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Hello and welcome to ESPN's live coverage of the Hungarian Grand Prix from the Hungaroring in Budapest. --- 14:03: Well then, aborted start. Hamilton leads the pack away for a second formation lap. No cars have stopped out there, so it doesn't appear to be an issue with any of the cars. That now shortens the race by one lap. --- 13:59: Hamilton leads the pack off on the formation lap. Everyone gets away cleanly. --- 13:58: Rosberg staring intently down towards Turn 1. He said yesterday he hoped his car, which he struggled with in qualifying, was more tuned in for the race. Getting ahead of Hamilton into Turn 1 could be a gamechanger. --- 13:56: There a few drops of rain as the cars arrived on the grid but the chance of rain this afternoon is just 10%. Track temperature is 41 degrees, air is 22 degrees. Cooler than we've seen earlier in the weekend. --- 13:55: The grid starts to clear slowly. Quite a striking change of atmosphere on the grid - from sombre and reflective to focused on the race ahead. ---
13:50: The Hungarian national anthem is one I have to admit I'm not familiar with, but it fit the sombre atmosphere perfectly there. A beautifully orchestrated tribute all round. --- 13:49: A moving tribute to Bianchi by the entire grid. Jules' helmet the last one left on the track, standing alone for a short moment. The drivers now need to banish those thoughts to the back of their minds - the grand prix gets under way in just over ten minutes. --- 13:45: The drivers form a circle, each placing their helmets in the middle, for the minute's silence. That is followed by the Hungarian national anthem. --- 13:44: Bianchi's family is at the front of the grid. Massa gives Philippe Bianchi a warm hug. Tough for these men to do this and then go straight into racing. --- 13:42: The drivers make their way to the front of the grid for the tributes and national anthem. --- 13:39: There's a band preparing themselves at the front of the grid. Before the national anthem, we will have a moment of silence for the late Jules Bianchi. --- 13:34: Last year's race had a bit of everything. Rain before the race, forcing a start on wet tyres, a few safety cars, Nico Rosberg's race falling apart because one was deployed just after he passed the pit lane. There was then team order controversy between Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, who refused to let his team-mate through. While all that was going on, Daniel Ricciardo took the race by the scruff of the neck, passing Hamilton and Fernando Alonso brilliantly for the second win of his career. --- 13:32: The pit lane is open and the cars are making their way to the paddock. This was the race of the season in 2014 - are we in for a repeat this afternoon? |
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Lap 1 |
As this is technically lap one, this will go here. It seems the culprit was Massa for being out of position on the grid. He's under investigation for that. |
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Lap 2 |
Second time's the charm as lights go out .... Great start from Vettel and he's in the lead coming out of Turn 1! Hamilton down to fourth as Raikkonen takes Rosberg for P2! Ferrari one-two in Hungary after three corners Hamilton across the gravel at the chicane and he's flat-spotted a tyre! What drama for the world champion. He's out of the points after starting in pole position. He was trying to get past Rosberg on the outside. |
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Lap 3 |
"Nico crossed over my line there, pushed me wide!" complains Hamilton. This is where their rivalry heated up last year again... Ricciardo has had another terrible start and has dropped to seventh. Kvyat has jumped ahead of his team-mate. Stones all over the track on the exit of the chicane from Hamilton's off. Thrilling start in Budapest. Fastest lap from Vettel, a 1:28.820. He's 1.5s up on Raikkonen. Hamilton down in tenth after that start. |
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Lap 4 |
Another fastest lap from Vettel in clear air out in front, a 1:28.664. Raikkonen already two seconds ahead of Rosberg. Kimi deserves plaudits for his start as well, he absolutely flew off the line and gained three places. Five-second time penalty for Massa after his pre-start error. Replays of the start again show the cars four-wide coming into Turn 1. Rosberg got the inside line on Hamilton, before Raikkonen then got the inside line at Turn 2 to get Rosberg. Hamilton and Vettel where literally wheel-to-wheel there. Great stuff. Both Mercedes drivers ran wide at Turn 2. Great shots of the Ferrari boys celebrating as Vettel took the lead. |
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Lap 5 |
Replay off Hamilton's off and there's no foul from Rosberg there whatsoever - Hamilton just got too close and had to bin it across the chicane. |
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Lap 6 |
Hamilton tells Mercedes Rosberg made two moves - which are banned in the regulations. Ricciardo asked if he's being held up by Kvyat. Red Bull then gives Kvyat a nod not to hold him up, but the Russian says he's also being held up by Hulkenberg. |
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Lap 7 |
Vettel in 2013 mode as he pumps out another fastest lap, 1:27.976. Hamilton still unable to shift the Wiliams of Felipe Massa. He's already 20 seconds behind the leaders. Merhi pits from the back of the field. |
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Lap 8 |
Michael Schumacher the last Ferrari driver to win in Hungary, in 2004. They should seriously fancy their chances of ending that drought this afternoon with the way things currently stand. |
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Lap 9 |
Ricciardo has passed Kvyat, with his team-mate offering little resistance coming through Turn 4. It seems Hamilton is being closed in on by the Toro Rossos rather than reeling in Massa now. His tyres will have suffered big time from being behind Massa for so long. Front brake issues being reported to Mercedes from Hamilton. |
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Lap 10 |
Great move from Ricciardo as he dives down the inside of Hulkenberg for fifth - even better move further back as the world champion drives around the outside of Massa at Turn 1. Wonderful stuff from the world champion - looks like their rear wheels touched ever so slightly as Hamilton completed the move. |
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Lap 11 |
Perez is the next man up the road for Hamilton. Rosberg getting a bit tetchy on the radio, "Don't tell me again, don't tell me again," as Mercedes gives him strategic advice. |
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Lap 12 |
Rosberg seven seconds down on Vettel. |
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Lap 13 |
"I'm really getting held up now!" complains Verstappen. He's stuck behind team-mate Sainz. Meanwhile, Hamilton eases past Perez down the inside of Turn 1. He's up into eighth position, next man is Kvyat. but he's already 30 seconds behind Vettel and 23 behind Rosberg. |
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Lap 14 |
A robot sounding Kvyat complains about the vibrations of his tyres. Bottas pits, so does Kvyat, and that moves Hamilton up into sixth. He's just done his personal best lap of the day. Bottas back out on the soft tyre - Pirelli said the optimum strategy here is soft-soft-medium. Bottas has emerged behind Maldonado and that's a bit of a disaster. |
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Lap 15 |
Raikkonen does his best lap of the day so far, a 1:28.054. He's six seconds ahead of Rosberg, who is a second a lap slower currently. Massa serves his five-second penalty at his first pit stop and emerges behind Grosjean. Both Williams drivers stuck behind a Lotus! Rosberg being told he needs to go longer as currently there's no clear window for him to pit. This one is just falling away from the world champions. "You're very quiet Bono!" Hamilton says. His engineer tells him to keep pushing and that he's doing a good job. Hamilton has moved up to fifth as Hulkenberg pits. Another stellar job from the Le Mans winner, too. |
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Lap 16 |
Another fastest lap from Vettel, a 1:27.913. Raikkonen crosses two seconds slower. Hamilton lapping at the same rate as Raikkonen currently - Rosberg appears to be struggling with his pace. "Tyres are in good shape, option looking good," Vettel is told. Perez pits from sixth position. |
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Lap 17 |
Fastest lap from Hamilton - a 1:27.695. He's enjoying having some clear track out in front of him as he tries to fix his disastrous start. |
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Lap 18 |
No sign of a Ferrari pit stop yet. No spectacular pace from those on new soft tyres, meaning Ferrari won't feel the need to make a quick pit call just yet. Twenty seconds between Rosberg and Hamilton. Stones still scattered across the track on the exit of the chicane. |
