14.54 Hamilton stands atop the podium as winner for Mercedes for the
first time. He celebrates his victory by showering Ross Brawn in champagne.
14.50 Lewis Hamilton, our Hungarian Grand Prix champion, celebrates:
14.49 The top 10 from Buadpest: 1 Hamilton; 2 Raikkonen; 3 Vettel; 4
Webber; 5 Alonso; 6 Grosjean; 7 Button; 8 Massa; 9 Perez; 10 Maldonado.
14.48 A tweet from Tom Cary, our man in Budapest:
14.47 “Thank you so much for all the hard work. The pit stops were
fantastic,” says Hamilton to the Mercedes garage.
Lap 70 Final lap. Get the bunting out, Brits. This glorious summer of
sport is about to continue with a British victory in a Grand Prix. The real
action is the battle for second with Vettel desperate to get ahead of
Raikkonen. HAMILTON WINS THE HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX! And Raikkonen
holds off Vettel to claim second place.
Lap 69 Two laps remaining with Lewis Hamilton still in the lead and on
the verge of a first victory with Mercedes.
Lap 68 Vettel and Raikkonen involved in a Battle Royale for second
place on the podium. Raikkonen is bossing it so far, hogging the middle of
the track and offering no kind of an opening for Vettel.
Lap 67 Hamilton leads by just under 12 seconds with Raikkonen, Vettel,
Webber and Alonso completing the top five.
Lap 66 Hamilton still leads then, with Raikkonen in second and Vettel
going all guns blazing to try and edge ahead.
Lap 65 Now then! Rosberg is out of the race. His car is smoking and
he’s parked up on the exit of turn two. Contrasting days for the Mercedes
drivers then!
Lap 64 Late charge from Webber?
Lap 62 Not long now for Lewis. Is he going to do it? He looks extremely
well set with about 11sec on the chasing pack and nothing but clear air
ahead of him.
Lap 60 Interesting exchange on Hamilton’s team radio earlier. The team
suggested a set-up change and he responded with a curt: “Hey man, I’m
trying to focus here!”
Lap 59 Webber pits and puts on the soft compound tyres. He loses 21sec
but these brand new tyres could still help him get into that top three by
the end.
Lap 58 The current top ten is: Hamilton, Webber, Raikkonen, Vettel,
Alonso, Grosjean, Button, Massa, Rosberg, Perez.
Lap 57 Red Bull tell Vettel that Raikkonen is planning on racing to the
end on his current tyres. The German given carte blanche to hunt down the
third-placed Lotus, then.
Lap 56 A tweet from Andy Murray:
Lap 55 Sebastian Vettel is in the pits so Lewis Hamilton goes into the
lead. Where will he emerge? Behind Raikkonen, who doesn’t have to stop
again.
Lap 53 A tweet from Mark Gallagher:
Lap 52 So Vettel leads by seven odd seconds but will need to pit again
before the end, which equals Advantage Hamilton. Webber will need to pit
again too.
Lap 51 Hamilton pits but some aggressive driving from Webber means he
has to (briefly) settle for third place as he emerges. Hamilton then shows
even more aggression to sneak his way past Webber on the inside at turn
three to reclaim second place. Remarkable stuff from the Englishman.
Lap 50 What is better than healthy? Organic? Well, whatever the word,
Hamilton’s lead is a very organic 15 seconds or so.
Lap 49 A mail from Akm:
We were there 12 months ago to see Lewis win,barring an incident he’s
surely favourite to win again.Come on Lewis!!!
Lap 48 Grosjean pits…….pretty poorly. And he is stuck between
Button and Massa as he comes out. That’s far from ideal for the Frenchman.
Lap 47 DRS has been enabled again as the track is cleared. Slight
bother caused by that Bottas retirement is now over.
Lap 46 Bottas’s car is in a really awkward position. Quite close to the
side of the track on a rather long, and exposed, bit of straight. They’ll
need to get him safely away.
Lap 45 Webber’s told to keep the pace high as Red Bull believes Alonso
will go in again. Meanwhile, Bottas appears to be in some trouble. Think
that’s a retirement. His car is smoking by the side of the track. No sign of
a safety car just yet, though.
Lap 44 Webber’s into the pits and has put on the medium compound tyres.
He comes out ahead of Alonso.
Lap 43 A mail from Cherian:
Hamilton…surely
Lap 42 Hamilton’s lead looks very healthy. There’s a gap of around
three seconds between he and Webber. There’s going to be another twist,
though, isn’t there? I can feel it.
Lap 41 Hamilton with another fastest lap. Things are falling into place
for him but don’t rule Webber out.
