My favourite race: Spa 1998 - 15 years on

By Simon Wright - Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

Formula One has been on a much welcome summer break and it has been a refreshing pause in a championship that has failed to live up to its promised potential.

Next weekend, the paddock gathers at what is the favourite circuit with many of the drivers, and that is the daunting Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.

It is my favourite track and favourite event too of the entire season.  You can forget your Monte Carlo, Silverstone and Monza spectaculars, Spa beats them all and a part of the sport is missing when the fraternity doesn’t travel there, like it did in 2003 and 2006.

The Belgian Grand Prix always produces drama and great quality, and none more so than 15 years ago on 30 August. 

The 1998 Belgian GP was one of the most dramatic, controversial and action-packed afternoons ever seen in the 53-year history of the world championship.  And it is my favourite Grand Prix of all-time.

It wasn’t an easy pick for me.  The overtaking fests of Suzuka 2005 and Shanghai 2011 were strong contenders, along with the gripping title deciders in Jerez 1997, and Interlagos 2008 and 2012.  However the Spa event of 1998 tops the list as it was sheer entertainment throughout.  It was a wet, filthy day in the Ardennes forest and it had a winner for Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

Eddie Jordan is sprayed with champagne by winning driver Damon Hill

After eight years of fruitless success, Eddie Jordan (pictured being sprayed in champagne) finally achieved his ambition of becoming a Grand Prix winner.  The colourful team principal saw his cars, driven by Damon Hill and Ralf Schumacher finish an amazing 1-2, in a day where cars were destroyed, drivers walked away from massive shunts and Michael Schumacher tried a boxing career which was halted by some feisty mechanics from McLaren.  Yep, Spa 1998 had it all.

Background to the event

The 1998 season was turning into a grandstand finish.  McLaren started the campaign with a massive car advantage.  They lapped the entire field in Australia, and Mika Hakkinen won four of the first six races to build up a healthy championship advantage.

Ferrari, chasing their first drivers’ championship crown in 19 years, and a constructors’ prize for the first time since 1983 fought back.  Michael Schumacher won three races in a row in brilliant fashion during mid-season, and had just produced a storming performance to outfox McLaren on strategy and sheer speed to win the Hungarian Grand Prix.  The momentum was with the German, who was trailing Hakkinen by seven points with just four races to go in the campaign.

McLaren were expected to set the pace in Spa, and did in qualifying with Hakkinen on pole position from team-mate David Coulthard.  Schumacher had to settle for fourth, behind an inspired Damon Hill in his Jordan Mugen Honda.  Meanwhile, reigning world champion Jacques Villeneuve did well to drag his horrible Williams machinery to sixth, considering he’d walked away from a scary 185mph bite with the Eau Rouge barriers during Friday practice.

Total carnage

Spa’s micro-climate has caused plenty of drama before, and it did so again on raceday, but this time, it was clearly going to be a wet race.  For Schumacher and Ferrari, this was good news as it negated McLaren’s car performance advantage around the longest circuit in Grand Prix racing.  Despite difficult visibility conditions, the race started under normal circumstances, only for the biggest multiple pile-up in the championship’s history to happen seconds into the race.

Hakkinen converted pole position into an instant lead, and Villeneuve made an unbelievable start to rocket into second place.  Schumacher was tardy away and slipped to sixth; whilst Hill bogged down badly and was passed by five cars before turn one.  

Spa 1998 witnessed one of the biggest first lap pile-ups ever seen

Accelerating away from the tricky La Source hairpin, Coulthard hit a slippery drain cover and lost control of his McLaren, smashing hard into the concrete wall.  The Scot was powerless to control his vehicle, as Schumacher, Hill and Heinz-Harald Frentzen slipped past.  The other Ferrari of Eddie Irvine wasn’t so lucky, as he was collected by Coulthard’s car, forcing Ralf Schumacher into the wall to take evasive action.  Alexander Wurz’s Benetton spun and was hit by the Prost of Jarno Trulli, while an errant wheel span Johnny Herbert’s Sauber down the road.  The back of the field had no chance, as with cars and debris all over the place, Arrows, Stewart and Tyrrell cars ploughed into the mayhem, making the track more look like a destructive derby.  Legendary commentator Murray Walker said: “This is the worst start to a Grand Prix I have ever seen in the whole of my life.”

