After Race 10: Hungary

Ten down, nine to go! The F1 circus heads into its summer break after a sweltering weekend in Hungary. Who can head to the beach to relax? And who will be having sleepless, sweaty, nights as they lie awake wondering how to master this latest generation of Pirelli tyres? Let’s crack on...

Hamilton leads the field into Turn 1
Source: Crash.net

1. Sebastian Vettel (last week: 1^st, no change) (Season high: 1^st, low: 4^th)

A somewhat mixed weekend for Sebastian Vettel. He probably thought he had nailed pole position after throwing down the gauntlet with a scintillating early lap in Q3 but it wasn’t to be. Having then been unable to get ahead of Lewis Hamilton after the first round of pit-stops, his race was then ruined by Jenson Button – who was seemingly paying homage to the Trulli-train. However, despite finishing on the bottom step of the podium he still managed to extend his championship lead and it looks ominous for his rivals as the second half of the season features a quartet of Asian races where Vettel has proved so incredibly dominant over the past two seasons (seven wins from eight).

2. Lewis Hamilton (last week: 4^th, up two spots) (Season high: 2^nd, low: 9th)

One word: stunning. The 2008 World Champion produced a scorching performance to match the weather conditions en route to his maiden win for Mercedes. A mesmerizing lap in Q3 saw him edge Sebastian Vettel to his fourth pole position of the season, a result which left Lewis almost speechless. Then, seemingly against all odds, Hamilton managed to convert pole into victory with a superbly judged drive featuring crucial overtakes on Jenson Button and Mark Webber.

Hamilton secured a record-tying fourth win at the Hungaroring, ending a equal-career-high ten-race win drought
Source: Mark Thompson

3. Kimi Räikkönen (last week: 3^rd, no change) (Season high: 2^nd, low: 12^th)

No change for the Kimster this week after another fine Sunday afternoon’s work saw him leap above Fernando Alonso in the championship standings. However, he was once again let down by his qualifying pace and was comfortably outperformed by Romain Grosjean – who showed that a victory was possible.

Red Bull team-mates next season?
Source: Getty Images

4. Fernando Alonso (last week: 2^nd, down two spots) (Season high: 1^st, low: 13^th)

I could almost copy and paste what I wrote last week. Disappointing weekend for the Scuderia and they will not be enjoying the summer break. Note: Ferrari was fined by the FIA post-race for illegal use of DRS on three occasions during the race.

5. Mark Webber (last week: 5^th, no change) (Season high: 1^st, low: 15^th)

As with Alonso, a small copy and paste of “no change for the Aussie after a weekend of mixed fortunes” seems like an appropriate summation of Mark Webber’s final Hungarian GP. A multitude of technical problems saw him sit out Q3 but he made the inverse strategy work with a fine drive to P4.

6. Romain Grosjean (last week: 8^th, up two spots) (Season high: 6^th, low: 22^nd)

With the top five drivers fairly easy to place in this week’s F1 Power Rankings, best of the rest goes to Grosjean in spite of his two penalties. An excellent P3 on the grid, Grosjean’s race was also wrecked by Button although he then compounded it himself by effectively shoving him off the track as he overtook him. A fantastic overtaking manoeuvre on Felipe Massa came to nought as he was penalized for narrowly exceeding track limits and, just like the Nurburgring, this is another one that got away. Note: Grosjean was penalized 20 seconds post-race for the incident with Button.

 

Grosjean had an eventful race...
Source: Sky Sports

7. Nico Rosberg (last week: 7^th, no change) (Season high: 2^nd, low: 12^th)

A second consecutive miserable weekend for Nico Rosberg, who retains seventh place in the rankings almost by default after a solid first half to the season. An awful first lap saw him tumble down the order after contact with Massa from which he never recovered. His late engine failure rubbed salt into the wounds and it will be interesting to see if Mercedes will opt to designate Hamilton their #1 driver such are the relative championship standings of their two drivers.

Rosberg could not recover from his first-lap incident
Source: FOM TV images

=8. Sergio Pérez (last week: 10^th, up two spots) (Season high: 8^th, low: 17^th) & Jenson Button (last week: 10^th, up two spots) (Season high: 5^th, low: 16^th)

Once again there’s no separating the two McLaren drivers although JB comprehensively outperformed Checo in the race. As alluded to earlier, Button spent most of his race holding up the faster cars after their pit-stops, evoking memories of Jarno Trulli’s unfortunate hallmark. He had made an excellent start and ran strongly inside the points-scoring positions all day long as the McLaren seemed to perform better on these newer Pirelli tyres.

Sergio Pérez was quicker than Button in FP3 before crashing, and still managed to get his car into Q3 – for which he just manages to hold onto JB in the F1 Power Rankings. Unfortunately, it proved a costly error to record a lap on the medium tyres and it ruined his opening stint. His pace in the closing stages was not particularly inspiring either as he finished a lonely ninth.

10. Paul di Resta (last week: 6^th, down four spots) (Season high: 5^th, low: 17^th)

A stunning first half of the season from PDR has ended on a sour note as Force India have struggled in the last two races, failing to score a point. Paul di Resta failed to make Q3 on merit and, despite a good start, never threatened the top ten before a late hydraulics failure ended his race in sight of the checkered flag. All the momentum is with McLaren in the battle for 5^th in the Constructors’ Championship.

