2017 Hungarian Grand Prix


The 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race that took place on 30 July 2017 at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród, Hungary. The 2017 event was the 32nd time that the race has been run as a World Championship event since the inaugural season in, every single time at the Hungaroring.
Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel entered the round leading the World Drivers' Championship by one point ahead of Mercedes's Lewis Hamilton. In the World Constructors' Championship, Mercedes led Ferrari by fifty-five points.

Report

Background

replaced Felipe Massa at Williams after Massa was taken ill after free practice. Massa's failure to compete in the race broke a streak of 605 consecutive races in which a Brazilian driver contested a Formula 1 World Championship race.

Practice

went fastest in first practice, setting a time of 1:18.486. He was followed by the Ferrari of Kimi Räikkönen and the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton in second and third. In second practice, Ricciardo again set the fastest time followed by Vettel and Bottas. Saturday's third and final practice was topped by Vettel, with Räikkönen second and Bottas third. Vettel set the quickest time of all three practices with a 1:17.017.
Williams's Felipe Massa was taken ill after Practice 3. Massa had been unwell and dizzy on Friday but was certified as fit to compete in Practice 3 by the medical staff. However, Massa did not feel any better during Practice 3, and his seat was taken by Williams reserve driver Paul di Resta for qualifying and the race.

Qualifying

In Q1, Williams reserve driver Paul di Resta made his first start since the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix and quickly got up to speed with little prior practice. Di Resta's only experience in a hybrid F1 car consisted of 10 laps in a 2014-spec car and some laps in the simulator prior to the Australian Grand Prix. Di Resta qualified 19th in a car with Massa's settings, a performance that was described as "unbelievable" by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. Di Resta later admitted that he was "scared, nervous, anxious" about how he would perform given his lack of experience.
In Q3, Sebastian Vettel secured pole position with a time of 1:16.276. His teammate Kimi Räikkönen secured second place, thus giving Ferrari its first qualifying 1–2 in Hungary since 2004. Mercedes locked out the second row on the grid, Red Bull locked out the third row on the grid, and McLaren-Honda locked out the fourth row of the grid in its best qualifying performance of the season.

Race

At the start of the race, Vettel stayed ahead of his teammate and Bottas whilst Verstappen tried to go around the outside of Räikkönen and Bottas. Being forced off the track by Bottas, Verstappen went onto the curbs and was almost passed by his Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo. The teammates collided at turn 2, after Verstappen's tyres locked up. This caused Ricciardo's radiator to break, forcing him to retire. Verstappen subsequently received a 10-second penalty for causing the incident. Ricciardo condemned Verstappen and called the incident "an amateur error". Verstappen later apologised for the incident after the chequered flag.
The safety car was called out almost immediately to clear Ricciardo's stricken Red Bull car and clean up oil from the track surface. The safety car went in at the end of lap 5, and shortly after the restart Vettel started to notice his steering pulling left on the straights. He was instructed to avoid the kerbs and his lap times started to increase, allowing teammate Kimi Räikkönen and the two Mercedes to catch up.
Romain Grosjean pitted and was released with a loose wheel-nut. His car had to be retired and Haas F1 Team was fined €5,000 for releasing Grosjean in unsafe conditions.
Räikkönen radioed to Ferrari that he wanted to get Vettel to move aside because Vettel was having problems and Räikkönen was putting in quicker lap times. Ferrari ordered Vettel to speed up and Räikkönen kept up with him, and they both gradually increased the gap to both Mercedes cars. Hamilton was allowed past teammate Bottas and given 10 laps to use his engine overtake mode to try and get past Räikkönen. Mercedes promised that if Hamilton couldn't get past, they would switch the cars back.
With nine laps to go, Nico Hülkenberg was forced off track by Kevin Magnussen and subsequently had to retire his car due to issues with the brakes and the gearbox. Magnussen was later given a five-second penalty for his actions, which were described as "nasty" by Hülkenberg. Hülkenberg condemned Magnussen and called him "the most unsporting driver on the grid".
With Verstappen closing in, it appeared as if the switch back wasn't going to happen, but coming out of the last corner on the last lap, Hamilton slowed down, allowing Bottas past to claim the podium. Hamilton finished fourth, with Verstappen in fifth. McLaren-Honda got their first double-points finish of the season with Alonso finishing sixth and Vandoorne finishing tenth. This result moved them out of last place in the Constructors' standings. Carlos Sainz Jr. finished seventh for Toro Rosso. Force India got yet another double-points finish with Pérez in eighth and Ocon in ninth.
As a result of the race, Vettel extended his lead in the Drivers' Championship over Hamilton to 14 points. Mercedes's lead in the Constructors' Championship was reduced to 39 points over Ferrari.

Classification

Qualifying

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;Drivers' Championship standings
;Constructors' Championship standings