Hungarian Grand Prix LIVE: Lewis Hamilton wins to extend championship lead as Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas crash
Follow the latest from the final Grand Prix before the summer break
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Lewis Hamilton starts from pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix with championship rival Sebastian Vettel down in fourth after an action-packed qualifying session.
Two thunderstorms hit the Hungaroring that shook up qualifying, and brought the best out of Hamilton as he left it late to snatch pole away from Mercedes teammate Valttero Bottas, who starts alongside him in second. Kimi Raikkonen claimed third, having at one point looked on course for his first pole in over a year, meaning both Ferraris start behind the Mercedes’ at a track that is supposed to favour them.
Red Bull endured a nightmare day as Max Verstappen could only manage seventh, but at least he made it out of Q2 whereas teammate Daniel Ricciardo failed to do so, leaving him in a lowly 13th. Fernando Alonso starts 11th in the McLaren on what is his 37th birthday, looking to bounce back from another disappointing day.
Follow the live action below...
Please allow a moment for the blog to load...
What time does it start?
The Hungarian Grand Prix gets underway at 14:10 BST on Sunday 29 July.
Where can I watch it?
The race will be shown live at 14:10 BST.
Starting grid
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1min 35.658secs
2 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1:35.918
3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:36.186
4 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:36.210
5 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Renault 1:36.743
6 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:37.591
7 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:38.032
8 Brendon Hartley (Nzl) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:38.128
9 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:39.858
10 Romain Grosjean Haas F1 1:40.593
11 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 1:35.214
12 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:36.442
13 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:36.506
14 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari 1:37.075
15 Lance Stroll Williams No Time
16 Stoffel Vandoorne (Ned) McLaren 1:18.782
17 Charles Leclerc (Can) Sauber-Ferrari 1:18.817
18 Esteban Ocon Force India (Fra) 1:19.142
19 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:19.200
20 Sergey Sirotkin (Rus) Williams 1:19.301
Lap 1: Hamilton and Bottas make a very strong side and fall into line to lead the field into turn one. Vettel hangs it out on the outside of turn three and gets by teammate Raikkonen for third, while Verstappen takes both Gasly and Sainz and is up to fifth, which is brilliant for the three-team fight we wanted.
Lap 2: A disastrous start for Ricciardo as he's dropped four positions to 16th, and reports in that he's had contact on the left-front that, he thinks, was to his tyre and not the wing. It's even worse news for Leclerc though as he's pulled into the pit entry and is out of the race before the end of the first lap.
Lap 3: Replays of the start shows Ericsson clouting the front left tyre of Ricciardo heavily, and it's impressive that nothing broke there as the Sauber managed to get airborne. Leclerc managed to get himself sandwiched between the Force Indias that ended his race with damage, while Sainz and Verstappen also made contact on the exit of turn 1.
Lap 4: End of the lap and Hamilton already leads by 3.3s from teammate Bottas, putting him out of DRS range.
Lap 5: Ricciardo begins the recovery drive, but gets his first overtake effort wrong as he runs wide into turn 2 and drives off track, allowing the McLaren to remain in 13th.
Lap 6: This time Ricciardo gets it right as he launches up the inside of Vandoorne....but wait! Verstappen has no power, and it's yet another Red Bull retirement. What a nightmare this is becoming for the team as yet another Renault engine let's them down.
Virtual Safety Car deployed!
Lap 8: The VSC ends as quickly as it starts and we're back to racing conditions. Verstappen is furious with the latest engine failure, and his message back to the team expresses exactly how he feels with what I counted as seven swear words in there.
Smooth sailing for Mercedes so far
Lewis Hamilton leads the field into turn one
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments