Sebastian Vettel wins Formula 1 Grand Prix in Budapest, Hungary

FORMULA 1 gun Lewis Hamilton earned buckets of praise for an act of sportsmanship which could cost him the world championship.

Lewis Hamilton showed his teammate some love.

• Vettel wins Hungarian Grand Prix
• Vettel has mechanical issues
• Dan blasts Max
• Ricciardo out in first lap horror

Formula 1 Grand Prix

Formula 1’s visit to Hungary has seen Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel take another solid victory for the 2017 season.

SEBASTIAN Vettel has claimed Budapest after struggling through a steering wheel malfunction for the majority of the race. Lewis Hamilton displayed a classy act of sportsmanship in the final lap, allowing teammate Valtteri Bottas to retake third place and finish on the podium.

The night’s horror show goes to Red Bull. Max Verstappen earned himself a 10-second penalty after ramming into Daniel Ricciardo in the first lap, forcing the Aussie out of the race.

12:15pm

Vettel wins as Hamilton hailed for classy move

Vettel now has a 14-point lead in the world championship race.

Sebastian Vettel increased his drivers’ world championship lead to 14 points on Sunday when he led Kimi Raikkonen home in a dominant Ferrari one-two at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

In his 50th race for Ferrari, the four-time champion German controlled the contest from pole position in stifling heat to reel off his first win in five races since the Monaco Grand Prix.

His main title rival Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes finished fourth, after handing a podium finish back to his teammate Valtteri Bottas on the final lap following a late switch to enable the Briton to attack the two Ferraris.

The Mercedes driver insisted he wanted to win the world title “the right way”, despite sacrificing three extra points to Vettel by honouring an agreement to fall back behind Bottas to fourth if he could not overtake the second-placed Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff said it was “probably the most difficult” call the team have had to make in the past five seasons and Hamilton admitted it was against normal racing instincts.

Asked if it was a decision more of the heart or the head, Hamilton said: “More from the heart probably. The mind is more cut-throat, every point counts, and it’s do-or-die. But it was the right thing to do.”

Speaking to Sky F1 immediately after the race, Wolff conceded: “We could lose a championship because of those three points.”

But the Mercedes boss added: “This spirit has made us win three championships and it will make us win more.”

If #Hamilton really just gave #Bottas that 3rd place position, then that most definitely makes him a team-player. We love that! #HungarainGP

— Thabile Ngwato (@ThabileNgwato) July 30, 2017

I really don't like Hamilton that much but today he's shown that he's a team player. Brilliant of him to let Bottas through. Respect.

— Talkative Rocker (@beewol) July 30, 2017

Dutchman Max Verstappen finished fifth for Red Bull after surviving an opening lap collision with his teammate Daniel Ricciardo that saw the angry Australian forced into an early retirement.

Two-time champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso came home sixth and recorded the fastest lap of the race for McLaren-Honda after a stirring and often remarkable drive.

Vettel, who started the day just a point ahead of Hamilton, increased his lead by another 13 after 11 of this year’s 20 races as the circus takes a now-traditional three-week European summer holiday before the Belgian Grand Prix.

It was Ferrari’s first one-two in Hungary since 2004.

— with AFP

11:27pm

Hamilton pushing hard for second

Kimi Raikkonen is fighting furiously against Lewis Hamilton to keep second place.

“It’s getting very hard to get close,” Hamilton told his team.

“Do what you can, you’ve got overtake ... you’ve got five laps to make it work,” the Mercedes engineer replied.

“No pressure then,” the reply from Lewis.

11:11pm

Vettel regains the lead

Sebastian Vettel has retaken first place after Max Verstappen was forced to pit.

The German driver still has a rampant Kimi Raikkonen hot on his tail with a little over a second dividing the two Ferrari drivers.

Lewis Hamilton has crept up into third with just under four seconds between him and his teammate Valtteri Bottas.

