BUTTON WINS IN HUNGARY AGAIN
(Image taken from Formula 1)
The Hungaroring isn't most F1 fans' favourite circuits but it was the first circuit I ever got to visit back in '04 and it had traditionally been a happy hunting ground for British drivers, with both Lewis and Jenson having won here in the past. Of course the biggest headache for British F1 fans was that not everyone was going to get to see the whole of the 2012 season, the BBC could have done better in dealing with that mess but ultimately it's a sign of the times that we probably have to get used to less sport on free-to-air TV. In the meantime Jarno Trulli replaced Chandhoek at Lotus with the Italian returning for the first time since Silverstone, after the team did some experimenting. McLaren were certainly the form team in practice which was good to see. Time for another show.
In qualifying...well everyone made it under the 107% rule and all three Brits made it through to Q2 but Buemi wasn't so lucky. Q2 then say another smooth run from the McLaren guys who made it into Q2, di Resta miussed out by the skin of his teeth though, settling for P11. In Q3, Alonso was the first guy to set a benchmark but Lewis quickly beat that and as the session went on it looked as though we would see a Brit on pole but Vettel had other ideas and claimed his 8th pole of the season. Lewis had to settle for P2 for the second race in a row with Jenson grabbing P3, his best qualifying performance since Monaco. Certainly looked tasty enough.
Di Resta finished in 7th place, the rookie's developing skills finally coming together with reliability for the best finish of his career so far and the first time three Brits finished in the top 7 on a Grand Prix since Eddie Irvine, David Couthard and Jenson(then racing for the old Bennetton team) pulled that off in Monaco '01, back when I was doing my A Levels.
As for Lewis, well he and Jeson were duelling from the start with the '08 champion just about able to maintain an edge over his teammate before charging off after Vettel and taking him for the lead. Of course the pitstops were going to make things interesting but still, it looked inevitable that Lewis was going to win this one and start giving a real challenge to Vettel for the back end of the season. Then came a strategy blunder which saw him come in for inters only for the wet weather not to last, then he spun, forced di Resta off the road and was hauled in for a drive through to wind up in 5th. He still took Webber late on but 4th was gutting for him in the end but his title challenge isn't quite over yet.
As for Jenson though, well he may have lost the initial duel with Lewis and had to settle for 3rd for a bit but pitted relatively early and cruised his way past Vettel to leave McLaren dreaming of the 1st 1-2 of the season. Ultimately though that was not to be. Lewis felt the need to come in for inters, Jenson, did not and so it was the '09 champion that found himself in the lead. In terms of the chances of a British 2011 world champion, Jenson was the less than ideal pick but the bottom line still is, that despite everything, it was still a good day to be a British F1 fan. Jenson claimed his second win of the season and you can't get a better return to form than that.
So, the dust has settled and the championship now looks like this. Vettel still leads with 234 points. Webber remains 2nd on 149. Lewis remains in 3rd on 146. Further down, Jenson remains in 5th on 134.
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