When the accident stopped, Schumacher got his Jordan back to the pits, but no fewer than 13 of the 22 cars were terminally wounded.  Drivers started climbing out of their wrecked machinery, checking that their rivals were unhurt and started the climb back to the pits to jump into spare cars.  Amazingly despite the carnage, no drivers, marshals, photographers or spectators were injured, though a sore elbow did force Rubens Barrichello out of the restart.  With two badly mangled Arrows, Prost and Tyrrell cars caught up, Mika Salo, Olivier Panis and Ricardo Rosset were also forced to become bystanders for the rest of the afternoon.

Clashes between the rivals

It took a full hour for the track to be cleared before a fresh start could take place.  On the second start, Hill made a beautiful getaway and squeezed past Hakkinen to take the lead into La Source.  Schumacher went around the outside and made gentle contact with his championship rival, spinning Hakkinen around into the pack.  He was then hit by an out-of-control Herbert and it took both drivers out of the race.  The Safety Car was deployed to clear away the stranded McLaren.

Hill led the two Ferrari cars of Schumacher and Irvine, but only until lap eight when the German comfortably eased past the Jordan at the aptly titled Bus Stop chicane to take the lead of the event.  In typical Schumi style in these conditions, he started going several seconds quicker than the remaining runners.

Irvine disappeared from third place after damaging his front wing across the grass, and later spun off whilst recovering back up the order.  Villeneuve was another casualty, spinning off while on worn intermediate tyres.  The conditions had got worse as the afternoon progressed and Schumacher, with an advantage of some 45 seconds over Hill, came up to lap a struggling Coulthard.

DC had been hit by Wurz on the first lap of the new race and was clearly not comfortable with the handling of his car.  As TV viewers were told Jean Todt had requested McLaren’s permission for an easy pass to lap Coulthard, Schumacher was blinded by the dreadful visibility.

He ploughed straight into the back of the Scot, almost inexplicably, ripping off his front suspension and the McLaren’s rear wing.  It cost him victory and the chance of taking the world championship lead for the first time in 1998.  Absolutely furious and believing his safety was at risk, Schumacher threw his steering wheel out of his car in the garage, and charged down to the McLaren garage looking absolutely incensed.  What happened next has been debated by many since that day, but it is believed Schumacher remonstrated with Coulthard, accused him of trying to ‘####ing kill him’ and attempted to land a punch on Coulthard’s chin.  The McLaren mechanics and Todt managed to prevent this with some force, and dragged Schumacher away.  He looked furious, possibly regretting the thought that millions of TV viewers had seen him cracking under the pressure of the title battle.

Five years later, Coulthard admitted he was to blame for the unfortunate shunt.  He said at the 2003 French Grand Prix: “When Michael ran into the back of me, his reaction was that I’d brake tested him or tried to kill him.  The stewards looked at the data and I hadn’t braked, so it was just all brushed under the carpet.  The reality is that I lifted to let him pass me, but I lifted in heavy spray on the racing line.  You should never do that.  The minute I knew he was there, and I was told by the team that he was and was trying to allow him to pass me, I should have made a smarter decision.”

Fisichella’s torpedo

There was another dramatic incident moments later as Giancarlo Fisichella’s Benetton crashed heavily on the entry to the pitlane, smacking cones all over the place and spilling oil from his crushed Playlife engine onto the track.  Replays later showed an even worse impact than the one between Schumacher and Coulthard.

Totally unsighted by the trees and the glum lack of sight, the Italian ploughed his car straight into the back of innocent backmarker Shinji Nakano, driving a Minardi.  Once again, the driver was so lucky to escape injury as his car more looked like a torpedo after battle.

The Safety Car came out again and closed up the field.  Schumacher’s demise had gifted Hill the lead again, though he was being caught by his faster team-mate Ralf Schumacher.  Schumacher was widely believed to be leaving Jordan at the end of the season for Williams, and discussions began over how the Irish team should deal with this tricky situation.

Hill insisted over the team radio that the decision was upto to his team boss.  He said as revealed in a 1999 TV documentary: “I’m going to put something to you here, and I think you’d better listen to this.  If we race, if we two race, we could end up with nothing, so it’s up to Eddie.  If we don’t race each other, we’ve got an opportunity to get a first and second, it’s your choice.”

