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Hello and welcome to ESPN's live coverage of the Hungarian Grand Prix. ----- 14:02: Rosberg returns to pole position. Moments away from lights out... --- 13:59: Rosberg leads the pack away for the formation lap. Looks like everyone got away pretty quickly. Super-softs for top ten. Kvyat, Perez, Raikkonen, Palmer, Massa, Haryanto and Ericsson on softs. --- 13:57: Ericsson starts from the pit lane, so 20th on the grid will be empty for the start. --- 13:55: Pirelli says: "The risk of rain is 10%. Interestingly, that's exactly the same percentage as was quoted shortly before the monsoon-like deluge yesterday." Pirelli also suggests this is the quickest strategy: Two-stopper: two stints on soft of 29 laps each + one 12-lap stint on supersoft . Second quickest: Three-stopper: three stints on supersoft of 14 laps each + one 28-lap stint on soft. --- 13:53: Massa's car is on the grid but there's still a bit of work going on his steering rack. Claire Williams says earlier it was pulling to the right, and now after the fix on his lap to the grid it was pulling to the left. Frantic work going on, not long until the formation lap. --- 13:52: Curious to see if McLaren can hold on to their positions in the opening stages here. Button yesterday said all the cars they are fighting are behind -- this is a circuit which suits McLaren better than some of the more recent tracks on the calendar. ---
--- 13:48: Anthem over, the drivers head back tot their cars. Just over ten minutes until lights out. --- 13:46: The drivers are at the front of the grid for the Hungarian national anthem. --- 13:44: Confirmation from Williams: Steering rack issue for Massa, team is fixing. --- 13:42: Otherwise, it's another Mercedes lock out on the front row. Curious to see the run down to Turn 1 with Rosberg and Hamilton, considering those two Red Bulls are looming large in their mirrors. Could we have a repeat of last year? On that occasion the Ferraris jumped both Mercedes drivers, who were first and second, into Turns 1 and 2. --- 13:38: Problems at Williams? Lots of work going on Massa's Williams, where they appear to be working on the steering. They've got just over 20 minutes to get that sorted. --- 13:35: So, the grid is unchanged from yesterday. Why do I say that? Late in the evening Rosberg was briefly investigating for not slowing under yellows, which quickly resulted in no action for the championship leader. We then had more confusion as it turned out 11 drivers had not been within the 107% rule in Q1, a rain-soaked session which saw four red flags throughout. In the end common sense prevailed and the grid stayed unchanged but it made for an interesting -- if not slightly frustrating -- end to the evening. --- 13:30: The pit lane is open and that's the signal for the team's to start heading out on the circuit. Some will do a couple of cautious installation laps, some will head straight to the grid. All of them doing some practice starts at the end of the pit lane. |
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Lap 1 |
Great start from Hamilton and he jumps Rosberg on the inside at Turn 1! Rosberg nearly gets swallowed up into that corner by the two Red Bulls but does fantastically well to get ahead of Ricciardo at Turn 3. At one moment it looked like he would drop to fourth... |
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Lap 2 |
Hamilton already a second clear of Rosberg. Ricciardo has kept himself ahead of Verstappen and Vettel, who is prowling closely. Haven't seen a replay yet but Hamilton absolutely flew off the line. Raikkonen hasn't been able to gain from 14th. Not many significant gainers or losers that I can see. |
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Lap 3 |
Fastest lap from Hamilton, a 1:27.132, and the lead is nearly 1.5s. Alonso has got past Sainz for sixth position. DRS is now enabled. Replays of the start show Hamilton-Rosberg-Ricciardo going three-wide through Turn 1. Ricciardo looked set to take the lead around the outside but Hamilton planted his car into the middle of the road and had better drive away. |
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Lap 4 |
On-board from Rosberg shows him being squeezed on either side. Powerless to do anything in Turn 1 but did a great job around the outside of Turn 3 to take back second position. Another fastest lap, a 1:26.700, for Hamilton. |
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Lap 5 |
Bottas opens up DRS to pass Button for eighth and it looks like the McLaren driver has a problem as he is passed by car after car. He tells McLaren his pedal is going straight to the floor, a big issue for the 2006 and 2011 Hungary winner. He's coasting around the circuit and has dropped to last. "So game over," he tells McLaren. Such a shame. |
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Lap 6 |