Lap 40 Hamilton still leads and this is turning out to be a really good
day for him. Do you think he’ll hang on and do this? Mail
me with your predictions.
Lap 39 Hamilton sets another fastest lap as he goes two seconds clear
of Webber.
Lap 37 Grosjean has a drive through penalty. “WHY?!?” he
screams. Officially, it’s because of that incident at turn four when you
went past Massa, Romain.
Lap 36 The current top five is: Hamilton, Webber, Raikkonen, Grosjean
and Vettel
Lap 35 Ah ha. Vettel and Alonso have pitted. Hamilton is now in P1 and
he completes lap 35 in a fastest time of 1.26.194sec. It’s looking good for
the Englishman thus far.
Lap 34 Superb driving from Hamilton as he overtakes Webber to move into
third. He’s now got Alonso, about 0.33sec ahead of him, in his sights.
Oh, look. Grosjean is under investigation for a second time!
Lap 33 “Please get past these guys,” comes the call on
Hamilton’s radio, in regards to Webber and Alonso.
Lap 32 Hamilton pits in 21.454sec and comes out behind Webber, but
ahead of Raikkonen. Vettel leads this race now.
Lap 31 Hamilton’s lead is slowly coming down. He leads by 11.7sec now
after some jolly quick driving from Vettel, who has really worked hard from
second place.
Lap 29 Grosjean again! Absolute guts from the Lotus driver as he takes
Massa on the outside, overtaking the Brazilian to move into sixth. I think
there may have been some slight contact as the Frenchman overtook his rival.
Actually, replays seem to show some daylight. Meanwhile, Gutierrez has
retired.
Lap 28 Vettel has worked hard to try and cut the gap between him and
leader Hamilton and is slowly eroding the Englishman’s 12.5sec lead.
Lap 27 The stewards are investigating Grosjean for causing a collision
with Button. Could be trouble for the Lotus man.
Lap 26 Okay…back to the leaders. It’s Hamilton in first, with Vettel
way back behind in second. Alonso, Webber and and Raikkonen complete the top
five.
Lap 25 Grosjean getting plenty of blame for that clash with Button. It
looked, to my eyes at least, that Grosjean drove across the front of Button.
Pretty careless driving.
Lap 24 Webber finally pits and he comes out behind Alonso after a
21.762sec stop. So Hamilton is now in P1. But the moment I begin to think
about that lead group we’re back with the middle bunch and there’s drama!
Vettel makes, and pulls off, a bold move to get up into second. Behind him
there’s clear contact between Grosjean and Button. “I might have front
wing damage,” says Button. He’s in the pts now.
Lap 22 First lull in excitement levels in this race but it feels like
the kind of day where more is certain to happen.
Lap 21 Webber about 8sec ahead of Hamilton but remember that he hasn’t
yet pitted. Still pretty laid back for the top three, though, with all the
action in that group behind them.
Lap 20 The Sky cameras are fixed firmly on this battle for fourth but
they briefly pull off to show Sutil retiring. A hydraulic leak, according to
the radio.
Lap 19 Button has pulled clear of this group and now Grosjean has
Vettel, with definite front wing damage, in his sights. This race is all
about the battle for fourth right now! Webber still leads but frankly that’s
not important right now.
Lap 17 This is a high-quality scrap! Vettel briefly overtakes Button
but the Englishman comes storming back and, if anything, he’s extended his
lead. Vettel complains of potential front wing damage on the radio.
Lap 16 There’s quite an interesting little bunch involving Button,
Vettel and Grosjean. The German is absolutely desperate to overtake, and
leave behind, Button but he’s having no luck whatsoever at the moment.
Grosjean is just lurking, nay stalking, behind Vettel and there is hardly
more than a car’s length between them all.
Lap 15 Top five currently is Webber, Hamilton, Button, Vettel and
Grosjean. Vettel’s chances are swiftly eroding as he struggles to overtake
Button.
Lap 14 The Lotuses, Grosjean and Raikkonen, are in the pits. Mark
Webber, who hasn’t yet gone in, is in the lead.
Lap 13 “You do need to look after your rears,” the Mercedes
radio tells Hamilton, adding that Grosjean is pursuing a two-stop strategy.
Lap 12 Yet more detail on that opening skirmish:
Lap 11 Vettel emerges just behind the English duo of Hamilton and
Button. Hamilton in P5 now.
Lap 10 Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate Rosberg pits early too as the
Englishman works hard to move back up the grid. Grosjean currently leading
with Vettel in the pits. Will SV come out ahead of Hamilton?
Lap nine Lewis Hamilton has pitted as Mercedes force the issue early.
