Esteban Ocon wins chaotic Hungarian GP, Lewis Hamilton takes F1 lead

Frenchman Esteban Ocon received a chaotic Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday whereas Lewis Hamilton completed third to take the Formula One championship lead from Max Verstappen by six factors heading into the midseason break.
Verstappen positioned tenth after being taken out early within the race by Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas in a first-lap crash that brought on him and 4 others to retire.
It was solely the 24-year-old Ocon’s second podium, following a second-place end on the Sakhir GP in Bahrain late final 12 months.
Ocon completed forward of Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. fourth forward of Ocon’s teammate Fernando Alonso.
“What a moment, feels so good,” Ocon stated, patting his coronary heart. “A big thanks to the team for the trust they are putting in me.”

What. A. Race.#HungarianGP 🇭🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/R396UBTVAj
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 1, 2021
The crash within the rain was brought on by Bottas, who retired in consequence.
The race restarted in absurd trend with solely Hamilton on the grid, whereas others had been altering their tires as a result of the monitor had dried. Hamilton needed to do the identical a lap later and got here out in final place, a few spots behind Verstappen.
But a intelligent second tire change by Mercedes for onerous tires on Lap 20 outwitted Red Bull and Hamilton moved forward of Verstappen after he got here in for brand spanking new tires.
Now it was Verstappen’s flip to really feel frustration as he was caught in eleventh whereas Hamilton was already as much as fifth by Lap 35 of 70.
With 30 laps to go, the highest 4 was Ocon-Vettel-Sainz Jr.-Hamilton.

Absolute chaos at Turn 1 of the Hungarian Grand Prix 😱#HungarianGP 🇭🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/MZycUtllCa
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 1, 2021
To give Hamilton a shot at victory, Mercedes made a 3rd tire change with slightly greater than 20 laps remaining.
But he needed to get forward of the 40-year-old Alonso first, a driver with 32 wins, 97 podiums and among the many most proficient of his technology.
Alonso held off a primary assault on Lap 55 and blocked him two extra occasions on Lap 57 with stellar defending on the within.
Alonso’s nous was sufficient to repel two extra assaults as Hamilton was blocked once more on the skin they usually practically collided.
When Hamilton lastly received previous him there have been solely 5 laps left and Sainz Jr simply forward. He overtook him however by then the entrance two had been too far forward.
Hamilton’s bid for a one hundredth win resumes on Aug. 29 on the Belgian GP in Spa.
Bottas will begin that race with a five-place grid penalty for inflicting the accident.
Alonso’s sensible defensive driving helped Ocon safe the victory they usually hugged after the race, with Alonso lifting him up within the air.
Hamilton was once more loudly jeered by sections of the gang, as he was after taking pole place on Saturday. He received the British GP two weeks in the past regardless of a 10-second penalty for taking Verstappen out on the primary lap.
Heavy rain fell shortly earlier than Sunday’s race and the monitor was soaked. Hamilton received away from pole however Verstappen shot forward of Bottas into second.
McLaren’s Lando Norris additionally overtook Bottas, who ran into the again of him_ sending Norris sliding into Verstappen and each off monitor. Bottas went right into a tire wall and took out Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez on his method off the monitor.
Just behind them, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was jammed between Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo.
A purple flag halted the race to permit stewards to clear the wrecked vehicles. Leclerc, Stroll, Norris and Perez retired.
When the race restarted about half-hour later, Hamilton was alone on the grid whereas others had been ditching their wet-weather tires to go well with the now drying monitor.
Hamilton needed to do the identical on the subsequent lap and got here out in final place with Verstappen eleventh, whereas Ocon led from Vettel. Nikita Mazepin was the sixth to retire after colliding with 2007 F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo within the pit lane.
The sinewy and tight 4.4-kilometer (2.7-mile) Hungaroring circuit is arguably the toughest monitor to overhaul on after Monaco.
“I can’t get close to people,” a pissed off Hamilton stated on the radio.
The rigidity additionally affected Verstappen. In his haste to overhaul Mick Schumacher, he went extensive after which bumped tires with him moments later.
Hamilton received previous Schumacher on Lap 16 however discovered AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly troublesome to catch.
But he was quickly in his ordinary overtaking mode.
“Lewis, you can win this,” Mercedes group principal Toto Wolff stated after the third tire change.
But getting previous Alonso is a special prospect to most drivers, and Hamilton fell wanting profitable the Hungarian GP for a record-extending ninth time.
The day belonged to Ocon, who was as soon as a part of the Mercedes improvement program and the group’s reserve driver two years in the past after shedding his F1 seat.
He confirmed the expertise Mercedes noticed in him with a composed drive underneath stress from Vettel, a four-time F1 champion with 53 wins.
“Esteban didn’t make a single mistake,” Vettel stated.