2021 Hungarian Grand Prix F1 Star Performers

Esteban Ocon, Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly were RaceFans’ Star Performers of the Hungarian Grand Prix. Here’s why.

Stars

Esteban Ocon

• Revelling in the new chassis he got at Silverstone and on one of his favourite circuits, Ocon out-qualified Alonso by six-hundredths of a second
• Avoided the first corner carnage to claim second
• Was reluctant to give up his advantageous position in the queue but followed his team’s call to switch to slicks, which earned him the lead
• Edged out enough of a gap over Vettel in the first stint to protect his lead when the Aston Martin driver had a slightly slow pit stop
• Continued to resist Vettel’s pressure over the rest of the race for his first win

Fernando Alonso

• Narrowly out-qualified by Ocon and started one place behind him
• Ran sixth after the restart, stayed out later than anyone and briefly led, and gained places from Latifi and Tsunoda after he came in
• Brilliantly resisted Hamilton’s considerably quicker Mercedes for several laps, helping Ocon to victory as he did
• Fifth at the flag became fourth after Vettel’s disqualification

Pierre Gasly

• Left Tsunoda well behind in qualifying again and took a superb fifth on the grid
• Badly disadvantage by the first corner collision and fell to 12th
• Passed Schumacher and Latifi, then was waved past his team mate for sixth on the road, which became fifth
• Pitted for fresh tyres at the end and grabbed the bonus point for fastest lap

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Strugglers

Lance Stroll

• Failed to reach Q3 as his team mate did but was less than a tenth of a second slower
• From 12th on the grid he took out seventh-place starter Leclerc, putting both out of the race
• Was given the same five-place grid penalty as Bottas, which looked on the lenient side even given the conditions

Valtteri Bottas

• Having looked strong in practice he wasn’t able to out-qualify Hamilton, but ensured Mercedes occupied the front row
• Poor start dropped him behind several cars
• Braked too late, too close to Norris, and triggered a destructive four-car crash which earned him the same penalty as Stroll

Yuki Tsunoda

• Crashed – again – during practice, losing valuable running time
• Dropped out in Q1, over a second slower than his team mate
• Gained a massive 12 places at the start due to the crash ahead
• Slipped back from fourth to run sixth, then let his team mate past
• Turn two spin eight laps from home didn’t cost him a place

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And the rest

Lewis Hamilton

• In typically great form at one of his strongest tracks, out-qualified Bottas by three-tenths of a second for pole position
• Did Verstappen no favours with his track positioning in Q3 but Red Bull had no complaints
• Led away on wet grid but joint decision with team to stay on intermediate tyres at restart dropped him to last
• Came alive on hard tyres, making rapid progress through the field
• Took too long to find a way around Alonso – had he got by quicker, the win would have been on

Max Verstappen

• Surprisingly switched from medium compound tyres for softs in Q2, though pre-race rain meant it proved academic
• Despite the extra run on softs, qualified behind the Mercedes drivers
• Was blamelessly taken out at turn one and left with heavy damage
• Salvaged two points (after Vettel’s disqualification) but lost the championship lead to Hamilton

Sergio Perez

• Almost six-tenths of a second slower than his team mate in qualifying after being unable to complete his final run in Q3
• Hit by the out-of-control Bottas at turn one and retired

Lando Norris

• Was the only McLaren driver to reach Q3 again, taking sixth on the grid
• Made an excellent getaway off the racing line and was poised to gain places at the first corner
• Hit by the out-of-control Bottas at turn one and retired

Daniel Ricciardo

• As he expected, the Hungaroring proved a more challenge venue to match Norris’ pace at, and he was almost half a second slower when he dropped out in Q2, missing the cut but seven-hundredths
• Was hit by Leclerc (who had been hit by Stroll) at turn one, suffering heavy damage
• Said his “tyres were gone” at the end of the race when he was passed by Verstappen and Raikkonen, dropping him out of the points

Sebastian Vettel

• Beat Stroll into Q3
• Said he didn’t make a very good start, but emerged from the first-corner carnage in third place
• That became second after Hamilton’s pit lane error
• Lost his chance to jump ahead of Ocon at his pit stop when he inadvertently triggered his engine’s anti-stall
• Pushed Ocon all the way home, got close to passing while lapping Giovinazzi, but had to settle for second
• Was disqualified after the stewards were unable to take a one-litre sample of fuel from his car after the race

Charles Leclerc

• Disappointed to qualifying seventh, less than a tenth of a second away from fourth
• Was even less impressed when Stroll came from a long way back and took him out of the race at the first corner

Carlos Sainz Jnr

• Spun into a barrier in Q2, which he blamed on a gust of wind, and started 15th
• Shot up to fifth in the early stages thanks to the first corner pile-up
• Gained places from Tsunoda and Latifi through the pits but couldn’t keep Hamilton behind
• Vettel’s disqualification promoted him to the final podium place

Kimi Raikkonen

• Produced one of his better qualifying performances of recent races, reaching Q2 and narrowly beating Giovinazzi
• Stayed out of trouble at the start to run eighth
• Did not stay out of trouble in the pits, colliding with Mazepin and earning a penalty
• Ran wide at turn three immediately after rejoining the track on slicks, losing a place to Alonso
• Time penalty dropped him to last, but he passed Ricciardo for what turned out to be the final point

Antonio Giovinazzi

• Like his team mate, Giovinazzi also collided with a rival in the pits, tangling with Stroll during practice
• Gambled on a switch to medium tyres before the initial start, but it proved too wet and he switched back to intermediates
• Joined the rest of the field (bar Hamilton) in doing the same immediately before the restart
• Significantly broke the 80kph pit lane speed limit – by 25.
  6kph – earning a 10-second stop-go penalty which ruined his race

Mick Schumacher

• As in Monaco, a heavy crash in final practice prevented him from taking part in qualifying
• Redeemed himself in the race, showing real verve as he briefly scrapped with the likes of Verstappen and Hamilton, and ran as high as eighth
• Slipped to 13th by the flag, though was able to keep Giovinazzi behind

Nikita Mazepin

• Was some way off his team mate in practice, but no qualifying comparison was possible as Schumacher did not take part
• Fell behind his team mate at the start
• Race ended when he was hit by Raikkonen in the pits

George Russell

• Stunned to not only fail to reach Q3, but to drop out in Q1 for the first time this season, falling short of Q2 by 0.168 seconds
• Gained places at the start due to the crash
• Audacious attempt to overtake the queue at pit exit was outside the rules, but his quick-thinking team ensured he avoided a penalty
• Fell 17 seconds back from Latifi while stuck behind Schumacher, but was just a second behind his team mate when the chequered flag fell, earning his first points of the season

Nicholas Latifi

• Got within a tenth of a second of Russell in one of his best qualifying performances of the year
• Ran third for 17 laps after the first-lap crash and his switch to slicks
• Inevitably dropped behind the AlphaTauri pair and others
• Lost pace in the second half of his second stint, which cost him an opportunity to gain a place when Tsunoda spun

Over to you

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