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Lap 19 |
"I lost some parts, maybe on the front wing. It just came off," complains Raikkonen. Looks like a replacement front wing is being prepared at Ferrari - they're still putting his number seven on it, suggesting they only have one spare. Raikkonen had an issue in free practice with his front wing and there's more trouble for the Finn now. Perez and Maldonado clash at Turn 1 and the Force India man spins across the asphalt. He keeps the engine running and gets going again but he's dropped a few positions. Replays show Maldonado's front left clipping Perez's right rear. |
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Lap 20 |
Hamilton pits and gets out ahead of Bottas, squeezing the Williams driver across the kerb. Very tight but incredibly important for Hamilton as he reclaims fifth position with some aggressive driving. Rosberg set to pit this lap as well. |
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Lap 21 |
Rosberg pits. Mercedes hoping to do the under cut on Raikkonen. Rosberg comes out with medium tyres on - giving the German the chance to go aggressive in their final stint. Another replay shows Perez is in front of Maldonado before they make contact. By my reckoning, that's Maldonado at fault more than Perez. |
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Lap 22 |
Our race leader Vettel pits. Ferrari leaving Kimi out. Lovely pit stop from Ferrari - 3.2 seconds. Raikkonen leads the grand prix. Ricciardo pits for medium compounds. Stewards are investigating that Perez/Maldonado incident. Ricciardo emerges just ahead of Hamilton, who has just set a fastest lap -1:27.013 - on his new soft tyres. Once he's got past Ricciardo the next man? Rosberg, on mediums. Should get a bit tasty. |
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Lap 23 |
Good stop from Raikkonen - 3.2s once again but Raikkonen a bit sluggish getting out of the box. That puts Vettel back into the lead. Hamilton has cut the gap to Ricciardo and is now looking at the Red Bull's gearbox. |
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Lap 24 |
Vettel sets a fastest lap - a 1:26.887. Five-second time penalty for Grosjean following an unsafe release. Hamilton can't get close enough into Turn 1 as Red Bull reminds Ricciardo he might start struggling with his tyres soon if he can't get by. Drive-through penalty for Maldonado for causing a collision, with that incident with Perez. The replays showed he made little attempt to steer away from Perez. Hamilton runs wide and loses a bit of time to Ricciardo. Rosberg and Ricciardo's lap comparisons are interesting reading - Ricciardo has more pace than Mercedes on the medium tyres currently. |
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Lap 25 |
Seeing replays of Grosjean's unsafe release, a pretty open-shut case - he was released right into the path of Massa's Williams. |
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Lap 26 |
Rosberg now 15 seconds behind Vettel's Ferrari, nine seconds behind Raikkonen. Ferrari looking very comfortable. |
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Lap 27 |
Hamilton has a tentative look down the inside of Turn 1 but is nowhere near close enough to Ricciardo to even attempt a move. |
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Lap 28 |
A win here will put Vettel level with Ayrton Senna's 41 victories, I've just realised. After dropping back for a few laps Hamilton has renewed his challenge to Ricciardo. Looks like he's getting a bit more from his tyres. |
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Lap 29 |
"I'm so close can I have one more lap, or not?" he asks. Mercedes give him the clear to try and pass Ricciardo. He opens the DRS down the pit straight and makes light work of the Red Bull around the outside of Turn 1. That lap Hamilton was asking for would be the overtaking mode on his engine. Ricciardo came sliding through the final corner, too, explaining why Hamilton was actually able to ease past him as he did. Good calm driving from Hamilton and now Rosberg is the next man up the road - albeit with a cushion of some 15 seconds. |
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Lap 30 |
There's a juicy battle forming between McLaren and Toro Rosso. Between ninth and 12th it goes Verstappen, Alonso, Sainz and Button. Alonso currently trying to reel in Verstappen, while Button has just set his best lap of the day. |