Rosberg reduces the gap with a fastest lap of his own, a 1:26.422, to shave two tenths off Hamilton's lead. Ricciardo keeping Rosberg just in his sights, and he's got the blue and yellow Red Bull of teammate Verstappen right out. Button told to stay out. He laughs, and says: "Oh, fantastic, race from hell this is going to be!" |
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Lap 7 |
Hamilton and Rosberg's last laps separated by just 0.003s. Raikkonen starting to move a bit on the soft tyre, he's up to 11th position and sizing up former Lotus teammate Grosjean. |
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Lap 8 |
"I'm driving like a grandma," Verstappen says, cooped up behind Ricciardo. Button pits -- presumably so his team can tell him how to fix that issue. |
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Lap 9 |
Another fastest lap from Hamilton, a 1:26.345, and he's 1.7s up on Rosberg. |
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Lap 10 |
Rosberg responds with one of his own, a 1:26.049. Drive-through penalty for Button for unauthorised radio communications. McLaren says there was no radio communication when he came down the pit lane.... Odd. |
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Lap 11 |
The Mercedes drivers are just exchanging fastest laps at the moment, Hamilton now crossing in a 1:25.674. Button comes through the pit lane again for his drive-through penalty. If he was dead last before, he's now dead, dead last. |
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Lap 12 |
Hamilton flying and now leads by 2.2s after another fastest lap, a 1:25.624. Rosberg has pulled a gap of three seconds to Ricciardo. Unfortunately, this race needed one of those Red Bulls to get in front of at least one Mercedes driver... |
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Lap 13 |
Hamilton in a league of his own -- a 1:25.618 is now the fastest lap. All looking very nice for the world champion at the moment. Hamilton already approaching Button to lap... |
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Lap 14 |
Salman says: Drive through penalty for Button for unauthorized radio communication. What in the world was he suppose to do if not asking his team ? Hop out of the car, fetch a wrench from the marshals and start fixing the car himself ?" Grosjean is staring in both his mirrors as he approaches Turn 1 with Raikkonen's Ferrari baring down on him. The Finn doesn't get close enough for a pass but he's got DRS, so expect another attempt next time around. Radio message from Button: "So the brake pedal going to the floor isn't considered a safety issue? Interesting to know." He's got a point -- this radio farce continues. |
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Lap 15 |
Vettel pits and emerges just ahead of teammate Raikkonen. The Finn has got himself past Grosjean but now he's going to have to get Vettel to push if he wants to get the best out of his own longer soft tyre stint. |
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Lap 16 |
Ricciardo pits from third position. Alonso pits too. Ricciardo doesn't get out ahead of Bottas... That's not good if he needs a good out-lap to stop Verstappen undercutting him. However, he's kept himself ahead of Vettel, crucially. Ricciardo looks at passing Bottas coming up to the chicane but can't get past! This holds him up and now Verstappen pits. |
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Lap 17 |
Race leader Hamilton pits for soft tyres, as does Verstappen. Where will he feed out? Verstappen comes out behind Ricciardo, Vettel and even Raikkonen! He's having a go around the outside of Raikkonen at Turn 3 but great defensive move from the Ferrari driver to keep the charging teenager at bay. Nice to see some on-track fighting in the last few laps. |
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Lap 18 |
Rosberg pits from second position, soft tyres for him as well. He will slot back into second position but looks a bit closer to his teammate than he was before. Sounds like it was a slow pit stop for Verstappen, might have been very costly. Verstappen closing up on Raikkonen, who is yet to pit. Fastest lap from Ricciardo, a 1:25.433. |
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Lap 19 |
Raikkonen doing a very good job for Ferrari here, every lap he keeps Verstappen at bay will be excellent for Vettel. Verstappen goes deep into Turn 3 again but brakes early and tries to pass the Finn on the inside, but again Raikkonen defends well with a stern move to the inside. |
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Lap 20 |
Mercedes' soft tyre times not as good as the Red Bulls and Ferraris yet but may well be some management going on, especially from Hamilton. "Struggling for pace," Hamilton says. Rosberg within a second. Maybe I'm wrong! |
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Lap 21 |
Rosberg was just outside the one-second mark when he came through the "detection zone" so gets no DRS. He's on the verge of it though. Ricciardo is catching these two men now. Ain't over yet. Red Bull tells Ricciardo he's lapping quicker than both Mercedes drivers. |
