Winner Daniel Ricciardo with second placed Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton in third
Hungaroring, July 27, 2014 – Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo has claimed his second career win to maintain his third place in the driver’s championship at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Ricciardo used a three stop strategy running the whole race on the soft tyres after having started on the intermediate tyre.
Fernando Alonso in his Ferrari held off his second place against Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who charged through the field to finish third after having started from the pit lane after a complete chassis, engine and gearbox from the previous fire in qualifying.
Both used a two-stop strategy starting on the intermediates with Hamilton then completing one stint on the soft and his final stint on the medium tyre. Alonso just used the soft tyre for his final two stints, changing for the second time on lap 38 and thus making the soft tyre last amazingly for 32 laps.
Daniel Ricciardo - I definitely feel like I belong here now and I’ve got confidence..
An important rain shower just before the cars were supposed to go on the grid provoked some hectic thinking for the teams’ strategists as the determined whether the full wet tyres or the intermediate would be the tyre to start on. After having completed some careful reconnaissance laps on either the full wet or the intermediate tyre before going to the grid, all drivers opted to start the race on the intermediate tyres.
A safety car period in lap 8 changed pre-determined strategies as the whole field except McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen, who stayed out until lap 15, changed to the soft tyre on a rapidly drying track. His team-mate Jenson Button was the only one to be given another set of the intermediate tyres, under the expectancy of further rain by the team, which did not work out for him in the end, finishing in 10th after briefly having been in the lead.
As rain tyres were used during some point of the race, the rule of having to use both types of dry compounds was no longer valid. This then made for some very exciting racing with positions being swapped constantly, not only at the top but all the way down through the field and various strategies being at play. At one stage of the race an equal balance of medium and soft tyres were being run.
Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull- WINNER-“Winning this today, it honestly feels as good as the first. It sank in a lot quicker this one, so crossing the line today I knew what was going on a bit more and it’s like I could enjoy it immediately rather than it being delayed, it was awesome. To have to pass guys again to win the race, as I did in Canada, makes it a lot more satisfying, knowing that we did have a bit of a fight on our hands – you beauty! In this environment now I feel, I am a different driver and in a way a different person, a different sportsman than I was last year. I’ve got a lot more belief in myself and it’s cool, I definitely feel like I belong here now and I’ve got confidence; obviously we’ve converted two races into wins this year so far and I think that confidence is showing. I’ve got some friends from Australia here this weekend, so the plan was to always have a few drinks tonight, so I think we’ve got an excuse to now!”
Fernando Alonso, second – Ferrari : “This podium means a lot to me and Fernando Alonso: the whole team, because after so many difficult races, we managed to get the most out of everything, also taking a few risks and second place seems like a win. To do 31 laps at the end on used Soft tyres was a great challenge. At that point, the strategy suggested that if we had made a third stop, we could have finished fourth, but we decided to run to the flag instead. This race shows that anything is possible when there are unusual conditions like today, with a wet start and the appearance of the Safety Car. We managed to make the most of all opportunities that presented themselves, taking the best decisions even at the most difficult moments. Sure, the characteristics of the circuit, with its limited overtaking opportunities, helped us and that’s why we have to be realistic and continue to work on the car, to improve in all aspects.”
Lewis Hamilton, third, AMG Mercedes-It is a great result today; I was just pushing as hard as possible to get as high as I could. It was obviously damage limitation after what happened yesterday. I can’t express the pain I feel when we have issues such as in the last couple of races; it’s hard to swallow and difficult to come back the next day and get the right balance between not attacking too much, but pushing to the limit. The two safety car periods helped quite a lot, but naturally I looked fast and had the pace this weekend, so there was an opportunity for more points. I was in the same race as Nico and if I let him past and he had the opportunity to pull away, then he would have come back and overtaken me. I didn’t understand why the team asked me to do that as he didn’t get close enough to overtake and I didn’t want to lift off and lose ground to Fernando. I would like to say a big congratulations to Daniel and Fernando. It was close at the end and it was getting very hard to keep Nico behind as he was catching at close to 3 seconds a lap. Coming back through shows how great this car and team is, and this result is much more satisfying than an easy win. Going into the break, I’m still in the fight for the championship, which is very satisfying.