Call off the fight and a historic 1-2 was on the cards, but battle for the position and it could all go disastrously wrong.  EJ reluctantly agreed with his supposed number one driver and issued a controversial team order which destroyed Ralf, as he believed he could win.  Race engineer Sam Michael was forced to give his driver the bad news, and Ralf reluctantly accepted the instruction, but he clearly was not amused.  They had to keep pushing though, as rainmaster Jean Alesi was driving an absolute stormer for Sauber and heading for a shock podium.

With the instruction in place, Hill reeled off the remaining laps to take the chequered flag for the 22^nd and final time in his career.  It was his first Grand Prix victory since being dumped by Williams after his world championship success two years earlier.  Schumacher was second, ahead of Alesi, a very quiet Frentzen, Pedro Diniz’s Arrows and the Prost of Trulli.  Only six cars finished the race properly, though both Coulthard and Nakano also crossed the line after extensive repairs in the pits following their incidents.

Celebrations and aftermath

It was a day of celebration for the Jordan team who had battled so hard through the past seven years, and achieved only meagre results, yet had a lot of fun along the way.  It was the final glory day for Hill, who drifted into retirement a year later after a disappointing 1999 campaign.  

Sadly, Jordan went the same way after running into financial trouble as the major manufacturers such as BMW, Honda and Renault came into the sport and pushed EJ’s team down the grid.

Eddie sold up to Russian group Midland F1 in February 2005, and the team formerly known as Jordan is still going today under the guidance of Vijay Mallya and Force India.

Schumacher and Coulthard made their peace at the next event at Monza.  Despite winning the Italian race, he came up 14 points short in the 1998 title battle, as Hakkinen drove brilliantly to win the Luxembourg Grand Prix at the Nurburgring in Germany!  At Suzuka five weeks later, Schumacher stalled on the grid and another Hakkinen win wrapped up the first of his two world championships.  The Flying Finn walked away from the sport in 2001 and despite being briefly tempted to return at the end of 2004, wisely stayed away to keep his legendary status intact. 

The 1998 Belgian Grand Prix had it all when staying on track was a notable achievement.  It was a day where the fun and loving underdog conquered all and the 1998 event is still remembered as one of the most iconic events in Grand Prix racing’s proud history.  It is my favourite race of all-time, and I have the privilege of having the event on my laptop if I ever want to reminisce and watch it again. 

Fingers crossed that 15 years on, the 2013 event reminds everyone why Spa is such a great circuit and why Formula One isn’t all about dominant German racing drivers!

Categories: 1998, Belgium, Damon Hill, Jordan, Michael Schumacher

2013 IAAF World Athletics Championships review - Positives for many after a dark summer

By Simon Wright - Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

The 2013 IAAF World Athletics Championships came to their conclusion in Moscow this afternoon, and it has been a positive for the sport that has been rocked recently by scandals and cheats.  Some stars came to the Russian capital and enhanced their reputations; others fell by the wayside through injury and a loss of form.

Athletics has gone through a tough summer.  The Diamond League events have not lived upto expectations and the sport went through its biggest raft of drug scandals since the aftermath of the 2004 Olympics in Athens.  Not only that, but it involved some big names.  Former Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown, Kelly-Ann Baptiste and top male sprinters Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell were among those to test positive for performance enhancing drugs.  All four have been caught which does show the system is working and that cheats don’t prosper.  The sport will move on from these scandals and I personally hope the book and lifetime bans from athletics follow for these four former stars of the track.

For Team GB, a total of six medals in total might seem like a grave disappointment, but in a post-Olympic year, there is real hope for the next golden generation to ensure the legacy from London 2012 is in safe hands.  Statistically, the performance wasn’t as strong as the team that went to Daegu in South Korea two years ago, but there was one extra gold medal than there was in Asia back in 2011.

Stars of the squad

The stars of the Team GB squad were Mo Farah and Christine Ohuruogu.  Farah underlined his superiority as the most dominant long-distance runner as he backed up his tremendous Olympics double last year by repeating the feat in Moscow.  In 2011, he had lost out in the 10,000m final to Ibrahim Jelan of Ethiopia and on day one, the two could hardly be split again over the same distance.  However, this is Farah at the peak of his powers and he held on for the gold that was missing from his outstanding collection.  He successfully defended his 5,000m title too, despite the best efforts of the former dominant nations over these distances in Kenya and Ethiopia.