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Lap 31 |
Don't write Rosberg off just yet - he's going to have the soft tyres on the final stint. But, crucially, Ferrari have them on in this session and will try to stretch this stint out as long as possible. Ricciardo will also be very punchy, having saved a set of soft tyres in qualifying. This one is far from decided just yet. |
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Lap 32 |
Hamilton chipping away at the gap to Rosberg, which is now 12s. If you had told anyone Ferrari would be leading one-two as we approached mid-distance on Friday you would have been laughed at. |
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Lap 33 |
One man having a terrible race is Massa - he's 17th. Hamilton is absolutely flying and is currently 1.5s quicker than the medium-tyred Rosberg. The gap now drops to 11 seconds. |
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Lap 34 |
Another fastest lap from Hamilton and the gap to Rosberg now under 10 seconds. He's lapping one second quicker than Vettel at the moment too - his last effort a 1:26.801. |
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Lap 35 |
Kvyat pits from ninth. Ricciardo currently lapping quicker than Rosberg - they're both on the medium tyre. He must be wondering what he could have done were it not for his slow getaway because he would have been in the mix. |
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Lap 36 |
Rosberg told Hamilton is switching to the prime tyre at the next stint and, bizarrely, asks to do the same at his next stop even though he's already using prime tyres. "The pit wall are not inclined to do that," comes the reply. At this rate, Mercedes are going to need to ask Rosberg to let Hamilton past. Deja vu? Rosberg being told to find more pace on the prime. |
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Lap 37 |
Hamilton can now see Rosberg up the road - seven seconds now the gap. Rosberg just not able to find the pace and Mercedes keep asking him too. Not a happy weekend for the German but he'll surely feel a bit better about it if he manages to finish ahead of Hamilton. |
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Lap 38 |
Meanwhile, Vettel is in cruise mode out in front - he leads by eight seconds to Raikkonen and 23 seconds to Rosberg. It's all fallen perfectly into place for the four-time world champion. Alonso pits with a right rear puncture and that won't help his chances of scoring points this afternoon, though Sainz pitted at the same time. Rosberg has hit a lot of traffic on this lap, which Hamilton will also have to navigate himself through. It cost Rosberg two seconds. |
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Lap 39 |
Replays show Hamilton passing two backmarkers on the middle of the track. He's wasting absolutely no time in this chase. The gap to Rosberg now five seconds. |
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Lap 40 |
Bottas pits and emerges just ahead of Hulkenberg for sixth. Raikkonen laps Alonso and there may have been a smile on the Finn's face as he did that. Rosberg responds to the recent pressure with a personal best lap of 1:27.883. |
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Lap 41 |
Everyone from Verstappen down has been lapped by Vettel. |
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Lap 42 |
Hamilton's charge has stalled slightly as he hits that traffic. "I think I have some odd sound in the car, I'm losing power," Raikkonen reports. That's a bit of a disaster for Ferrari if true. Raikkonen has certainly dropped off the pace and is now unlapped by Alonso. Ferrari tells him it's an issue with his MGU-K - the same thing McLaren has been struggling with so far. This isn't good for Raikkonen's chances of a podium. Meanwhile, Rosberg has pulled the gap to Hamilton back up to seven seconds. |
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Lap 43 |
Big crash at Turn 1! Hulkenberg has no front wing and crashes head on into the tyre barrier. He gives the thumbs up to the marshal and climbs out of the car, Virtual Safety Car deployed. Rosberg and Hamilton pit for effectively a free pit stop. Rosberg, interestingly, stays on the prime tyre. The Mercedes drivers on the same rubber now. Hulkenberg's car being hoisted away by the crane. |
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Lap 44 |
Vettel pits after one lap under the VSC, which could have cost him and Raikkonen valuable time.
