Hungary: The Race Seen from the Pits

Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton – 1st

Translate: Nico Rosberg – 19th

**Ross Brawn, Team Director:** « We came here for this race without really knowing what the tires’ performance and behavior would be, but as the race went on, it became clear that we were able to stay competitive with both our drivers. Lewis had an absolutely perfect race and didn’t put a foot wrong all afternoon. He was able to drive aggressively and keep the tires in shape to make our strategy work. Nico was unlucky to be hit by Massa during the first lap and later suffered an engine failure, which was concerning in the final laps as we hadn’t seen any signs of overheating. Overall, it has been a very encouraging weekend. In extremely hot conditions, we maintained our Saturday afternoon competitiveness on Sunday afternoon, and it clearly seems that we’ve taken a good step forward today. Now, we need to continue working as hard as possible before a well-deserved two-week break, so we arrive at Spa as well-prepared as possible. »

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Lotus

Kimi Räikkönen – 2nd

Romain Grosjean – 6th

Eric Boullier, Team Principal: Another good result for Kimi today. He drove very well and was helped by a good strategy that brought him to the podium. Romain was very unlucky that we couldn’t get past Fernando [Alonso] which cost him a lot of time, not to mention the drive-through penalty that prevented him from achieving a better result. He drove a good race on a circuit where overtaking is difficult and he had no other choice. For us, the stewards’ decision is harsh. The most important thing to take away from this weekend is the car’s pace; this circuit is a bit special, and I think there will be other circuits where we will need to work a bit harder, but I am confident as we will constantly fight for the podiums during each race weekend in the second part of the season. Red Bull has a lead, but we showed today that they can be beaten, so we want to keep them under pressure all the way.

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Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel – 3rd

Mark Webber – 4th

Christian Horner, Team Principal: « It was a hot and difficult afternoon. Probably the decisive moment in Sebastian’s race was after his first stop, when he came out behind Jenson Button. We weren’t able to overtake quickly and suffered damage to the front wing. This effectively freed Lewis and sent us back into the battle with Kimi, who was on a two-stop strategy. However, apart from the damage, Sebastian was able to maintain a very good pace and continue to the checkered flag. Mark’s comeback from the tenth place was excellent today, a very good first stint put him back in the fight, and moving from tenth to fourth place is a very good performance. So before the summer break, we have increased our lead in the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships, and now everyone deserves a vacation to recharge their batteries for our return at the end of August. »

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Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – 5th

Felipe Massa – 8th

Stefano Domenicali, Team Principal: « Arriving this weekend, we knew we would be in a bit of trouble. Today’s result cannot make us smile because at no point during the race were we competitive. After a promising start to the season, we have experienced a loss of competitiveness. Now, we must remain calm and not give up, which is what we are used to doing, especially in difficult moments. We need to use the coming weeks to find ideas and act promptly. I expect the whole team to react with the intention of improving the car so that our drivers can express their full potential. »

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McLaren

Jenson Button – 7th

Sergio Pérez – 9th

Martin Whitmarsh, Team Principal: Jenson brilliantly controlled his pace throughout today’s race, optimizing his two-stop strategy to score six valuable championship points here in Budapest. Moreover, he was quick on the intermediate stint with soft tires, demonstrating the pace the MP4-28 can deliver on a tricky and idiosyncratic track. Checo was very unlucky to be boxed in at the start, costing him positions. Afterwards, he was able to do a solid and professional job to secure two useful points in the world championship.

Moreover, both Jenson and Checo deserve applause for their great professionalism today, delivering a very clean race under very demanding circumstances, which were made even more challenging by the proximity of drivers on a three-stop strategy, who were obviously able to attack harder than us.

Now that we are heading towards the mid-season break, I want to say two things: firstly, it goes without saying that we will continue to give our maximum to score as many points as possible in the second half of the season, and secondly, that everyone at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes deserves a good vacation after working so hard since the beginning of the year. Well done, guys!

Last but not least, I would like to congratulate our old friend Lewis [Hamilton], who had a fantastic race to claim his first win with Mercedes-Benz AMG F1 today.

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Williams

**Pastor Maldonado** – 10th

Valtteri Bottas – Retirement

**Xevi Pujolar, Chief Race Engineer:** « We knew it would be difficult with today’s high temperatures, but we stuck to our three-stop strategy, which worked very well for us. Pastor got off to a great start, putting him directly in the fight for points. Perez seemed too far ahead of us, but Rosberg’s late retirement allowed Pastor to score an important point for us. Valtteri drove well but unfortunately had a hydraulic problem, forcing him to stop on the track. Our first point gives us good motivation before the summer break to come back even stronger for the rest of the season. »

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Sauber

Nico Hülkenberg – 11th

Esteban Gutiérrez – Abandon

Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: « We were expecting to score one or two points today. Unfortunately, we quickly realized that wouldn’t happen. Esteban had to retire due to a gearbox problem. Nico had a good race pace, but an unfortunate issue with the speed limiter resulted in a penalty drive-through. It ruined all chances we had of scoring points. But the positive aspect is that we know we are more competitive. We are optimistic as we begin the second half of our season. »

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Toro Rosso

Jean-Eric Vergne – 12th

Daniel Ricciardo – 13th

Franz Tost, Team Principal: « A difficult race for us, as highlighted by what seems to be our current weakness, namely racing in high heat conditions. With a track temperature over 50°C, it was the hottest Grand Prix of the year. The first stint was tough for both cars but towards the end, we picked up pace, which brought us closer to the Saubers and Force Indias. Hopefully, when we return to cooler conditions, we can get back into the points. However, there are still hot races ahead, and we need to find ways to improve the car in these conditions. We showed again this weekend that the car is fast since we secured our fifth consecutive top 10 start, even though it hasn’t brought us any points. We still have a week before the mandatory factory shutdown, and we will work hard to return in better shape at Spa. »

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Caterham

Giedo van der Garde – 14th

Charles Pic – 15th

Caterham has not published the statements from the team’s representatives.

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Marussia

Jules Bianchi – 16th

Max Chilton – 17th

John Booth, Team Director: Given our lack of pace observed yesterday in qualifying, we knew it would be difficult to progress today. We knew we had to have a different strategy but did not expect to fall back so much with the medium tires at the start of the race. The stints we were able to do today were not fast enough to allow us to execute our two-stop strategy. Therefore, we had to switch to three stops, which did not help us on the timing sheets at the finish. In the end, it has been a difficult weekend that we wish to forget quickly. The upcoming races after the break will better suit the qualities of our car and we will push to ensure that we learn all we can from this race in order to return after the break with renewed vigor. Finally, I want to thank the team for their hard work in today’s heat. We reacted well to the different situations on the track, and the guys performed good pit stops, which was the best we could do.

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Force India

Paul di Resta – 18th

Adrian Sutil – Abandon

Vijay Mallya, Team Principal: « It was not the easiest weekend for us, and it’s disappointing to leave Budapest without points. Adrian was celebrating his 100th Grand Prix this weekend, but he was unlucky in Hungary and had to retire early due to a hydraulic issue. His strategy seemed good, so he missed out on a chance to score points today. Paul’s race was quite steady, but we didn’t have the pace to make the 3-stop strategy work—despite his great start. With a few laps left to cover, we noticed a similar hydraulic issue on his car, and he also had to retire. The next race is not for another 4 weeks, so we will analyze our performance and work hard to regain our form at Spa. »

Read the drivers’ statements