11pm

Vettel’s woes continue as Ferrari face dilemma

Max Verstappen has taken the lead after Ferrari’s two drivers headed to the pits. A 10-second penalty will no doubt hurt the young Red Bull in the long run, but a solid 10.5 second gap sits between him and Vettel in second.

The German driver is having an uncomfortable drive as his steering wheel continues to malfunction.

Vettel’s mechanical woes has brought Kimi Raikkonen into the fray with the Ferrari driver pressuring his team to let him overtake for a chance at a win.

“Whatever decision you make, don’t put me under massive threat from Mercedes for no reason,” Raikkonen said over the radio.

10:40pm

Mechanical blunder could thwart Vettel

Sebastian Vettel sits just 1.9 seconds ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen while suffering a mild malfunction.

The German driver said his steering wheel was slightly out of place as the race entered its 26th lap.

Mercedes will have to settle for third place with Valtteri Bottas as the Finn struggles with an seven-second gap between him and Raikkonen.

10:25pm

Vettel puts his foot on the floor, Ricciardo blasts Verstappen

Daniel Ricciardo isn’t a happy dude today.

Race leader Sebastian Vettel has made it clear how this race is going to go.

The German driver has stayed unchallenged at the top for the entire race so far, putting serious distance between himself and Valtteri Bottas in third after a close start.

“Sebastian Vettel is showing absolutely beautiful pace, now five seconds ahead of Valtteri Bottas in third,” Sky Sports’ Ted Kravtiz said.

Kimi Raikkonen sits in second.

Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo has gone for the jugular against Max Verstappen after their collision.

“It was amateur to say the least,” said. “There was no room to pass. He doesn’t like when a teammate gets in front. It was a very poor mistake.

“I don’t think there’s kind of an excuse for it ... He gets a bad start and sees me go past and goes s*** I’ve got to fix this.

“I don’t think he (Max) likes when a teammate gets in front of him.”

📝There's been more trouble for Verstappen as he's handed a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with his teammate Ricciardo #C4F1 pic.twitter.com/WvzoIZc20B

— Channel 4 F1® (@C4F1) July 30, 2017

10:14pm

Verstappen climbs after Ricciardo incident

Max Verstappen has overtaken Lewis Hamilton for fourth after sending teammate Daniel Ricciardo spiralling out of the race with a puncture.

The young Red Bull is locked in an aggressive spat with Hamilton as the Brit tirelessly tires to overtake.

Verstappen has since been slapped with a 10-second time penalty for causing the early carnage.

So far it’s a very, very close race with just five seconds between fifth and first place.

10pm

Ricciardo in lap one horror show

Daniel Ricciardo has suffered a puncture in the first lap of the Hungarian Grand Prix after colliding with teammate Max Verstappen as the pair frenzied from the third row. The Aussie driver looks to have also burst his radiator.

“Someone hit me,” he said over the radio. “If that’s who I think it was ...”

The Safety Car has been deployed. Get ready for a long night, folks.

9:15pm

Mercedes, Lewis confess harsh truth

Lewis Hamilton has been forced to eat humble pie.

Mercedes are not expecting to defeat Ferrari in Sunday’s Hungarian GP with Lewis Hamilton all-but writing off his chances of victory.

For the first time since F1’s previous visit to a high-downforce circuit, at the Monaco GP in May, Ferrari outpaced Mercedes in qualifying at the twisty Hungaroring as Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen locked out the front row.

Mercedes will start directly behind on row two but neither Lewis Hamilton, who struggled to fourth, nor team boss Toto Wolff are particularly optimistic about the world champions’ prospects of claiming victory in Budapest.

“I think it’s going to be an easy breeze for them,” predicted Hamilton. “Getting past the Ferraris will be almost impossible unless they have problems.”

And although Wolff believes the very start of the race could present Mercedes with opportunities to get ahead of the Ferraris, he said: “It’s still motor racing, lots of things can happen during the race, and we’ll see what end result it will be. But from pure car performance, it’s about damage limitation.”