Replays show Hulkenberg's wing just shattering and falling underneath his Force India as he approached Turn 1. He only narrowly missed the back of Bottas' Williams as well. |
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Lap 45 |
"Something broke on the front," says an understated Hulkenberg. "Understood. Are you OK?" "Yeah, I'm fine." Love some of these radio messages. The Safety Car has now picked up race leader Vettel. It will have to go through the pit lane due to the amount of debris on the track. |
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Lap 46 |
Out of the top five, Ricciardo the only man on soft tyres. Fresh ones, too. He will be incredibly handy in this final stint. Raikkonen told he doesn't have MGU-K, which will cost him a lot of performance every lap as it accounts for such a big boost. |
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Lap 47 |
Perez dives into Force India's box for a new front wing and nose cone. Clearly some lingering concerns at Force India with their upgraded B-Spec. "Nico, we have a chance to win this," Tony Ross tells Rosberg. He explains about Raikkonen's power unit issue and Ferrari's warm-up issues. |
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Lap 48 |
Peter Bonnington much more concise to Hamilton: "We are racing for the win mate." Safety car in this lap. |
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Lap 49 |
Hamilton having to fend off Rosberg into Turn 1 and the Red Bull is forced wide at the first corner! They make contact and this is a disaster again for the world champion. Rosberg passed Raikkonen into Turn 1. Hamilton going backwards as the soft tyre runners fly past him! Contact with Ricciardo costing him dearly. Hamilton finally gets a reprieve as Bottas gets a right rear puncture. Thrilling stuff! Replays show just how much more grip Ricciardo had coming into Turn 1 and Hamilton just thumped into his sidepod as he understeered through the corner. The world champion could have been a bit more conservative there, perhaps. |
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Lap 50 |
Bottas got his puncture from the front wing of Verstappen's Toro Rosso. Vettel now has Rosberg for company. Ricciardo is right behind Raikkonen and he has very visible damage to his sidepod but, crucially, he's on the quicker tyre. |
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Lap 51 |
Ricciardo passes Raikkonen and is up to third! The race is finally going the way of last year's winner and the next man out of the track is Rosberg but how much downforce will he have lost from that damage? "There's nothing that I can do on the straight," says Kimi. "Understood Kimi. I'm sorry, I'm sorry," comes the reply. Hamilton has absolutely no pace on those tyres and Mercedes out in the garage and that could cost him a points finish. Rosberg sets a personal best as Hamilton pits from sixth! |
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Lap 52 |
Ricciardo the fastest man on track currently. He's 3.4s behind Rosberg, who has 1.4s to race leader Vettel. Alonso emerges from his pit stop behind Sainz and the two vie for position through Turn 1. Good driving from Sainz as he holds firm through the corner. Ricciardo and Hamilton under investigation for that moment of contact. As things stand, Rosberg will lead the championship going into the summer break. Raikkonen pits and he turns the engine off, despite the crew doing a practice stop with the tyres. Sad end to a great race from Raikkonen. Raikkonen's car gets reset and Ferrari send him on his way. |
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Lap 53 |
Rosberg into DRS range of Vettel now. Ricciardo also in the background chipping away at Rosberg. A weekend that looked so tough for Rosberg is coming together perfectly for the German - just as Hamilton gets issued a drive-through penalty! We will have a new championship leader going into the summer break. "Guys, the problem is still there," Raikkonen tells Ferrari. |
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Lap 54 |
Rosberg cant get close enough in the DRS range as Ricciardo moves to within two seconds of Rosberg. A sheepish Hamilton replies "OK" when told he's got to serve a drive-through, which he does. |
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Lap 55 |
The man who will benefit most from this scrap between Vettel and Rosberg is Ricciardo. He showed us how good he is at overtaking here last year... Thrilling finish in store. Kvyat also absolutely flying as well in fourth! Replays show Alonso passing Sainz on the inside of Turn 1 but Sainz battles back on the run down to Turn 2 but can't keep the McLaren driver behind. That's for sixth! And Verstappen has just been handed a drive-through penalty so that is set to become fifth! |
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Lap 56 |
Ricciardo almost drifts through the final corner. Two seconds cover the top three. Verstappen's drive-through is for speeding under the VSC. Raikkonen returns to the pits to retire, and this time there's no reset. "I'm so sorry guys, I'm really sorry," Lewis tells his team. He's 13th but has just set a fastest lap though, he's 13 seconds away from scoring a point. |
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Lap 57 |
Ricciardo so close to Rosberg coming through Turn 1 but not close enough to make it stick. Clearly, Ricciardo has the best shot of winning at the moment. That decision to save a set of softs in Q1 looking like a masterstroke now. Button dives down the inside of Sainz for eighth! The McLarens having the best weekend of their season so far. Alonso didn't actually move ahead of Verstappen after his drive-through but is just five seconds down on the teenager, who is currently on for his career-best result. All of these squabbles will be helping Hamilton in his quest to rescue some points. |