He takes 21.48sec but as he emerges from the pit he has the familliar figure
of Jenson Button to contend with.
Lap eight Massa has some front wing issues, I think. The Ferrari
engineers are on the radio asking questions of the Brazilian.
Lap seven Right. Here’s the top five for you: Hamilton, Vettel,
Grosjean, Alonso, Massa. Hamilton’s lead is now reasonably comfortable.
Lap six Grosjean threatening in his Lotus, he’s right on the tail of
Vettel who has not covered himself in glory thus far.
Lap five Some more detail on the opening lap:
Lap four Hamilton has increased his lead after a very quick lap indeed.
All the chatter pre-race was about Hamilton would ultimately struggle to
make use of his pole position but on the evidence of the opening few laps
he’s looking pretty decent out there.
Lap three Rosberg is back down in 12th after that clash between he and
Massa on lap one.
Lap two Hamilton looking pretty comfortable at the top but Vettel is
working very hard to cut the gap. And he does. I think Vettel sliced at
least half a second off Hamilton’s lead on this second lap.
Lap one Five lights! And we’re off! Fine start from Hamilton but all
the action is behind him. Vettel and Grosjean battling hard and Rosberg goes
off the track not once – but twice! I think Massa may have hit him.
12.59 They’re off on the formation lap.
12.58 Nearly time to get going. This is going to be a good one – I can
feel it.
12.55 A tweet from our man Tom Cary:
12.52 Nearly time for lights out. Where do you see this one going?
Vettel? Grosjean? Let me know…..
12.45 Alexander Wurz‘s wife, Julia, with some important research:
12.42 Mr Avatar, actor Sam Worthington, is on the track. “Australians
love all sport……but we’re not doing that well in the Ashes at the moment,”
he says. No, you’re not. You’re really, really not, Sam.
12.40 Sky Sports have placed a thermometer on the track and it’s
reading 48 C!
12.36 Some breaking news for you all:
12.25 Wonder if Mark Webber is feeling any happier about life
today after his post-qualifying remarks. He let rip at his Red Bull team
after experiencing some technical problems:
ERS, gearbox, you name it… driving the car so far off the potential is
unbelievable and so massively frustrating. It’s stupid, it’s embarrassing
and it’s a brutal circuit to be out of position. We should be challenging
for the front row and we’re bloody 10th. So, a pain in the —-. It’s
amazing. All the effort you go to – and it’s two weekends on the bounce
where you get that.
12.18 I just checked the weather forecast for Budapest. It’s actually
38 degrees! Thirty-eight! And we in Britian think we’ve just had a heatwave!
Blimey.
12.10 And here’s a pic of the circuit for you all to cut out and keep.
It’s 70 laps today at a distance of 190.53 miles:
12.07 A reminder of the grid positions after qualifying:
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes 1min 19.388secs
2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1:19.426
3 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Lotus 1:19.595
4 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes 1:19.720
5 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari 1:19.791
6 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Lotus 1:19.851
7 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:19.929
8 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Toro Rosso 1:20.641
9 Sergio Perez (Mex) McLaren 1:22.398
10 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull No time
11 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:20.569
12 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Sauber 1:20.580
13 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:20.777
14 Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra) Toro Rosso 1:21.029
15 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams 1:21.133
16 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams 1:21.219
17 Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) Sauber 1:21.724
18 Paul Di Resta (Gbr) Force India 1:22.043
19 Charles Pic (Fra) Caterham 1:23.007
20 Giedo van der Garde (Ned) Caterham 1:23.333
21 Jules Bianchi (Fra) Marussia 1:23.787
22 Max Chilton (Gbr) Marussia 1:23.997
12.00 Does this picture of Paul di Resta’s vehicle illustrate just how
baking hot it is in Budapest this weekend? I think so:
11.55 Good afternoon and thanks for joining me for live coverage of
this year’s Hungarian Grand Prix. Yesterday Lewis Hamilton made it three
pole positions in a row for the first time in his Formula One career.
In the Hungaroring heat he toppled Sebastian Vettel from pole with a stunning
lap of 1 min 19.388sec, leaving the triple world champion 0.034secs adrift.
But, as our Formula One correspondent Tom Cary explains below, ongoing
tyre issues are likely to ruin his chances of victory though:
Now seventh in the all-time pole list with 30, just ahead of Argentine
great Juan Manuel Fangio, Hamilton admitted he was happy to be starting from
the front but cautioned against expecting too much in the race itself with
Mercedes still struggling with long-standing tyre wear issues, which are
expected to be exacerbated by track temperatures of up to 50C today