The last round before the summer break took place at sunny and warm Hungaroring, which hosted the 34th F1 GP weekend. There was drama already in the first segment, as Leclerc lost control of his SF90 at the last corner, ending up in the tyre wall. He got damage to his rear wing, which caused plenty of grey hair to the Ferrari mechanics. Against all odds, the team were able to change the rear wing in time for the second session. Again the tyre strategy played a key role in Q2. Both Mercedes drivers came out on the medium compound, and both Ferrari and Red Bull followed the Silver Arrows' example. The pecking order seemed very evenly matched, as the top five drivers -Hamilton, Verstappen, Bottas, Leclerc and Vettel- were all within just three tenths of a second! The battle for pole gave me chills. Verstappen, who had claimed provisional pole, managed to improve his lap time on his last flyer. So did Bottas, who had been in P2 after the first runs. It was so close between these two; Verstappen snatched his maiden pole by 0.018s to the Finn only! This time Hamilton was left in P3. Unfortunately the Red Team were missing pace, and P4 and P5 were the maximum, that Charles and Sebastian were able to extract out of their cars. However, in spite of his shunt in Q1, Charles was able to out-qualify his teammate.
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It was so thrilling to see the start take place in front of my very eyes! Pole-sitter Verstappen took an excellent start this time, and maintained his lead. This time it was Bottas, who was struggling at the start. He locked up his tyres at the first two corners, and the Finn had contact with both teammate Hamilton and Ferrari's Leclerc! Bottas lost positions to both of them, and even Sebastian managed to pass him. The Finn had dramatically dropped down to P5 in no time. Due to contact with Charles, Bottas had major damage to his front wing. However, he didn't pit until on lap 6 for a fresh set of hard tyres and a new nose cone. The pit stop was long, taking 15 seconds, and the Finn ended up at the very back of the pack.
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In the lead, Verstappen had built up a two-second gap to Hamilton. Ferrari, on the other hand, proved unable to match the top two's pace, and Charles in P3 was already 14 seconds down on the reigning world champion. Verstappen opened the pit stop roulette in terms of the top drivers. He pitted for a fresh set of hard Pirellis, and re-joined the track in P2. Charles pitted three laps later for a similar tyre choice, dropping down to P4. It wasn't until on lap 31, that Hamilton pitted from the lead. The Briton, too, pitted for hard Pirellis. He re-joined the track six seconds behind Verstappen, but started "hammertime" immediately. In just a couple of laps, he had decreased the gap to Charles into one second only! Verstappen was clearly in trouble with storming Hamilton, who was lurking for a chance to overtake any moment. It seemed to be only a matter of time, when Hamilton was going to take the lead.
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Sebastian was on a different tyre strategy. The German pitted not until on lap 40. Unfortunately his pit stop was delayed due to trouble with attaching one of his front tyres. Sebastian re-joined the track on a fresh set of soft Pirellis in P4. Surprisingly, Hamilton pitted for a second time on lap 49. He switched to the medium compound, and was 20 seconds behind race leader Verstappen, when re-joining the track. But the Briton started to bang fastest lap times lap after lap...
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With only three laps to go, Hamilton was right at the tail of Verstappen, whose hard Pirellis were completely gone. In the end it was easy for Hamilton to swipe past Verstappen, who had no chance to defend his lead. Max pitted on the sequential lap, switching to the softs. He was determined to take the fastest lap time under his belt. Meanwhile, Sebastian had closed the gap to his teammate, whose tyres were outworn already. Sebastian moved past Charles, claiming P3.
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In the end, Hamilton cruised to victory, with a 17-second gap to Verstappen, who scored the extra point for the fastest lap time. Sebastian completed the podium, but unfortunately the Red Team were completely unable to match the top two teams' pace. Charles finished fourth, Sainz fifth, Gasly sixth and Räikkönen seventh. Bottas managed to make it 8th in the end. Hamilton's victory increased his championship lead into 62 points already!
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I was there at Hungaroring watching all the F1 action live, which was an unforgettable experience indeed! Formula 1 has definitely stolen my heart for good! I'm having withdrawal symptoms due to the four-week summer break already!
With passion for racing red,
Iina Huhmarniemi
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