Sebastian Vettel overcame a steering issue to lead all but one of the 70 laps en route to victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix, his fourth win of the 2017 season.
The German wasn’t the fastest driver on the track for much of the race in Budapest but with Kimi Raikkonen unable and likely not allowed to get close enough to mount an attack, the two Ferrari’s ran in line throughout to claim a second one-two of the season.
The start would prove important, in what became a processional race, as the top four got away fairly equally on the run to the first corner, the two Red Bulls would look to challenge and were able to sweep ahead of Lewis Hamilton on the exit of Turn 1.
Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo would then go side-by-side into Turn 2 and, though the Australian left space, the Dutchman would lock his brakes and slide into his teammate forcing him to retire and causing a Safety Car. Verstappen would be given a 10-second time penalty for the incident.
Further down, Nico Hulkenberg, who started 12th following his five-place grid drop for a gearbox change, and Romain Grosjean would make contact at Turn 1, with the Renault driver going unpunished.
It would be the start of a disappointing race for both drivers as Grosjean would suffer a slow puncture on his Haas, pit and then exit with a cross-threaded wheel nut forcing him to pull off and retire.
Meanwhile, Hulkenberg would be stuck behind teammate Jolyon Palmer, needing a team order to move ahead, before being involved in an incident with Kevin Magnussen in the closing lap at Turn 2, with the Dane pushing the Renault off track before he too would retire with two laps to go.
After the Safety Car, the race would settle down with all drivers struggling to stay close enough to the car in front. Fernando Alonso would try to pass countryman Carlos Sainz with the pair rubbing wheels exiting Turn 1 but the Toro Rosso would hold off the McLaren driver.
As the first stint progressed, Vettel’s steering issue would become more noticeable with the four-time world champion having to drive with a little left-hand down to keep the front wheels straight down the straight.
That would allow Raikkonen to close up as the supersoft tyres lasted much longer than most expected, and it wasn’t until Lap 30 that Bottas would be the first of the leaders to pit. Hamilton would follow a lap later and then the two Ferraris as they held a good advantage at this stage.
The additional pace of the 2007 world champion would show as he emerged just behind his teammate after his pit stop but on the soft compound, Mercedes came alive with both Bottas and Hamilton closing back in.
Radio issues had hampered the Silver Arrows for the first half of the race but once re-established, Hamilton would make a call to be let passed Bottas, a request that was granted with the proviso of a switch back should Lewis fail to pass the Ferraris.
Though he quickly closed up, the turbulent air would be too strong and after some 20 laps of trying, the Briton would let Bottas back through on the final lap to claim third place. The minor risk came from a fast-closing Verstappen who made up the 10-second penalty he was awarded but would have to settle for fifth behind Hamilton.
Sainz and Alonso would continue their battle to best top midfield car and it would be Alonso who produced a beautiful move at Turn 2 around the outside, to claim his best result of the year by far in sixth place, even setting the fastest lap on the final lap too.
The Toro Rosso would be seventh with the Force India’s of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez two of the biggest gainers in the race, moving up to eighth and ninth from 11th and 14th on the grid respectively.
Stoffel Vandoorne completed the points scorers in 10th, as McLaren jumped ahead of Sauber into ninth in the Constructors’ Championship and the Belgian scored his first F1 point since his debut race in Bahrain last year.
But the weekend belonged to Sebastian Vettel, as the 30-year-old re-established a 14-point margin between himself and Hamilton at the top of the championship, also moving 33 points of Bottas in a much-needed boost heading into the summer break.
