Vettel wins thrilling Hungarian Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel led nearly every lap at the Hungaroring en route to winning one of the most exciting races of the year.

Vettel shot past both Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to grab the lead entering Turn 1 with teammate Kimi Raikkonen following the German to make it a Ferrari 1-2 that remained that way for over half the race.

Hamilton went off-track on the opening lap in order to avoid the backside of Rosberg, but a collision with Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo later in the race cost the Brit a new front wing and a drive-through penalty.

In the closing laps Rosberg also had a run-in with Ricciardo while battling for second. The Aussie made a desperation dive entering Turn 1, the two collided as Ricciardo’s front wing punctured the left rear of Rosberg, costing the German a chance at the podium.

Ricciardo was forced to pit for a new front wing, but drove back up to third to grab the last spot on the podium.

For Ricciaro’s teammate, Daniil Kvyat, the Russian endured a 10s penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage from an earlier restart and drove his way up to second, his first podium finish.

The restart was needed following front wing failure for Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, ending his race and littering the track with debris before the safety car was deployed.

17-year-old Max Verstappen persevered from an earlier collision with Valtteri Bottas to grab to career-best of fourth.

Fernando Alonso gave McLaren its best weekend of the year.

A day removed from pushing his Honda-powered machine to the pits, the Spaniard drove all the way up to fifth while teammate Jenson Button secured ninth.

Romain Grosjean was sandwiched by the Mercedes duo, finishing seventh with Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson grabbing the final points-paying position in 10th.

While Vettel grabbed his first win at the Hungaroring, Raikkonen managed to hit disaster once again.

A weekend mired by front wing problems and a water leak, was only made worse when while running in second the Finn’s MGU-K failed, ending his day.

In midst of the celebration, Vettel dedicated the win to the late Jules Bianchi.

Image: Red Bull Content Pool