The Hungarian Grand Prix hasn’t always been the best race to send F1 into the summer break, but in 2014 the afternoon was action packed and delivered on every level. Overtaking galore, tyre strategy key, a handful of crashes and mechanical failures, and of course, the Mercedes teammates falling out. It felt like a long race but it was entertaining almost every step of the way.

Event overview

There was rain looming over both days of the race weekend, but qualifying kicked things off in the dry. Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes caught fire on his installation lap, bringing his session to an early conclusion. Kimi Räikkönen also dropped out early after Ferrari left him in the garage under the mistaken impression he’d completed a fast enough lap time.

The rain arrived for the final qualifying session, but it didn’t stop Nico Rosberg sweeping to pole position. Sebastian Vettel was second, with Bottas and Ricciardo lining up on the second row of the grid. Kevin Magnussen crashed into the barriers in the last few minutes of the session, meaning both he and Lewis Hamilton had to start from the pit lane as their cars were patched up for Sunday’s running.

Pre-race rain had dampened the track but the skies had cleared when the lights went out for the race to begin. Kvyat was left stranded on the grid during the formation lap and thus followed the two drivers out of the pit lane as the action began. There was a lot of early jostling for position, with the two Red Bulls losing out at the start, but Jenson Button gaining positions and Räikkönen moving up to 13th place.

Hamilton had an early spin which saw him tapping the wall and damaging the front wing somewhat, but he still managed to start making his way through the field. Marcus Ericsson crashed into the barriers in the Caterham, bringing out the safety car and providing the first opportunity for drivers to dive into the pit lane and change to dry tyres. The safety car period was extended after Romain Grosjean also crashed on the opposite side of the circuit to the Caterham driver.

Jenson Button opted to put on another set of the intermediate tyres, as McLaren’s weather data incorrectly told them more rain was coming. He later had to admit defeat and return to the pit lane for slicks instead. Teammate Kevin Magnussen managed to get all the way up to fourth by pitting later than the rest, but he soon dropped down the order again.

Ricciardo ended up in the lead, with Felipe Massa behind him. Rosberg and Hamilton were closing in. Meanwhile, Nico Hülkenberg attempted an overtake on teammate Sergio Pérez but crashed into the back of his Force India fellow driver. He retired straight away, whilst Sergio continued on for a while but then crashed into the pit wall on the home straight. Double DNF for Force India in Hungary.

The safety car came out whilst Sergio’s car was recovered, and when the action restarted it was Fernando Alonso in front. Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg were busy battling for position and the defending champion brushed up against the pit wall, but he managed to avoid any major damage. His incident released Lewis Hamilton, and Rosberg pitted to allow the Brit even further up the order.

It also allowed Hamilton to wind up in front of him later on in the race, and mixed messages from the pit wall made Rosberg frustrated that he wasn’t being let through by his teammate, and Hamilton angry that such a presumption was being made when the car wasn’t close enough to make a pass anywhere.

Ricciardo pitted for a final time which dropped him into fourth place, but he found his way past both Mercedes drivers and Fernando Alonso to take victory. It was close during the final few laps, with the gap ebbing and flowing but battles continuing to the line. There was only a second between second down to fourth place when the chequered flag dropped. Ricciardo won, with Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton joining him on the podium. Rosberg had to settle for fourth place.