a double podium finish. With Seb second and Kimi third, Scuderia Ferrari probably got the most they could out of a difficult Sunday. However, there has to be a question mark, or maybe regret, about what might have been, but for a moment’s hesitation at the pit stop. Or for that matter, if it hadn’t rained on Saturday afternoon. But the SF71H continues to show it is strong everywhere and Vettel’s overtake on Bottas was the best move of the race.

FILM OF THE RACE.

Kimi started from third on the Ultrasoft tyres and behind him, Seb was the only driver in the top four to opt for Softs, which would offer less performance at the start but would last longer. It was a normal start up to turn 2 when Seb went round the outside of Kimi, from which point on he had to manage his pace.

Raikkonen was the first to pit, coming in on lap 15 for Softs, with Bottas covering the move next time round. After 20 laps, Seb began to step up the pace with the aim of pulling out a big enough lead over Bottas in order to stay ahead after the pit stop. That brought down the gap to Hamilton who pitted on lap 26, fitting the Softs, or the Options if you prefer engineers-speak.

Sebastian continued to gain on Valtteri and therefore stay on track. Kimi was also catching his fellow countryman, having lost a bit of time at the pit stop while tyre debris was cleared out of the brake duct.

After 33 laps, Raikkonen was now in DRS distance of Bottas, but overtaking is not easy here and there are backmarkers to steer clear of and Seb also radioed the pit wall to ask for the blue flags.

On lap 39, the Ferrari mechanics stepped out into the pit lane to fit another set of the yellow banded tyres for Kimi. As planned, Seb went for the Quali tyres, the purple-banded Ultrasofts. But the stop took longer than planned and the SF71H emerged behind Bottas who had significantly upped his pace. The two men duelled on track, while Kimi set a fastest race lap. In fact, now the main concern was not attacking, but not staying too close to the car in front in order to control the brake temperatures.

In the last 20 laps, the number 5 car closed up again before a Virtual Safety Car was needed after Vandoorne stopped on track. As the race resumed, Vettel’s Ultrasofts were still in great condition, but after Monaco, the Hungaroring is the worst track for those who enjoy watching overtaking moves. By now, Kimi had closed right up on these two, which on any other track would have been the prelude to some thrilling action.

Lap 65 and Seb made a bold move down the outside, taking the inside line through turn 2 to go ahead of Bottas, who, in trying to defend his position, hit the Ferrari damaging his front wing, which meant Kimi was able to slip by. The race had turned around but too late to aim for the top position. But nevertheless it was a race in which Ferrari could take pride in its combative nature.

Maurizio Arrivabene

“At a track where overtaking in the race is always difficult, we managed to finish higher up the order than we started, thanks to the efforts of the entire team and a great performance from both drivers. Now we still have one week at work before the summer break, which will allow us to reflect calmly on the races yet to come. There is still a long way to go this season and the important thing is for the team to work in a calm and determined fashion, giving its all during the second half of the season.”

Sebastian Vettel

“Today we were fast in the first stint, but at the end I was a little bit disappointed because I had lost 3 or 4 seconds in the traffic. The pit stop we did was not ideal either, as we lost some time there. Then it was very hard, when I was running close to Valtteri and trying to overtake him. However, at the end I knew I could be faster than him thanks to my tires, which were fresher. However, we tried everything we could and I think second position is the best result we could get today. I think there’s a lot of things we did well and some others not that much, but that’s part of the game. It has been a very hard week for all of us, so I think that having both cars on the podium is a very good result. I am happy to see that the car is fast, it has worked well on every track so far, so I think this is the most important thing. Our car has a big potential, so I feel relaxed, going on holiday, for the races to come.”

Kimi Raikkonen

“The start was ok, I got a tow and I was deciding which side I should go; but then Bottas moved the same side, trying to block me, so I braked earlier and lost the position to Sebastian. After that it was all about trying to get some free air and use the speed I had, giving myself a hard time in trying to to put pressure on the others and not being able to save the tires. The race went by pretty quick, we were pushing through the whole race with decent tires all the time because of the two-strategy stops we had. The fact of not having my drink bottle available was obviously not ideal, but not so much of an issue either. Today we had the speed, but we know that this is a tricky circuit for overtaking. The race was decided yesterday in qualifying, but in the end we managed to get back one place each. Second and third is the maximum we could hope for today; it’s quite an ok result, but it’s not what we want. On the second half of the season we’ll try to turn it around and do a bit better. I know it’s still a long way to go, anything can happen and things can change quickly. We keep pushing, trying to improve on the small details and be consistent, and I’m sure we can get higher podium positions.”