Hungarian Grand Prix (2012) RESULT

With a dominant Lewis Hamilton on pole and Button just behind in his McLaren, will the 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix see McLaren dominate?

There’s no question, certainly on the evidence of free practice and qualifying at the Hungaroring for the 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix, that McLaren has found the speed it’s lost recently. Hamilton was streets ahead of the rest and Button close behind as McLaren showed they probably have the fastest car on the grid this weekend.

The start of the race was delayed whilst Mercedes mechanics pushed Michael Schumacher back in to the pits to restart his stalled car, and the extra formation lap resulted in a race a lap shorter than scheduled.

But when the lights did go out it was Hamilton who flew away – leaving Grosjean alongside in the Lotus looking like he’d started in second gear – and hit the first corner already with a good lead. Behind Hamilton, Button got a good start, passing Vettel, and Webber moved from eleventh to seventh.

And despite a concerted effort from Grosjean in the Lotus in the first half of the race and Haikkonen in his Lotus in the second half, Hamilton managed to hold on to the lead to take victory in Hungary and revive his championship quest.

Behind Hamilton Button did well in the first stint, but a change of tyres – and a change to a three-stop strategy for Button by McLaren – left the Brit struggling and he ended the race in sixth place.

Between Hamilton and Button came the two Lotus in second and third, the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel in fourth and Fernando Alonso in fifth, which means Alonso actually increases his lead in the drivers’ championship from Webber who finished the race in eighth place behind Bruno Senna in the Williams.

It was a strong performance from Hamilton, and if Mclaren can just get to grips with tyre degradation it looks like the McLarens could dominate when F1 resumes in a month’s time in Belgium.

By Cars UK