Team captain Christine Ohuruogu set a great example, and won 400m gold

Christine (pictured) was the Team GB captain and she took on the role with great assurance and confidence.  Often overlooked when it comes to taking the acclaim she deserves, Ohuruogu produced the finish of the championships.  In the women’s 400m final, her amazing surge in the final 10m saw her edge out chief rival Amantle Montsho from Botswana to win back the gold medal she’d last won at the worlds in Osaka back in 2007.  She also did it by breaking Kathy Cooke’s long-standing British record over 400m.

The 4x400m female relay squad were hurt by Perri Shakes-Drayton’s knee injury she picked up in the final of the 400m hurdles.  The quartet of Eilidh Child, Ohuruogu, Shana Cox and Margaret Adeoye battled on hard though to win the bronze medal.  Tiffany Porter finally won a major medal in the women’s 100m hurdles.  She ran a personal best to come home third in the final, as Australian Sally Pearson was denied the gold by the young American Brianna Rollins.  There was initially another medal in the men’s 4x100m relay on the final day, but it was taken away after an illegal changeover in the race, meaning it is the sixth time in the last seven attempts that the British male squad have either failed to finish or been disqualified from a major championships race over this distance.  However, the sixth medal came later for the girls in the women's 4x100m relay after France were disqualified, giving the youngsters a deserved bronze medal.  

Disappointments and bright signs

There were disappointments for the British squad.  Dai Greene’s defence of the 400m hurdles title he won in grand style in Daegu have been damaged by an injury-hit campaign.  He failed to make it past the semi-final stage.  Olympic long jump champion Greg Rutherford failed to qualify for the Moscow final after rushing back from a hamstring injury sustained in the Diamond League event in Paris and the performances in the field events were a major disappointment.  Only London 2012 bronze medallist Robbie Grabarz made a final and despite reaching the same height he achieved a year ago for bronze in the men’s high jump – he was only eighth in the final this year as the competition increases.

For the disappointments though, there were great signs for the future too.  William Sharman finished fifth in the men’s 110m hurdles final, and so did Andrew Osagie in the men’s 800m final.  The 4x400m male relay squad narrowly missed out on a medal to come fourth, and were cheated out of the medals by a Russian quartet who should have been kicked out for clearly running out of their lane in the semi-finals.  It was fourth too for women’s 1500m runner Hannah England, as she proved her credentials again after an injury-hit 2012 meant she couldn’t build on the shock silver she won in Daegu.  In the absence of Jessica Ennis-Hill through injury, Katarina Johnson-Thompson achieved four individual PB’s on her way to a superb fifth in the women’s heptathlon and Adam Gemili and James Dasaolu reached the 200m and 100m finals to show British sprinting is on its way back after a lean few years.

Bolt does it again

Another three gold medals for the king of sprinting - Usain Bolt

There was only one man who was going to deliver on a worldwide scale and I think you might have heard of him before.  He goes by the name of Usain Bolt.  The Jamaican (pictured) turned up in Moscow without a serious challenger and leaves with another three gold medals without being at his starring best.  He ran 9.78m on a thundery night last Sunday to regain the 100m crown he lost to an unbelievable false start in Korea in 2011.  Bolt backed it up in the 200m to cruise to gold, and he anchored the Jamaican team home to victory again in the 4x100m relay.  He now has eight gold medals in just three World Athletics Championships, and has matched the record of 10 medals in total at the IAAF event, held previously by Carl Lewis.  The only botch on the Bolt copybook was there was no world record this time around.  In fact, there was not a single world record at these championships, the first time in the world championships proud history.  Some good things have to end, as the American team might have scooped up 25 medals, but were beaten in the medal table to top spot by an inspired home nation.  It is the first time the Americans have finished off the top of the medals since being beaten by the same country in the 2001 edition in Edmonton, Canada.

Bolt will have to share some of the worldwide honours with fellow Jamaican sprinter Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.  She also won a triple gold, though her 200m title was overshadowed by a hamstring injury in the final for her main American rival Allyson Felix.  There was another discus title for the charismatic German Robert Harting and a fourth women’s world championship shot put gold for the awesome Kiwi Valerie Adams, who produced the most dominant performance in any individual event.

Some stars fell by the wayside.  Olympic 110m hurdles champion Aries Merritt produced a clumsy run to sixth in the final in Moscow, as team-mate David Oliver finally achieved a gold medal at a major championship after missing the London spectacular through injury.  The standard of the men’s hurdling was truly dreadful though, with many of the finalists preferring to clatter rather than jump over the barriers.  Felix Sanchez and Javier Culson disappointed in the men’s 400m hurdles final as they came a distant fifth and sixth which was won on the line by Jehue Gordon of Trinidad & Tobago in a dramatic dip for the line.  

