Sebastian Vettel led home a Ferrari one-two to sign off the first half of the season in style. It wasn’t all easy sailing, and things got quite tight at the end.
Someone who wasn’t around at the end was Daniel Ricciardo who was punted off by his team mate at the second corner. A lost chance to say the least, it ruined two races.
Mercedes played swapsies for the same end result, and Lewis Hamilton lost ground to Vettel in the Championship.
There’s plenty more to discuss, but as ever people have no time, so we attempt to package it all into a bitesize summary with the Good, Bad and Ugly of the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Note that the Good, Bad and Ugly were previously published at Fox Sports Media Academy, and we are borrowing it for our yearly tally.
THE GOOD
SEBASTIAN VETTEL
The Ferrari driver and Championship leader got the end result he could have hoped for heading into the Hungarian Grand Prix – Pole, Win, a good increase of the points gap from him to Lewis Hamilton.
The German got all three, but the race result was not without drama as he had steering issues which made driving the car uncomfortable, and he was pressured by his team mate and the Mercedes in the second half of the race after clearing off in the early stages of the race.
Vettel heads into the Summer Break on top of the Championship, and in top spirits if he Walk Like an Egyptian dance moves is anything to go by.
KIMI RAIKKONEN
Had a very good Ferrari to drive, and did plenty with it keeping Vettel honest throughout the race, getting within a second at stages of the race.
There could be disappointment that it was another second place instead of a win, but he got to show his pace again, and a drought breaking win maybe just around the corner at one of his favourite tracks in Spa which is the next race after the Summer Break.
FERNANDO ALONSO
Given a track where the McLaren chassis could shine, and the deficiencies of the Honda power unit is not pronounced, the Spaniard promptly qualified inside the top 10 and within 1.3 seconds of pole position in 8th.
He lost out to Carlos Sainz at the start, and tried in vain to steal the 6th spot from Carlos Sainz after the Safety Car. Eventually he made it in front of his countryman, and finished best of the rest in 6th place, and was the last car to stay on the same lap as the top 5 cars.
Alonso got a very useful haul of points for the team, and a bonus that Stoffel Vandoorne also got points after he finished in 10th.
The quality of his drive was underlined by his setting the fastest lap of the race. An unbelievable achievement given some of the problems of the McLaren Honda in 2017. Once again you are left wondering what he could be doing with a faster car, or more reliable engine.
CARLOS SAINZ
Back to his best, and finished 7th behind Fernando Alonso, doing all he can to keep his name up there for any potential drives with bigger teams. Although there doesn’t seem to be many options outside of Toro Rosso for 2018.
PAUL DI RESTA
The ultimate bench player. Was drafted into the main commentary box to fill in for the ill Martin Brundle, and then on Saturday was drafted into the suddenly vacant seat of Felipe Massa at Williams, who pulled out after feeling unwell after P3 on Saturday.
Paul di Resta did an admirable job in Qualifying given his lack of experience with the car and complete lack of preparation. Out-qualifying anyone was some achievement, which he managed when he ended up 19th and quicker than Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson. He was only 0.8 behind his Williams team mate of Lance Stroll.
Did a very good job in the race, initially racing ahead of the Saubers, before settling at the back of the field as the strain of a race took its toll. Unfortunately he had to retire his Williams on lap 62 with car failure.
FERRARI
One-two, Team Leader extends championship lead. All good for Ferrari.
MCLAREN
Talk was McLaren were going to go well at Budapest and they did just that. Double points finish and fastest lap is as good as it gets for the McLaren Honda partnership so far.
THE BAD
DANIEL RICCIARDO
The Australian Red Bull driver has had plenty of luck in 2017, and he received none of that in his short Hungarian Grand Prix. Having been out-qualified by his team mate for the seventh time in 11 races, that very team mate ended his race at the second corner when he outbraked himself and understeered into Ricciardo. It broke his car and put him into a spin a corner later and out of the race.
A shame given Ricciardo topped the two Friday Free Practice sessions, and the track gave the Red Bull its best chance in a while to genuinely compete.
