Sebastian Vettel dedicates Grand Prix victory to Jules Bianchi

This was the German’s 41st career win and his second win of the year.

Days after the loss of Jules Bianchi who had been in a coma since an accident at the Japanese Grand Prix last year, Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari brought home a great win at the Hungarian Grand Prix today.

“We know that sooner or later Jules would have been a part of this team”.

“Mentioning Senna’s record is something incredible”.

“Considering how bad it was, the one thing I can take in my heart is I never gave up”. “We know it has been an incredibly tough week, and for all of us very hard, so this one is for him”.

Before the race his parents, Philippe and Christine, and his brother and sister, Tom and Melanie, were flown in by Bernie Ecclestone.

“Honestly, this is the first day I’ve felt a bit odd before the race this morning”.

“I could have done a way better job today and then I would not have even been in this position”.

Fernando Alonso and teammate Jenson Button took their new McLaren-Hondas to fifth and ninth places respectively, for their first points finish.

The deployment of the safety vehicle, after Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg had crashed, further bunched up the leaders and helped his hand. “To be honest the move was late but it was clean”. I don’t generally try to rely on luck.

Although Vettel remains 42 points behind Hamilton in the title race, Ferrari will see chinks in the Mercedes armor. “It was close”, Rosberg said. I am not like “thank God” or “good” or anything like that. For the first time in many races, Mercedes was not on the podium at all after an F1 grand prix. “In the end, it’s damage limitation in terms of points for the Championship so I just need to take the positives into the summer and bounce back in Spa”.

“It was one of the worst races I think I’ve had and I don’t really have any explanation for it at the moment”, Hamilton said. “This race was a reminder why drivers and fans are so in thrall to a sport that can offer such excitement and thrilling endeavour”.

He finished a distant sixth in a topsy-turvey race won by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

Vettel got ahead as Hamilton dropped behind, and Raikkonen then got on the inside of Rosberg, prompting delirious scenes in the Ferrari garage as mechanics jumped up and down.

Hamilton made light of that with a series of fast and flawless laps to leave his rivals floundering in pursuit.

There weren’t any other major dramas but it was an unfortunate day for Williams drivers Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa.

Hamilton came back with a number of daring passes, moving up to fourth by the middle of the race.

Up ahead, the Ferraris were pulling away from Rosberg and Hamilton was still a massive 30 seconds behind Vettel by lap 17.

“They were very strict on driving”, said Maldonado, who was given three penalties.

Hamilton, already fourth, went wide at the chicane on the first lap and fell down to 10th.

With Vettel and Raikkonen pulling away from Rosberg at the front of the field, it was Hamilton who would provide the entertainment. The two drivers surged down the outside into turn one, with Vettel taking the lead and Raikkonen getting track position to push Rosberg into third on turn two.

But Rosberg’s fortunes changed in the most dramatic of circumstances following a late collision with Daniel Ricciardo. The German was mercifully unhurt. “Our auto is still awesome”. “It obviously made it a lot more interesting in the end”. Lewis Hamilton crossed the finish line sixth while Nico Rosberg followed in the eighth place. The British driver’s misery was compounded with a drivethrough penalty. Five laps later, those hopes were dashed.