Grenada’s main star Kirani James faded badly to seventh in the men’s 400m final which was won by main rival LaShawn Merritt.  Highly fancied pole vault sensation Renaud Lavillenie of France came up short in the final, having to settle for the silver behind surprise package Raphael Holzdeppe of Germany.  It was a horrific championship for France, who lost Christophe Lemaitre to a thigh injury in the 100m final, whilst Jimmy Vicaut struggled to recapture his Diamond League form and crashed out of three semi-finals.  The French only won one gold medal, and that came on the final day.  It was some medal though, as Teddy Tamgho jumped over 18m to win the men’s triple jump, and come so close to breaking the 18-year record held by Briton Jonathan Edwards.

Isinbayeva sparks controversy

The most popular gold medal though went to the Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva in the women’s pole vault.  While the atmosphere and lack of spectators inside the Luzhniki Stadium was a major let-down throughout the championships, it was electric on pole vault final night.  Isinbayeva held off challenges from Olympic champion Jennifer Suhr from the United States and Cuban Yarisley Silva to win the gold, though her outrageous comments about Russia’s policy on anti-gay laws left a bitter taste in the mouth with many in the days afterwards.  She said on Thursday: “If we will allow to promote, allow to do all this stuff on the street, we are afraid for our nation because we consider ourselves like normal, standard people.  We just live with boys with women, women with boys.”  Isinbayeva later claimed her comments were ‘misunderstood,’ but there was no need to make a remark like that and see the politics clashing with the sport yet again in Russia.

It was also a positive championship for the BBC.  Following the disaster that was Channel 4’s coverage two years ago, the Beeb produced extensive and great coverage of each event and even repeated the afternoon sessions in the evening on the red button for those like yours truly who missed the action live due to work commitments.  They proved again why the home of athletics is the BBC, and will continue to be so for the next six years.

Athletics has had much better years than it has had to endure in 2013, but it was a good and exciting spectacle in Moscow, and whilst there weren’t any record-breaking performances, some of the best cemented their place as legends while other youngsters came through to show why the sport is in safe hands.  

Next stop for the worlds is Beijing in 2015, with the next major athletics competition being next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, followed by the European Championships in Zurich.

Categories: 100m, 2013, Athletics, Captain, Christine Ohuruogu, Diamond League, Drugs, IAAF, Mo Farah, Moscow, Pole Vault, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Team GB, Usain Bolt, Yelena Isinbayeva

2013 Hungarian Grand Prix - Hungry Hamilton triumphs in beautiful Budapest

By Simon Wright

The British summer of sporting success continued this afternoon at the Hungarian Grand Prix, as Lewis Hamilton reminded everyone of his class to win his first race of the 2013 season.

The 2008 world champion has taken time to adjust to his new surroundings at Mercedes GP, but he showed his hunger on a circuit where track temperatures nudged 50 degrees.  The excessive heat though didn’t provide any issues on his tyres as he charged to a fourth victory in Budapest.

Hamilton overcame personal issues to win in Hungary once again

Hamilton (pictured) finished 12 seconds clear of the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen, with defending world champion Sebastian Vettel having to settle for third, but once again increasing his championship lead as the sport heads for its official summer break.  Jenson Button had an action-packed drive to seventh place, but it was a tough day for several teams including Ferrari who simply couldn’t live with the ultimate pace at the tight and twisty Hungaroring.

This event was the first since Pirelli went back to a new construction of tyre following the constant failures in the first half of the season, and it has to be said that they passed the test with flying colours, especially with air temperatures hitting 35 degrees Celsius on raceday, only comparable with races in Dallas in the 1980s and the 2005 Bahrain Grand Prix.

A sterling lap from Hamilton in qualifying once again meant he took his third successive pole position, and that was the first ingredient of a perfect weekend for the Stevenage-born driver.  He made a great start too and comfortably led into the first corner.  Fellow front row starter Vettel had a tardy getaway, but just managed to hold off the Lotus of Romain Grosjean, giving the Frenchman very minimal space to work with.  Further back, the sister Mercedes of Nico Rosberg went backwards.  After being squeezed out in the first corner shuffle, he had contact with Felipe Massa at turn five on the opening circuit and went off-track, leaving him stuck in the midfield in 12^th place at the end of the lap.

