Hungarian GP: Webber Stands Out

After 70 laps marked by incidents and surprises, Mark Webber wins the Hungarian GP. He takes advantage of this to lead the World Drivers’ Championship and shows his ambitions by being the only one with 4 wins this season. The competition promises to be intense both internally with Vettel and against the rivalry, as today the oldest contender is leading the charge.

However, this victory was certainly not decided at the start of the race since the Australian couldn’t hold back Alonso before the first corner, dropping to 3rd place, leaving Vettel and the Spaniard from Ferrari to battle it out one-on-one.

It is evident that Webber was able to take advantage of a perfectly executed strategy by his team, but above all, he knew how to make the most of his car, displaying exceptional racing speed lap after lap. The combination of these different factors, added to race incidents, allowed him to outperform Alonso, who finished 2nd more than 17 seconds behind.

The key element in the Australian’s victory occurs on lap 15 when the safety car exits the pits to neutralize the race so that debris can be removed from the track. It is at this moment that most drivers enter the pits for the mandatory tire change, but Webber and his team decide to continue without making any changes. This strategic masterstroke allows him to take the lead.

As soon as the safety car returned to the pits, Webber was ahead of Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton, and Massa. For the Australian, the situation was clear; he needed to widen the gap so that his staggered strategy would allow him to pit while still coming out in the lead. In this race against time, Vettel’s penalty, having to serve a “drive through” for keeping a distance of more than 10 car lengths from the car in front under the safety car, greatly eased Webber’s task.

Vettel passed through the pits again, expressing his lack of understanding regarding the penalty, while Alonso regained 2nd place, leaving 3rd to the young German.

On lap 43, Webber finally pitted for a tire change. The offset strategy made perfect sense as he stopped with more than a 23-second lead. He returned to the track with a 4-second safety margin over Alonso’s Ferrari.

Starting in 5th position, Hamilton found himself in 6th at the first corner as Petrov took advantage by overtaking the Briton. The difficult weekend for McLaren was confirmed by the 25th lap when Hamilton pulled over to the side of the track, as his transmission had failed him. This retirement, combined with Webber’s victory, gives the Australian a 4-point lead, while the English driver was leading the championship before this race. Hamilton is the big loser of this Hungarian weekend.

After a tumultuous German GP, Massa enjoyed a much calmer race. Starting in 4th position, he was unable to join the battle for the top three spots. He therefore settled for the points awarded for 4th place.

Vitaly Petrov had a sensational race, securing 5th place and demonstrating to the Renault management that he has potential and is generous in his efforts. He even overtakes his former GP2 rival, Nico Hülkenberg, by one point in the championship. The teammate of the German rookie, the experienced Rubens Barrichello, held onto 6th place for a long time, but a late tire change saw him finish the race in 10th place. He can still be happy to see the checkered flag because his former teammate Michael Schumacher, also fighting for the 10th place, finished 11th after trying everything to prevent the Brazilian from passing. He even squeezed him against the pit wall on the main straight. This dangerous maneuver will be penalized by dropping 10 places on the grid for the next GP at Spa. Barrichello even called this action completely crazy, and he was angry at his former Ferrari leader.

On the Sauber side, the results confirm the team’s progress. De la Rosa finishes 7th, Kobayashi ranks 9th after an aggressive race during which he proved all his qualities as he started the race in 23rd position. Sandwiched between the two Swiss cars, Jenson Button brings some points to McLaren. A meager haul that the British driver duo cannot be satisfied with.

Among the regulars of the Top 10, Robert Kubica couldn’t fight on the track. Indeed, after a collision in the pits with Adrian Sutil, he lost time repairing his single-seater. Found responsible for this incident, he received a 10-second penalty. Far behind his rivals who lapped him, the Polish driver returned to the pits a few laps later and decided to retire from the race. He later admitted that his car had suffered damage to the front left suspension in the crash.

Just before the collision between Kubica and Sutil, Nico Rosberg

Exiting the pits on three wheels. Indeed, one of his wheels had not been fixed, leading to a panic in the pits when the infamous wheel flew over the mechanics of the different teams, with a Williams mechanic even having to be transported to the hospital. For some, it was this movement among the mechanics that made the person responsible for the “lollipop” at Renault make a gesture. This gesture was interpreted by Kubica as the signal to accelerate. Leaving his spot, he did not see Sutil arriving on his left to position himself alongside his team. For Rosberg, this incident meant the end of his race.

In the realm of mechanical incidents, it should be noted that Alguersuari’s engine broke down, with his Toro Rosso emitting white smoke from the 2nd lap.

In the championship contest between the new teams, it’s Kovalainen who dominates the discussions with a 14th place finish. Lotus even achieves a “double” as Trulli finishes 15th. Senna manages the feat of not finishing in the last two places, slotting in between the two Virgin Racing cars of Glock, in 16th, and Di Grassi, in 18th.

Grand Prix of Hungary

Hungaroring, Hungary.

70 laps. 306.663 km.

Weather: Sunny.

Unclassified/Abandonments