Mercedes have won three of the last four races, a run which appeared to give the Silver Arrows the momentum in an undulating and intense title race with Ferrari. The reigning champions are 55 points clear in the Constructors’ Championship, while Hamilton has closed to within a point of Sebastian Vettel in the drivers’ chase.

But the return to a tight and twisty circuit with a series of slow corners has seen Ferrari re-emerge at the head of the field, with the Italian team replicating their one-two qualifying result from the streets of Monaco. Ferrari turned that lockout into a one-two race finish a day later.

— James Galloway in Budapest, SkySports.com

9pm

Vettel takes pole in record-breaking effort

Game on.

Starting from pole position on a tight circuit that severely limits overtaking, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel will be confident of his fourth win of the season in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

Especially with archrival Lewis Hamilton fourth on the grid. Ferrari secured a 1-2 in Saturday’s qualifying, with Kimi Raikkonen second, but the twisting Hungaroring circuit did not suit the Mercedes drivers. Valtteri Bottas qualified third, while Hamilton was nearly half a second behind Vettel’s time of 1 minute, 16.276 seconds.

Having won the British GP from pole position two weeks ago, Hamilton hoped to carry that form over to Hungary.

Instead, he missed out on equalling Michael Schumacher’s all-time pole record of 68.

The three-time F1 champion must now wait until after the month-long summer break for another shot at that. He trails four-time F1 champion Vettel by one point overall, but his chances of moving into the outright lead, heading into the break, appear bleak.

And that is in his opinion.

“I think it’s going to be an easy breeze for them tomorrow. The Ferrari pulled out the real pace today,” Hamilton said. “I don’t think there was any moment where we had a shot at pole.” If Vettel gets away cleanly on the long straight up to Turn 1, Hamilton will be up against it on the most difficult track for overtaking in F1, along with street circuits Monaco and Singapore.

“This race is usually a procession where it is hard to follow,” Hamilton said “So there aren’t many opportunities to gain positions. ... Maybe strategy or the tires will come into play in a bigger way.” With temperatures expected to reach 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) during the race, and asphalt track temperatures way higher, tire degradation could possibly become a factor.

That’s a whole lot of red.

If it comes down to pure racing speed, and with no incidents, Ferrari looks to be the clear favourite on Saturday’s evidence.

“It’s about damage limitation tomorrow,” Mercedes head of motorsport Toto Wolff said. “I think it’s track specific. The DNA of our car just seems to be more stable on faster circuits (than Hungary).” Over in the Ferrari garage, the mood was one of jubilation as Vettel clinched the 48th pole of his career.

“It was seamless. We didn’t have any problems,” Vettel said. “The car was fantastic today.” Raikkonen was .168 behind in front of many flag-waving Finnish fans. Bottas was .254 behind Vettel; Hamilton trailed by .431.

It’s some change from how Vettel felt after the British GP, where he finished in seventh.

This time, Mercedes is on the back foot.

“We clearly have a lot of work to do,” Bottas said. “Clearly, we are not performing as we want.” Max Verstappen will start from fifth — ahead of his Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo, whose car was repaired after breaking down during the third and final practice session on Saturday morning.

Fernando Alonso qualified in a promising eighth for McLaren, which has been struggling with Honda engines.

Meanwhile, British driver Paul di Resta climbed into an F1 car for the first time since November 2013.

He was an emergency late replacement for Felipe Massa, who pulled out after complaining of “dizzy” spells following Friday’s practice. Di Resta placed 19th, relegating Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson to last.

Vettel had the fastest time in Q1, while Hamilton complained of vibration on his car.

But with his father, Anthony, watching on, Hamilton shot to the top of the leaderboard right at the end of Q2, raising hopes of a pole. Hamilton led early into Q3, only for Vettel to go even quicker and draw a roar from the crowd taking in the sunshine around the 4.4-kilometre (2.7-mile) circuit nestled in the hills surrounding Budapest.

Earlier, Vettel set the fastest time in third practice ahead of Raikkonen. It proved an indicator of what followed in qualifying, and what might lay ahead in Sunday’s race.

— with AP