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Lap 58 |
Squabbles up and down the track. What is it about the Hungaroring? Grosjean has managed to get himself up into seventh place. Kvyat now within two seconds of the leading trio. |
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Lap 59 |
We've still got ten laps of this to enjoy! Vettel still holding firm out in front, the lead is 1.2s. Rosberg's attention is now on his mirrors and the rampant Red Bull behind him. Ricciardo will have extra grip from those soft tyres as Rosberg locks up on the exit of Turn 2. Having just taken his second drive-through penalty of the day, Maldonado is under investigation again for passing under the Safety Car. Wow. |
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Lap 60 |
That would be quite a triple for Maldonado if he gets that penalty. The issue Ricciardo has here is that he clearly doesn't have the straight-line speed of Rosberg. He'll need to repeat his banzai move that got him first place on Alonso last year... |
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Lap 61 |
Hamilton moves back into points contention as he passes Nasr for tenth. There's quite a group of cars up the road so the world champion should be able to limit some of the damage in these closing laps. |
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Lap 62 |
Ricciardo still not able to get close enough to Rosberg. Sainz retires from the race. "Keep your head down," comes the call from Ferrari to Vettel. He's looked so cool this afternoon - this will be quite a victory if he makes it stick. |
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Lap 63 |
Rosberg appears to have used a backmarker to get back into DRS range but Ricciardo is still scampering behind. Ricciardo's Red Bull appears to have got rid of the piece that was loose on his sidepod. Hamilton moves into ninth and then eighth, flying by former team-mate Button at Turn 1. He's under investigation for exceeding the limits of the track earlier. |
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Lap 64 |
Ricciardo goes for it at Turn 1 and runs deep!! Ricciardo cuts back across and there's contact! Puncture for Rosberg! the drama continues! Ricciardo loses his front wing and Rosberg is going to lose even more. Another swing of the pendulum in this incredible race. Kvyat into maiden podium contention! Ricciardo pits for a new front wing and should get out ahead of Verstappen. Rosberg is skating down the pit lane and stops for new tyres. Hamilton is now ahead of Rosberg on track! Unbelievable. This race has been utterly mad. |
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Lap 65 |
Kvyat gets a ten second penalty for exceeding limits of the track but he's currently second and it shouldn't cost him a podium. Replay of the incident shows Ricciardo lunging down the inside, locking a brake and the pair just made contact as Rosberg cut back across. |
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Lap 66 |
Hamilton now battling for sixth with the Lotus of Grosjean. Verstappen fourth! Alonso fifth! Who said this sport was boring, hey? |
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Lap 67 |
Meanwhile, out in front, Vettel just has to bring the car home for win number 41. Lovely move from Hamilton as he passes Grosjean on the inside. There's six and a half seconds between him and Alonso and only two laps for him to do it. Surely there's no more drama left in this race? Maldonado given a 10-second penalty for passing under the safety car. Just the three penalties for the Lotus man. |
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Lap 68 |
Ricciardo setting fastest laps for fun at the moment - it's only going to be good enough for third at the moment. Rosberg has passed Button for eighth. |
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Lap 69 |
Vettel starts his final lap... |
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Lap 70 |
Only 69 laps because of that extra formation lap - but not enough time to update our system! While there's been drama all around him Vettel has been utterly flawless today. The German points to the sky as he rounds the final corner and takes the chequered flag. Kvyat pulls across to the Red Bull pit wall as he claims his first-ever podium. Ricciardo fourth but it could have been so much better. Verstappen finishes fourth and pumps his fists in the air as he does. Alonso just holds off Hamilton for fifth. Rosberg can't get past Grosjean for seventh. Vettel dedicates the win to Bianchi. "We know he would have been part of this team eventually. Merci Jules." Kvyat sounds emotional on the radio. "That's for Jules, and for the family." |
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The German-Italian national anthem combination. Never gets old, does it? Kvyat is all smiles as he takes his first podium. Ricciardo looked emotional before the podium. Thinking about one that got away or his friend Jules Bianchi? Probably a bit of both. A wonderful way to go into the summer break as Vettel swigs on well-earned champagne. |
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Full Safety Car deployed. As I said earlier, this one is far from over.
We go green again and Vettel backs up the pack before bolting around the final corner.
