2010 Hungarian Grand Prix - Webber Accepts Seb's Hungaroring Gift

Mark Webber won the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday August 1^st, to reclaim the lead in the drivers world championship, before Formula 1 headed for its four-week summer break.  The Aussie accepted a gift from his team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who was awarded a drive-through penalty for ‘sleeping,’ on a Safety Car restart.  Mark’s fourth win of the season sees him now lead a group of five drivers, covered by a mere twenty points.

Vettel had started the race from a dominant pole position, and drove away from the rest of the opposition with alarming ease.  Any thoughts of a walk in the park for the German disappeared when Vitantonio Liuzzi dispensed with some debris from his front wing in the middle of the circuit at Turn 11.  As a result, the Safety Car was scrambled and only a late call from his race engineer saw Sebastian head for the pits.  Webber opted to stay out and try and gain a tactical advantage on Vettel and Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard having jumped Webber off the startline. 

He didn’t need the pace against Vettel, as on the restart, he followed the Safety Car closely.  Vettel backed up the pack, but was caught out by the quick decision to restart the event under green flag conditions.  Consequently, he fell ten car lengths behind Webber and the Safety Car, meaning his fate was ultimately sealed.  After receiving the drive-through, his frustration out of the cockpit could be there for all to see.  Afterwards, he was seething with rage, and at a loss to what happened.  Third place was not what he was expecting, especially after Red Bull’s annihilation of the rest, which saw them a full second quicker than anyone else all weekend.

Alonso took full advantage on Vettel’s misjudgement and held off the erratic German with the widest Ferrari possible.  He couldn’t match Webber’s hot mid-race pace and had to settle for 2^nd.  Nevertheless, it was more than what he could have hoped for going into the race.  Felipe Massa was a quiet figure in the background, in a lonely drive to 4^th.  On his first return to the circuit that nearly claimed his life in 2009, the Brazilian failed to capitalise on Vettel’s issue and punish him completely.  Ferrari will be disappointed that he didn’t, costing them valuable constructors points.

The talking point of a race that provided a lot of drama, but a lack of overtaking on the tight Hungaroring layout was the cynical chop by Michael Schumacher that his ex-Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello called ‘the worse manoeuvre anyone has tried on him in his career.’  On a radical strategy, the Brazilian had dropped to 11^th and was lapping three seconds quicker than the ailing Schumacher, who having his customary drive in the midfield.  Out of the last corner, the Williams had better traction, allowing Rubens to pull alongside.  Michael refused to give up, and pushed Barrichello millimetres away from the Budapest pitwall.  Barrichello made the move stick, and Michael has since apologised for the incident.  However, he has landed a 10-place grid penalty for the Belgian Grand Prix and received more hostile calls for him to walk away from the sport he truly loves.  

Mercedes awful day was capped by a $50,000 fine, for releasing Nico Rosberg back into the pits when his rear wheel was loose.  Unsurprisingly, the wheel flew off and bounced down the pitlane, causing minor bruising to a mechanic from Williams.  As Rosberg slithered to a halt on the pitlane exit, Adrian Sutil and Robert Kubica had frighteningly connected in the pitlane, ending the race for both drivers and earning Renault a similar fine for an unsafe pit release.

There were career bests for Vitaly Petrov and Nico Hulkenberg, with both rookies finishing in the top six after fine weekends.  Pedro de la Rosa produced a season’s best in 7^th, whilst team-mate Kamur Kobayashi came through from the back row to finish an impressive 9^th; Sauber’s first double points finish of the season.  However, it was a weekend to forget for McLaren, with Jenson Button lapped six laps from the end, finishing in a dismal 8^th and Lewis Hamilton retiring from 4^th place on Lap 24 with transmission failure. 

As Grand Prix racing enters its summer hiatus, Mark Webber has put himself in the pound seat, but with seven races still to go, anything can happen in Formula One and on the evidence of the 2010 season so far, it normally does.