The option tyre lasted longer than many expected, with Hamilton not peeling in for his first stop until lap 10.  His lead was only slender over Vettel and Grosjean, but it was at this point that won him the race.  Rejoining behind former team-mate Button, he quickly utilised the strong straight-line speed on his Mercedes to pass Button a lap later into the first corner.  When Vettel and Grosjean rejoined, they got stuck behind the former double winner of the Hungarian event.

Vettel spent 12 frustrating laps behind the McLaren, and ended up conceding a costly 13 seconds to Hamilton, who was able to build up a gap and maintain decent levels of cooling and tyre temperature in the process.  During the battle, there was contact between Vettel and Button at one point, leaving the German with minor front wing damage.

Team principal Christian Horner admitted afterwards that this element of the race was what denied his driver a chance at a first victory in Budapest.  As quoted by Planet F1 afterwards, he said: “I think the most damage to us was emerging from the pits behind Jenson and not being able to pass him, then damaging the front wing.

“I think that released Lewis and put us back into the realms of Kimi.  Nonetheless it was still a very strong podium finish and we extended our lead in the Drivers’ Championship.”

Romain Grosjean and Jenson Button both had lively races

Vettel eventually found a way through on lap 25 as Button’s tyres lost their edge.  Two corners later, Grosjean (pictured with Button) tried to follow through but a clumsy misjudgement of spacial awareness once again led to contact between the two drivers. 

The Lotus man admitted he was at fault afterwards.  He told Sky Sports F1: “With Jenson I was a bit too much on the left.  The track goes narrow uphill and I was wider than that so I want to apologise.

“We were fortunate that none of us got anything (damage), so that was good.”

The race stewards investigated the incident, and Grosjean received a 20-second time penalty, though that didn't affect his final finishing position.

However, he did get a harsh drive-through penalty soon afterwards.  After an early second stop, he rejoined behind Massa’s sluggish Ferrari and pulled off what looked like one of the best overtaking passes of the season around the outside of turn four.

Television replays later showed Grosjean had put all four wheels off the track by a couple of centimetres, but that was only to avoid contact with his rival.  The stewards disagreed and handed him a penalty which ruined his chances of fighting for the victory.  He ultimately finished sixth.

With a safe 13-second lead, Hamilton looked strong and he made some bold passing when he needed to, including two decisive overtakes on Mark Webber who was running a different strategy after a qualifying session beset with KERS and electrical issues.

During the race, Hamilton was asked to change some settings on the differential, and the response on team radio was: “Hey man, I’m trying to drive here.  I’m happy with the way the car is.”

Mercedes were concerned about engine temperatures though and that was further highlighted six laps from the chequered flag when Rosberg’s engine blew up spectacularly in the 350^th Grand Prix for the German manufacturer as an engine supplier in Grand Prix racing.

Hamilton was unfazed though, and reeled off the remaining few laps with supreme control and confidence to take his first Grand Prix victory outside of his happy spell with McLaren.  It is his first triumph since last November’s United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.

It has been a tough few weeks for Hamilton away from the circuit.  He has been left devastated by the end of his five-year relationship with X-Factor judge and pop superstar Nicole Scherzinger, and he has been fairly open about the pain of the split on his Twitter account.  This was even more in evidence in an interview with Sky Sports F1 anchor Simon Lazenby after the team celebration photograph when he had to stop himself from breaking down after mentioning the continued support he had been getting from his family.

When a bit more composed, he said: “It’s an incredible feeling.  My team did an incredible job.  We studied things a lot last night and were hoping the tyres would last.  We had no idea it would go that well.

“I was hungry for it today, I was going all out.  Usually I get stuck in traffic, but today I was going for every move I could.

“For the last 20 laps it was then about managing the tyres, but this is one of the most important wins of my career.”

As Hamilton controlled proceedings at the front of the field, the battle for second spot between Raikkonen and Vettel intensified.  Raikkonen aimed at a two-stop strategy and had to do a final stint on the medium compound tyre of 33 laps.

He had to hold off a quicker Red Bull and he managed to do this, despite one close call in the final three laps.  On the podium, Raikkonen admitted: “I knew it was going to be pretty tight so I saved the tyres with 10 laps to go a bit.

“I didn’t have any doubts I could keep him behind, I had good speed in the last sector.”