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Lap 22 |
Ricciardo eight tenths quicker than the Mercedes drivers that last lap. Rosberg just inside DRS range as he comes through the first sector but can he stay there for when it matters? Looks like Verstappen has eased off Raikkonen somewhat, waiting for the Ferrari to pit perhaps. |
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Lap 23 |
Hamilton once again doing enough to stay out of DRS range through the final sector. Rosberg a second behind. |
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Lap 24 |
Hamilton just starting to up the pace a bit, pulling a tenth out on Rosberg. He seems to lose time through the first sector and then gain it back through sectors two and three. Should point out Palmer and Magnussen currently eighth and ninth but, like Raikkonen, are both yet to pit. Magnussen started to on the super-soft... Replays show Vettel running wide at Turn 11, that's his second infringement -- so he's one away from an official warning. |
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Lap 25 |
Ricciardo's rate of gaining on the Mercedes has dropped somewhat, but he was stil three tenths quicker than both on that last lap. There's a long train behind Massa, in 12th,. "We just need to pick the pace up a bit," Peter Bonnington tells Hamilton. "I'm working on it," is the reply. |
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Lap 26 |
Vettel does a personal best lap, a 1:25.761. He's looking pacey. Rosberg has dropped to 1.8s behind Hamilton. Massa finally releases Hulkenberg and the rest of the train as he makes his first pit stop. Medium compound for the Brazilian. |
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Lap 27 |
Verstappen so close to the back of Raikkonen but not close enough to try anything into Turn 1. The pace of the four leaders almost identical now. All within a tenth of each other. |
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Lap 28 |
"Pace is still good Kimi, just hang on in there," Ferrari tells Raikkonen, suggesting he's moving on to a one-stop strategy too. |
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Lap 29 |
Five-second penalty for Kvyat after speeding in the pit lane. Button has moved ahead of Ericsson, so he's no longer in last position. Teammate Alonso running strongly in seventh. |
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Lap 30 |
Raikkonen finally releases Verstappen by pitting for super-softs, so not a one-stopper as I predicted. He emerges behind Alonso. Should clarify too, Vettel has exceeded track limits once, not twice. Verstappen is now in some free air but he's a long, long way back. |
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Lap 31 |
Hamilton looking more comfortable in his lead. Possible Rosberg is having to hang back a bit to look after his own tyres -- never healthy to spend a lot of laps in dirty air. Raikkonen and Alonso dicing for sixth position and Raikkonen, on the outside, brakes earlier and undercuts Alonso with better drive out of the corner. Lovely stuff. |
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Lap 32 |
Fastest lap from Raikkonen, on that super-soft tyre. A 1:24.254. He's running sixth. |
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Lap 33 |
Verstappen 12 seconds behind his teammate. Pete Bonnington telling Hamilton to speed up. He's telling the leader there's a risk of Ricciardo getting on the back of the train of traffic they are currently navigating through, and says if that happens they'll have to pit Rosberg first. Hamilton says; "It's not like I'm driving slow, I'm driving as fast as I can with these tyres". |
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Lap 34 |
Well then - Red Bull take the initiative and bring Ricciardo in to pit. Over to you, Mercedes. |
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Lap 35 |
Hamilton now leads by 2.5s. Both Mercedes drivers stay out. That was a personal best lap from Hamilton, nearly a full second quicker from Rosberg. Replays show Massa locking up at Turn 12 to avoid a Manor and losing a position to Ericsson for good measure. |
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Lap 36 |
Personal best laps from both Mercedes drivers as Ricciardo puts in a purple middle sector... Surely time for Mercedes to stop its drivers. Vettel six seconds behind Rosberg. Ricciardo's lap half a second quicker than the Mercedes drivers. |
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Lap 37 |
Rosberg in very dangerous territory if he wants to jump Ricciardo at the next pit stop. Ricciardo's last lap is slower than both Mercedes drivers, however, losing the half second he gained on the last lap due to some traffic. "Come on, blue flag! F---ing hell, that's ridiculous," Vettel complains about Massa. |
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Lap 38 |