MAX VERSTAPPEN
Ruined his team mate’s race and hurt his own chances. Not one of his best. Late race pace showed just how much of a shame it was.
LEWIS HAMILTON
Not a bad race from Hamilton, but in the context of the season it wasn’t the best end result at a track where he has had success on in the past being a five time winner.
It was such a contrast to his extremely popular local win at Silverstone, as he was out-qualified by his team mate, lost a place to Max Verstappen and lost a lot of points in the Championship to his main rival Sebastian Vettel.
Given a chance to attack the Ferraris by his team allowing him to get in front of team mate Bottas, he was ultimately unsuccessful and then had to give the third place back at final corner, losing more points to Sebastian Vettel.
RENAULT
No points for the French team despite the best efforts of their drivers. Nico Hulkenberg qualified 7th as best of the rest, and Jolyon Palmer did a respectable job in 11th. A 5 place grid penalty was applied to Hulkenberg for a gearbox change and they were behind the eight ball thereafter.
They circulated outside of the points, and Nico Hulkenberg retired late on with car failure.
THE UGLY
SAUBER
Split by the Williams of Paul di Resta in qualifying, a man who had found out he was filling in for Felipe Massa between P3 and Qualifying.
They finished at the back of the field after eventually
They appear to have settled at the back of the grid, and one wonders if their change of mind from Honda to Ferrari engines from 2018 will be regretted.
RED BULL
Although it was a genuine mistake that Max Verstappen slid into Daniel Ricciardo, it will still be an interesting post race meeting to say the least.
Add the 10 second penalty applied to Max for the incident and Red Bull wasted a chance at a track where they were more competitive than usual.
MARTINI-CHAVES MEDAL FOR GURGLER BEST/WORST OF THE YEAR
Here is where we tally up all the good, bad and ugly for the season.
- 1 Point for Good
- 1 Point for Bad
-0.5 for Ugly
There are bonus points as below. Drivers/Teams listed below have received a good and/or bad-ugly. Those with an overall score of 0 have had good and bad. Those not listed have been mediocre and been neither good or bad all season.
ULTIMATE WINNERS AND LOSERS
Here’s where an extra bonus point is added and subtracted for the very best and very worst. Plus a valuable one point for the Free Practice hero of the weekend, to the driver that got a chance to shine where they normally never get the chance to in big sessions.
WINNER – Fernando Alonso. He may have been the last person on the lead lap and miles off the front runners, but sixth place and fastest lap is the best he’s probably going to get this season.
LOSER – Dan Ricciardo – taken out by team mate on Lap One, and lost a chance to be genuinely on the pace of the Ferraris and Mercedes and who knows what could have been achieved. He was ahead of Hamilton at the time of the clash.
2017 MARTINI-CHAVES MEDAL FOR GURGLER BEST/WORST OF THE YEAR
DRIVERS
6 Points – Fernando Alonso
5.5 Points – Valtteri Bottas
5.5 Points – Sebastian Vettel
4.5 Points – Lewis Hamilton
3 Points – Sergio Perez
3 Points – Felipe Massa
1.5 Points – Dan Ricciardo
1.5 Points – Kevin Magnusson
1.5 Point – Lance Stroll
1.5 Point – Carlos Sainz
1 Point – Nico Hulkenberg
1 Point – Esteban Ocon
1 Point – Pascal Wehrlein
1 Point – Jenson Button
0.5 Points – Max Verstappen
0 Points Romain Grosjean
-1 Point – Marcus Ericsson
-1 Point – Antonio Giovanazzi
-1.5 Point – Kimi Raikkonen
-3 Points – Dani Kvyat
-5.5 Points – Jolyon Palmer
TEAMS
2 Points – Force India
1 Point – Mercedes
1 Point – Ferrari
0 Points – Haas
-1 Point – Toro Rosso
-1.5 Points – FIA
-2 Points – Red Bull
-2 Point – Renault
-2.5 Points – Sauber
-3 Points – Williams
-5 Points – McLaren