11. Nico Hülkenberg (last week: 12^th, up one spot) (Season high: 9^th, low: 19^th)

It’s a one place rise for The Hulk after a largely anonymous run to eleventh position. A drive-through penalty for speeding in the now slower pit-lane is probably the most notable thing to report.

12. Pastor Maldonado (last week: 16^th, up four spots) (Season high: 12^th, low: 22^nd)

He has had a miserable start to the season but credit Pastor Maldonado for finally securing Williams’ first point of the season – even if it was aided by Rosberg’s late demise. He looked surprisingly chipper from 15^th on the grid when interviewed by Martin Brundle and he was vindicated by his race pace. He improves by four places on his previous season’s best Power Rankings but will need to continue this form if he is to stay ahead of Jules Bianchi and co. Just for reference, he would have finished ahead of Nico Hülkenberg even if the German wasn’t penalized mid-race.

 

Maldonado holds off Rosberg in the early stages
Source: Williams F1 Team (Facebook)

13. Jules Bianchi (last week: 12^th, down one spot) (Season high: 6^th, low: 13^th)

I’m probably being a tad harsh on young Jules, especially after his heroic first half of the season. The Marussia was shocking this weekend – they were miles off even Caterham – as they struggled with the new tyres. Bianchi again did everything he could by obliterating Max Chilton all weekend; I’m still thinking about ranking him as high as eleventh but I’ll resist for now. The departure of Pat Symonds is a mammoth blow to the technical side of the team, although the deal for 2014 Ferrari engines provides optimism and a curious situation whereby they now have links with both McLaren and Ferrari.

14. Charles Pic (last week: 9^th, down five spots) (Season high: 7^th, low: 19^th)

Not quite sure what to make of Charles Pic’s weekend. As usual he outqualified Giedo van der Garde but ended up finishing behind him as his two-stop strategy lost out to VDG’s three. On a day with a high-attrition rate, the result means Giedo is now ahead of Charles in the championship standings. It’s a rather disappointing way for Pic to enter the summer break and, to make matters worse, Williams and Sauber have improved meaning that Caterham have slipped a bit further behind them.

15. Felipe Massa (last week: 15^th, no change) (Season high: 3^rd, low: 15^th)

No change for Massa after this difficult weekend for the team. Having made a good start, his afternoon turned distinctly average after the first round of pit-stops as he once again finished miles behind his team-mate, and even behind Button.

=16. Jean-Eric Vergne (last week: 20^th, up four spots) (Season high: 5^th, low: 20^th) & Daniel Ricciardo (last week: 12^th, down four spots) (Season high: 5^th, low: 18^th)

Well, well, well... What to say about Toro Rosso’s weekend? Like Force India, they seem to have really struggled with the change in Pirelli tyres. Fresh off his YDT appearance for Red Bull, Daniel Ricciardo again made it into Q3 but it was JEV who had the better race as the STR boys ultimately ended up within a second of Hülkenberg. Ricciardo seems to be the popular choice in the paddock for the RBR seat although it has to be said that Vergne not getting a fair shot in the car is a shame. For what it’s worth, I hope it is an STR driver that ‘graduates’ into the main team as it justifies running their Junior program. It would also make place for Antonio Felix da Costa and, then, Carlos Sainz, Jr.

18. Giedo van der Garde (last week: 21^st, up three spots) (Season high: 17^th, low: 22^nd)

VDG reaches the summer break in a solid rank of eighteenth after an excellent drive in the searing Hungarian mid-summer heat which, as mentioned earlier, sees him move above Pic in the championship standings.

19. Adrian Sutil (last week: 18^th, down one spot) (Season high: 5^th, low: 20^th)

As is the case with several other drivers, Adrian Sutil enters the summer hiatus on a downbeat note. Having just missed out on Q3 after thrashing di Resta, Sutil found himself behind his team-mate after the first lap and floundered in the midfield until he too was scuppered by a hydraulics failure.

 

Sutil endured a tough 100th GP
Source: Sahara Force India Formula One Team (Facebook)

20. Valtteri Bottas (last week: 16^th, down four spots) (Season high: 10^th, low: 20^th)

Before I talk about his race, it has to be made clear that the huge eight-place gap between Valtteri Bottas & Maldonado in the F1 Power Rankings really do not justify the young Finn’s performance this season. Evaluating the first half of the season as a whole, they are fairly well matched. However, the nature of Power Rankings means that momentum and recent form can heavily skew this. Bottas’ race was almost identical to Sutil in that he was mired down in the midfield before his hydraulics failed.

21. Esteban Gutiérrez (last week: 19^th, down two spots) (Season high: 15^th, low: 22^nd)

Guti slips to last-but-one in the F1 Power Rankings after another hugely anonymous weekend in his rookie season. Credit him for beating di Resta in qualifying after he had to sit out FP3 with engine trouble, but his race ended early with transmission failure. While he was not expected to beat The Hulk this season, it is disappointing just how far behind his team-mate he is.

22. Max Chilton (last week: 22^nd, no change) (Season high: 17^th, low: 22^nd)

No change for Max and not much to say as he brings up the foot of the rankings. Marussia had an awful weekend and Chilton was miles behind Bianchi.

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