Mercedes keeps both drivers out again and Ricciardo's lap times appear to have dropped off slightly, which might be why. The gamble starting to look less good for Red Bull. Verstappen gets a warning about going off the track at Turn 11. |
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Lap 39 |
Verstappen pits. Personal bests for both Mercedes drivers. Hamilton 2.2s ahead of Rosberg, who has 23 seconds on Ricciardo. A pit stop, from entry to exit, takes about 22 seconds here... |
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Lap 40 |
Palmer gaining on Hulkenberg in the battle for 11th. Palmer has the benefit of some fresher super-soft tyres, just 12 laps old. He'll likely have to stop again but a nice punchy drive from the Renault driver. He then follows Hulkenberg into the pits. Renault do a quicker job and they get Palmer out just in front of Hulkenberg! Looks like a slightly slower stop for Hulkenberg, problems on the right rear tyre and it cost him a position. |
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Lap 41 |
Hamilton pits from the lead. A solid 2.7s stop. Vettel also pits for soft tyres. Rosberg was about two seconds behind Hamilton when his teammate made that stop. Vettel emerges behind Raikkonen but just ahead of Bottas, who he holds off as the pair go through Turn 1. |
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Lap 42 |
Rosberg pits from the lead... Purple middle sector from Hamilton.. Slower stop for Rosberg and Hamilton gets out way ahead, and in the end it's a comfortable second for Rosberg with Ricciardo a couple of seconds down the road. But he's emerged behind a Sauber. |
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Lap 43 |
Very sloppy looking pit stop for Perez, looked like Force India just weren't ready for him as he came in. He's down in 14th. |
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Lap 44 |
Worth noting Raikkonen needs to pit again, so he's not in a fight with Ricciardo. He's got some very good pace out there, though. |
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Lap 45 |
Perez's Force India wobbles as he brakes for Turn 1 just behind Gutierrez. This a battle for 13th position. |
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Lap 46 |
Another slip and slide for Perez at Turn 1. "So what's happened there guys? Why were you not ready?" comes a delayed radio message from Perez. That will be interesting post race, he's driving like a frustrated man. |
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Lap 47 |
Rosberg chipping away at Hamilton's lead again, three tenths on that last lap. |
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Lap 48 |
Rosberg 1.7s behind Hamilton. "Blue flag, I mean come on! Seriously!" complains Vettel. Palmer elevated to tenth as Kvyat pits, the Toro Rosso driver serving his five-second penalty for that earlier speeding infringement. |
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Lap 49 |
Palmer spins at Turn 4! Disaster for the Renault driver after what had looked like a very promising position. Replays show he's just lost the rear end at the top of the hill. That might have thrown away what looked like his first F1 points -- he's dropped to 13th. |
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Lap 50 |
Hamilton's lead climbs back to 2.3s. The lead is going up and down as the pair navigate traffic. Verstappen on his second warning of three. "I know, I went wide and lost a lot of time!" the teenager complains. |
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Lap 51 |
Raikkonen finally pits from fourth position for another set of super-soft tyres. He's had a good race today, has the Kimster. He's come out in sixth -- time to chase down Verstappen. |
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Lap 52 |
Immediate purple final sector from Raikkonen on those super-soft tyres. Just imagine where he could be in this race had Ferrari not messed up Q2 yesterday. He's already behind Verstappen... |
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Lap 53 |
Rosberg now right behind Hamilton after the race leader spends about four corners behind the Haas of Gutierrez! This one isn't over yet. Replays show him gesticulating at the Mexican when he passes him coming down the main straight. Fastest lap from |
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Lap 54 |
Alonso has been given his third track limits warning. "We are at two?" "That was three. That was three." Hamilton takes himself out of DRS in the final sector but Rosberg is still pushing. |
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Lap 55 |
Rosberg just doesn't seem to have the pace through the final sector to stay within a second for the DRS zone. If he got inside it and had it down the main straight it could be very interesting. Rakkonen closing on Verstappen. He's going to have DRS next time around. Gutierrez under investigation for ignoring blue flags on Hamilton earlier. |
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Lap 56 |
