The Hungarian Grand Prix was filled with drama and awe as 24 year old Alpine's Esteban Ocon, took the win for the very first time. “What a moment. It feels so good. We had some difficult moments that we overcame together with the team but what can I say? It’s fantastic. The teamwork all round – it’s been a fantastic day. Just a big thank you for the trust everyone is putting into me. We are back where we belong so that’s fantastic." He said after taking center stage at the podium.
Five hours after the race Hamilton was promoted to second after Aston Martin were unable to supply the required one-litre fuel sample from Sebastian Vettel’s car and the German was disqualified from second place, pending an appeal. With Red Bull’s Max Verstappen taking damage after being hit by Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas, Hamilton’s title rival could manage only tenth, promoted to ninth.
Before the last round at Silverstone Verstappen had a 33-point lead over Hamilton. As F1 goes into the summer break the world champion now has an eight-point advantage. Bottas was given a five-place grid penalty at the next round in Spa for causing a collision. Pierre Gasly was in fifth for AlphaTauri with his teammate Tsunoda in sixth. Nicholas Latifi and George Russell were in seventh and eighth for Williams and Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen in 10th.
For Ocon this was an equally impressive display. The Frenchman saw off a fierce challenge from Vettel. It was a superb first career win for the 24-year-old Frenchman who had Vettel barely a second behind him for almost the entire race. Vettel, meanwhile, told his team radio after the final lap,“Ah man, I tried, I tried, I tried the whole race. Following is so difficult. Sorry, guys.”