Ocon wins wacky Hungarian F1 Grand Prix; Hamilton takes lead from Verstappen

DPA Budapest Alpine’s Esteban Ocon won his first ever Formula One race in a dramatic Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, with Lewis Hamilton taking over at the...

DPABudapestAlpine’s Esteban Ocon won his first ever Formula One race in a dramatic Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, with Lewis Hamilton taking over at the top of the standings after more bad luck for Max Verstappen.Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel was second after most of the contenders were caught in a first corner crash. Polesitter Hamilton finished third after a hit-and-miss tyre strategy call from Mercedes with Verstappen only 10th in a damaged Red Bull.“What a moment. It feels so good,” said Frenchman Ocon as the rebranded Renault team took their first victory as Alpine. He missed the pitlane after the excitement of winning.“It’s fantastic, what can I say?” For the second race in a row, Verstappen was hit early on because of a Mercedes.A massive first corner pile up in the rain came when Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas shunted Lando Norris and the McLaren then crashed into Verstappen with other cars affected.Bottas was ruled out along with Norris, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, but Verstappen was able to continue with the race being red flagged and starting again.At the British Grand Prix last time out, seven-time champion Hamilton collided with Verstappen on the first lap and ended the Dutchman’s race en route to winning his home race.Red Bull mechanics worked hard on Verstappen’s car before the Budapest restart, after he lost his barge board on the right.As cars were in the pits, the rain cleared and the sun came out, meaning all cars except Hamilton then came into the pits for dry tyres after the second formation lap. Mercedes opted for Hamilton to stay out for a lap to try to build a cushion, meaning he was bizarrely the only car on the grid for the restart.Hamilton queried the strategy via radio when he boxed a lap later and then found himself last as he emerged from the pits.He struggled to make his way through the field so pitted again for fresh rubber after 20 laps, triggering Verstappen to box too.The British defending champion then ended up in front of the Dutchman as the tactics battle took another twist, with Verstappen’s car still clearly damaged from the early crash and struggling for full pace.Hamilton could afford to pit again after 48 laps. In the end the strategy decision to stay out at the restart meant Hamilton took over again at the top of the standings by six points but arguably it may have cost him race victory as he sought a 100th career F1 win.He had a great battle with old rival Fernando Alonso, who finished fifth and helped protect team-mate Ocon, before Hamilton got past and then claimed third.“It was a tough race and I had nothing left at the end. Considering how things went overall, we have to be happy with P3,” said Hamilton, who was again booed by some of the crowd.Bottas, whose future at Mercedes is under scrutiny, got away badly behind Hamilton on pole and Norris quickly came up his outside. The Finn struggled to brake in the wet and ploughed into the back of Norris, who could do nothing but crash into Verstappen and send him into the run off area.Vettel’s second place followed the same result in Azerbaijan this year as the four-time champion desperately tried to hunt Ocon down for his first win since Singapore in September 2019.“Man I tried, I tried the whole race. Following is so difficult,” the German said over the radio.The Budapest race was the last before a four-week mid-season break.result1.Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine-Renaul t) 2 hr 04:43.199, 2.Sebastian Vettel (GER/Aston Martin-Mercedes) at 1.859, 3.Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 2.736, 4.Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari) 15.018, 5.Fernando Alonso (ESP/Alpine-Renault) 15.651, 6.Pierre Gasly (FRA/AlphaTauri-Honda) 1:03.614, 7.Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/AlphaTauri-Honda) 1:15.803, 8.Nicholas Latifi (CAN/Williams-Mercedes) 1:17.910, 9.George Russell (GBR/Williams-Mercedes) 1:19.094, 10.Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull-Honda) 1:20.244, 11.Kimi Raikkönen (FIN/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) 1 lap, 12.Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) 1 lap, 13.Mick Schumacher (GER/Haas-Ferrari) 1 lap, 14.Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) 1 lapFastest lap: Pierre Gasly (FRA/AlphaTauri-Honda) 1:18.394 on 70th lapRetired: Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari), Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes), Sergio Pérez (MEX/Red Bull-Honda), Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes) all on lap 1; Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 3rd lap, Nikita Mazepin (RUS/Haas-Ferrari) 4th lapWorld Championship StandingsDriverscTypeface:> 1. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 192 pts, 2. Max Verstappen (NED) 186, 3. Lando Norris (GBR) 113, 4. Valtteri Bottas (FIN) 108,5. Sergio Perez (MEX) 104, 6. Charles Leclerc (MON) 80, 7. Carlos Sainz (ESP) 80, 8. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) 50, 9. Sebastian Vettel (GER) 48, 10. Pierre Gasly (FRA) 48, 11. Esteban Ocon (FRA) 39, 12. Fernando Alonso (ESP) 36, 13. Lance Stroll (CAN) 18, 14. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN) 16, 15. Nicholas Latifi (CAN) 4, 16. George Russell (GBR) 2, 17. Kimi Räikkönen (FIN) 1, 18. Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA) 1, 19. Mick Schumacher (GER) 0, 20. Nikita Mazepin (RUS) 0.ConstructorscTypeface:> 1. Mercedes 300 pts, 2. Red Bull-Honda 290, 3. McLaren-Mercedes 163, 4. Ferrari 160, 5. Alpine-Renault 75, 6. Aston Martin-Mercedes 66, 7. AlphaTauri-Honda 64, 8. Williams 6, 9. Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari 2, 10. Haas-Ferrari 0