Rosberg has dropped right off the pace, he's now 2.6s off Hamilton after losing a bit of time on that last lap. Saving himself for a final push at the end? Or is Hamilton just pushing when he needs to? Raikkonen and Verstappen now having the opposite fight to earlier, with Verstappen now defending on the inside of Turn 3 as Raikkonen attempts an undercut. The Red Bull driver does well to defend. Five-second penalty for Gutierrez after ignoring those blue flags. |
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Lap 57 |
Raikkonen opens DRS, looked like he thought about it but he opts against a lunge into Turn 1. Raikkonen switches one way and then the other and he clips the back of Verstappen's car! Some carbon fibre has come off the Finn's car and that was clumsy. |
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Lap 58 |
"He move right and then he moved left!" complains Raikkonen, with a few swearwords for good measure. Doesn't look like it's affected his pace too much. |
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Lap 59 |
Hamilton completes lap 59, 2.3s ahead of Rosberg. Raikkonen right behind Verstappen again coming through the final corner but seems he has a snap of understeer through there and isn't quite close enough... but Verstappen runs deep into Turn 1. Raikkonen has a look coming into Turn 3 but looks like he loses a bit of grip on the outside. |
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Lap 60 |
Raikkonen gains again with the DRS but looks to prefer Turn 2, but both men seem wary of the traffic arriving further up the track. Could help one of them... |
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Lap 61 |
Raikkonen still not close enough to pass Verstappen. "Kimi is going out of the track limits," complains Verstappen, but clearly not on Turn 4 or Turn 11. |
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Lap 62 |
Raikkonen looks down the inside of the second corner and Verstappen locks up but the Ferrari driver can't make it stick. This is a great battle between these two. Button calls himself into to the pits and sounds like he's going to retire the car. The first retiree of this race. |
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Lap 63 |
Rosberg is back to within 0.5s behind Hamilton... but the world champion gains a handful of tenths back through the next sector. Raikkonen getting so close to hitting Verstappen again. |
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Lap 64 |
Replays show Hamilton locking up through the final sector, but that must have been on the previous lap as he's gained half a second again. Raikkonen right behind Verstappen again but again can't do it. Raikkonen's car looking twitchy through that second corner. |
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Lap 65 |
Hamilton's lead out in front has stabalised back to 1.3s. Alonso starting to drop Sainz -- good drive from the McLaren man this afternoon. In all of the distraction about Hamilton/Rosberg and Verstappen/Raikkonen, Vettel has moved to within a second of Ricciardo in the fight for third. |
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Lap 66 |
Aerial shots of Rosberg trailing Hamilton. If it stays like this, Hamilton will lead the championship for the first time in 2016. Five laps remaining though. |
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Lap 67 |
Replays showing Raikkonen sliding wide of the circuit at Turn 11. Raikkonen brakes slightly later coming into Turn 1 but he's still not close enough to make a pass. Shades of the closing laps of Spain... Verstappen emerged victorious on that occasion. |
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Lap 68 |
Raikkonen goes onto the inside this time, Verstappen covers and it looks like the Red Bull made a double move again. Raikkonen bails out around the outside and does well not to lose another bit of front wing. Replays show it wasn't a double move from Verstappen, looks like Kimi just made a mistake with the brakes. |
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Lap 69 |
Vettel right on the gearbox of Ricciardo's Red Bull in the battle for third. Hamilton leads Rosberg by 1.2s as he starts the penultimate lap. |
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Lap 70 |
Hamilton begins his final lap. Both Red Bull drivers have held off their respective Ferrari's at Turn 1. There is is - a record fifth victory as Lewis Hamilton wins the Hungarian Grand Prix! Rosberg second, Ricciardo clings on to third ahead of the charging Vettel. Verstappen holds fifth ahead of the angry Raikkonen. Alonso in an impressive seventh, Sainz eighth, Bottas ninth, with Hulkenberg rounding off the top ten. |
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Quite a muted response from Hamilton before the podium, it seemed. Will be interesting to see what both men say about Hamilton's speed out there - whether Rosberg's thinks he was backing him up like in China last year. |
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