Hamilton resists Lotus charge in Hungary

Although rain threatened the Hungarian GP, ​​the race was ultimately contested under the sun with warm temperatures, ideal conditions for the Lotus E20s which competed at the front throughout the race. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) thought he had done the hardest part by maintaining his pole advantage but the Briton was pressed by Romain Grosjean during the first two stints. The 2008 world champion managed to maintain the lead of the race by completing his second stint on medium tires unlike the Lotus drivers who had kept soft tires.

The situation evolved after the second round of pit stops, Kimi Räikkönen having extended his second stint to emerge alongside his teammate. The Finn managed to take the advantage in the first corner to offer himself a duel against the McLaren driver. But the Briton resisted the attacks of the Lotus driver well to win his second victory of the season after his success in Montreal (the 19th of his career). Romain Grosjean signs his third podium after resisting the meteoric comeback of Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) who had put on soft tires when making a third stop around ten laps from the finish and who only fell one second short of the podium. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) completes the top five by fulfilling his main objective of ahead of his direct rival in the Championship Mark Webber (Red Bull) who must be content with eighth place behind Jenson Button (McLaren) and Bruno Senna (Williams). Felipe Massa (Ferrari) and Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) complete the top ten.

Fernando Alonso, who turns 31 today, goes on vacation with a 40-point lead over Mark Webber. Sebastian Vettel is just two points behind his Australian teammate. Lewis Hamilton's victory allows the Briton to regain fourth place in the Championship with one point ahead of Kimi Räikkönen. There F1 will return to Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian GP on September 2.

Discover the analysis of the Hungarian GP in the next issue of AUTOhebdo, available from Tuesday in digital version for iPad, PC and Mac, and from Wednesday on newsstands.