2011 Hungarian Grand Prix Results
For the eleventh race of the season, teams headed from Germany to Hungary, to race at the famous Hungaroring in Budapest. The Hungarian Grand Prix or Eni Magyar Nagydij is a 70 lap race, for which Michael Schumacher holds the most wins, with four. The Grand Prix was won by Jenson Button – his second at the Hungaroring -, followed by Sebastian Vettel in second place and Fernando Alonso in third place.
Couple of milestones were reached at the Hungarian Grand Prix: Jenson Button’s 200th Grand Prix and Nico Rosberg’s 100th Grand Prix. Therefore, Button’s win was a nice celebratory bonus for him. The weekend’s practice and qualifying sessions were uneventful, with Vettel taking pole position, followed by Hamilton and Button. Sebastian Buemi qualified in 18th place, but had to move back five places, to 23rd, due to his five-place penalty from the German Grand Prix.
Drivers had to battle bad rain conditions at the Hungaroring, making tyre choice and pit stop strategy imperative. At the start of the race, it looked like Vettel was in good form, quickly establishing a lead for his pole position. Schumacher was looking strong, as he battled with Alonso for fifth place. But it wasn’t meant to be and he had to retired in lap 26 with gearbox problems. The on-again, off-again rain played havoc, as drivers changed from intermediate to soft tyres, when the rain stopped and then being caught out, when the track got slippery again with rain. This was an issue for Hamilton, who in lap 46 changed to super-soft tyres and then spinning out after a small rain shower, almost taking Paul di Resta out. This allowed Button and Vettel to take overtake him, but Vettel also struggled with the slippery conditions. The attrition rate was high, with four drivers retiring, between lap 17 and 55 – Jarno Trulli, Nick Heidfel, Michael Schumacher and Heikki Kovalainen.
It was only in the last 15 laps that it became clear that Button had made all the right choices. Hamilton succumbed to his wrong tyre choice, which basically cost him the race, although he was in the lead for most of the time. The drive-through penalty he received for almost crashing into di Resta also did not help. It was a deserved win for Brit Button in Hungary. Vettel seemed content with his second place, saying that he did all he could under the difficult driving conditions.
There seems to be no stopping Vettel, as he continues to surge ahead in the Drivers’ Championship standings. He remains in clear first place with 234 points, followed by Webber with 149 points. Third and fourth place Hamilton and Alonso are closing the gap with Webber, they are right on his tail, with 146 and 145 points respectively. Button’s win in Hungary gives him a nice boost in points, to 134, but is not enough to catch up fourth place Alonso. There are eight races left in the season and Vettel has an 85 point lead, but there are still a maximum of 200 points to be had in the remaining season. So, there is still plenty of room of manoeuvre and there will probably be a lot of place changes among the top five drivers until the end of the season.
Red Bull continues to surge ahead in the Constructors’ Championship standings. Their 2-5 finish in Hungary adds 28 points to their total, giving them 383 points – clearly ensconced in first place. McLaren solidifies their second place standing with a 1-4 finish in Hungary, giving them a total of 280 points. Ferrari also garnered some nice points, with their 3-6 finish in Hungary. they remain in third place with 215 points. Fourth and fifth place Mercedes and Renault are pretty much out of contention with 80 and 66 points respectively. Three teams still have zero points: Lotus, Virgin and HRT-Cosworth.
Full Race Results
- Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:46:42.337s
- Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing-Renault) +3.588s
- Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) +19.819s
- Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) +48.338s
- Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) +49.742s
- Felipe Massa (Ferrari) +1:23.176s
- Paul di Resta (Force India-Mercedes) +1 lap
- Sebastian Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) +1 lap
- Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) +1 lap
- Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) +1 lap
- Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber-Ferrari) + 1 lap
- Vitaly Petrov (Renault) +1 lap
- Rubens Barrichello (Williams-Cosworth) +2 laps
- Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes) +2 laps
- Sergio Perez (Sauber-Ferrari) +2 laps
- Pastor Maldonado (Williams-Cosworth) +2 laps
- Timo Glock (Virgin-Cosworth) +4 laps
- Daniel Ricciardo (HRT-Cosworth) +4 laps
- Jerome d’Ambrosio (Virgin-Cosworth) +5 laps
- Vitantonio Liuzzi (HRT-Cosworth) +5 laps
- Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus-Renault) retired, lap 55
- Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) retired, lap 26
- Nick Heidfeld (Renault) retired, lap 23
- Jarno Trulli (Lotus-Renault) retired, lap 17