Webber made the most of his slightly different tyre strategy to finish an excellent fourth.  That was a notable result considering he had to settle for 10^th on the grid.

 

Ferrari had another difficult day.  Fernando Alonso was hoping to give his country something to smile about after the tragic train accident in the country that claimed the lives of over 70 people in midweek.  However a decade on from his first Grand Prix victory, he was never in the fight for the win today.

Alonso revealed his chassis was “too slow” on both types of tyre and could do no better than fifth.  Massa struggled to eighth.  Ferrari are now the fourth fastest car in Formula One, and this event was the final nail in their coffin as far as a title challenge goes in 2013.  Alonso will never give up, but the car is lacking fundamental grip and the gap is looking too much, especially with strong Red Bull events like Singapore and India to come.  Focus at Maranello must now start shifting towards a more capable challenge in 2014.

It was another double point’s finish for McLaren with Button beating Massa fair and square for seventh.  Despite a crash in FP3, Sergio Perez did well to finish in ninth place, but did finish a full lap behind the winner.  Rosberg’s late withdrawal from proceedings was like gold dust for Williams.  It meant Pastor Maldonado crossed the line in 10^th place, and meant they finally achieved their first point of the campaign after the worst start to a season in their illustrious history.

Force India had an event to forget.  Neither car finished, with both retiring thanks to hydraulics gremlins.  Paul di Resta never got higher than 13^th following a disappointing Q1 elimination as the new specification of tyres seems to have hurt them the most.  There was another finish for Max Chilton in 17^th spot, but three laps down as Marussia slip firmly behind Caterham in the battle to avoid being the main backmarker in the sport.

We are now officially halfway through the 2013 season, and while it hasn’t been the most intriguing campaign thanks to political matters and controversial issues such as team orders, tyre failures and illegal tests, there is a championship still to win.  

Vettel still has it all to lose, but both Lotus and Mercedes still have chances to capitalise on any mistakes.  Lewis Hamilton will believe he does have an opportunity to overturn his 48-point deficit to Vettel after this win.  The next event is in four weeks’ time at one of the championship’s most spectacular tracks, the daunting Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.

	FORMULA 1 MAGYAR NAGYDIJ 2013 RESULT
Pos	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Reason	Grid
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes GP	70	+1hr 42min 29secs	1
2	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus Renault	70	+10.9secs	6
3	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing Renault	70	+12.4secs	2
4	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing Renault	70	+18.0secs	10
5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	70	+31.4secs	5
6	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Renault	70	+52.2secs	3
7	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes	70	+53.8secs	13
8	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	70	+56.4secs	7
9	Sergio Perez	McLaren Mercedes	69	1 Lap	9
10	Pastor Maldonado	Williams Renault	69	1 Lap	15
11	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber Ferrari	69	1 Lap	12
12	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR Ferrari	69	1 Lap	14
13	Daniel Ricciardo	STR Ferrari	69	1 Lap	8
14	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham Renault	68	2 Laps	20
15	Charles Pic	Caterham Renault	68	2 Laps	19
16	Jules Bianchi	Marussia Cosworth	67	3 Laps	21
17	Max Chilton	Marussia Cosworth	67	3 Laps	22
Retired	Paul di Resta	Force India Mercedes	66	Hydraulics	18
Retired	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes GP	64	Engine	4
Retired	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Renault	42	Hydraulics	16
Retired	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber Ferrari	28	Gearbox	17
Retired	Adrian Sutil	Force India Mercedes	19	Hydraulics	11

GROSJEAN PENALISED 20-SECONDS FOR CAUSING AN AVOIDABLE COLLISION WITH BUTTON, BUT KEEPS HIS SIXTH PLACE

Drivers’ Championship after 10 rounds: Sebastian Vettel 172, Kimi Raikkonen 134, Fernando Alonso 133, Lewis Hamilton 124, Mark Webber 105, Nico Rosberg 84, Felipe Massa 61, Romain Grosjean 49, Jenson Button 39, Paul di Resta 36, Adrian Sutil 23, Sergio Perez 18, Jean-Eric Vergne 13, Daniel Ricciardo 11, Nico Hulkenberg 7, Pastor Maldonado 1

Constructors’ Championship after 10 rounds: Red Bull Racing 277, Mercedes GP 208, Ferrari 194, Lotus 183, Force India 59, McLaren 57, Scuderia Toro Rosso 24, Sauber 7, Williams 1

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