Lewis Hamilton Dominates Hungary GP For Crucial Win

Image source: Octane Photographic

Lewis Hamilton won his first race of the 2013 season and his first for his new Mercedes team yesterday. The Brit dominated the race from start to finish after nabbing pole position from championship leader Sebastian Vettel on Saturday afternoon. He also managed to equal Michael Schumacher's record of four race wins at the Hungaroring.

The race win marked a break in Vettel's championship domination (finally!) and saw the Mercedes team leave for the summer break - for once - on the right foot. It also gave Hamilton something to cheer about after a turbulent month caused by his recent break-up with Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger - the subject of his recent trip to the recording studio (when's the album Lewis?).

Image source: Octane Photographic

While the Brit led from start to finish and benefited hugely from traffic and the introduction of the new - less durable - Pirelli tyres, there were plenty of other stand-out drives up and down the field...

Kimi Raikkonen, the 'Iceman' starred in race trim again - like the last round in Germany - after a poor qualifying position. For the second year in a row, Raikkonen used a differing strategy to his advantage and came into play late in the race after passing through the pitlane just twice.

Image source: Octane Photographic

The Finn also didn't hold back in his late race fight with Vettel for second place. Despite the two being mates, Raikkonen didn't give the triple world champion any room when he attempted an overtake at turn three, Vettel ending up on the run-off area for his troubles.

Vettel had to settle for third with team-mate and "not bad for a number two driver" Mark Webber rising from 10th on the grid to fourth place by the chequered flag. He also used a two-stopper to progress through the field with yet another quietly impressive drive in his final season of Formula 1 racing. Fernando Alonso - who could be involved in the battle for the vacant 2014 Red Bull drive if paddock gossip turns into reality - finished fifth after an uninspiring race.

Image source: Octane Photographic

Ferrari's lackluster weekend was topped off with a €15,000 penalty after Alonso's DRS - Drag Reduction System - was activated illegally on three occasions. 'RoGro' had a similarly illegal race. Romain "Bro, Do You Even Lift?" Grosjean got himself into a spot of bother once again, being punished for two separate incidents during the 70-lap race.

The first was a drive-through penalty for overtaking Felipe Massa with all four wheels being off the track. The second was a 20-second time penalty that was added to his race time for colliding with Jenson Button after a botched overtake. Come on Romain, get your act together...

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Jenson Button - who said he was a "target" for most of the race - finished seventh with Felipe Massa finishing in eighth after surviving an early lap collision with Nico Rosberg. Sergio Perez managed to steer clear of trouble (for once) to finish ninth with Williams' epic-fail of a season so far coming to an end with their first point of the year.

Both Force Indias retired with the same hydraulics problem and Rosberg's race came to a close with an awesome engine failure - although he probably didn't see it that way.

Image source: Octane Photographic

The Hungaroring has had its fair share of criticism over the years for producing rather boring race weekends. However, the critics were proved wrong with another dramatic and entertaining round of the 2013 world championship. However, Vettel continues to extend his lead and is looking extremely hard to beat.

Next up? A four week break before F1 returns to the formidable challenge that is the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.