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The Hungarian Grand Prix may have ended in disappointing fashion for one Mercedes driver in Valtteri Bottas, but there is no doubt that his Silver Arrows teammate dominated the race from start to finish.
As he so often has before at the Hungaroring, Lewis Hamilton drove a near-perfect race en route to a record sixth win at the Hungarian Grand Prix, extending his lead over Sebastian Vettel atop the driver's standings in the process.
But it didn't seem so straightforward for the Brit before qualifying on Saturday. The Ferraris were certainly quicker under the sun and it showed after Sebastian Vettel's flying run during free practice number three, with Valtteri Bottas actually his closest competitor in second place.
But all that changed come qualifying and we saw the best of the Briton as Hamilton picked up a crucial pole position and turned into a commanding display during the race as was just witnessed. So how exactly did the World Championship front-runner pull this off? Here are five reasons:
#5 Rain during qualifying
The Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel may have been quickest during free practice, but the Italian powerhouses couldn't have had worse luck heading into the final qualifying session. As has been the case in Hungary before, weather played foul and it began to pour over the Hungaroring.
The drenched track ironically proved too hot to handle for Vettel and he ended up falling just short of his teammate Kimi Raikkonen in terms of lap time. Hamilton, on the other hand, took advantage of the situation and masterfully maneuvered his Mercedes to a 1:35:658, narrowly beating his teammate Valtteri Bottas in second and crucially ensuring it was Mercedes on the front grid. This would prove to be a telling moment come the race on Sunday.
#4 Ultra-soft tyres to begin the race
Both the Mercedes cars started the race with the ultra-soft compound tyres, the softest tyre available, and this proved important as the race went on. Hamilton was crucially able to get a good many laps under his belt before he finally entered the pits, leading to a one-stop strategy that practically won him the race.
Vettel, on the other hand, started on the soft compound, with an eye to go longer and pick up speed gradually, and perhaps even track position after Hamilton ran out of rubber. But that didn't exactly work, as Hamilton sped away at the beginning of the race and did enough after a pit-stop to keep himself well and truly ahead of the pack. The sheer genius of Hamilton or just good thinking on the part of the Mercedes team? You decide.
#3 Hamilton's pit strategy worked
It isn't easy to go an entire race on just one pit stop, but Lewis Hamilton showed that if you take good care of your tyres, even the ultra-softs can go a long distance. After using the softest compound to race away from the pack, the Brit used all his technique and expertise to maintain his tyres while also being able to set the fastest lap on many an occasion.
When he did finally pit, the Mercedes pit crew did a brilliant job in releasing him quickly and most importantly, gave him enough of a lead against Vettel to keep the hypothetical race lead. After Vettel decided to pit, Hamilton went straight through and used the soft compound tyres all the way to the end in a seamless fashion and made the race victory look simpler than it should have been.
#2 Vettel's slow pit-stop
Pit-stops can be key when it comes to a close race and the finest of margins can sometimes decide the outcome of an F1 race. Just when it seemed as if Sebastian Vettel was going to push this race to its last few laps, the Ferrari pit crew fumbled their way through the German's pit-stop, an error that cost him vital time and perhaps even a run for Hamilton's race lead.
While it was clear that Vettel was going to be on a one-stop strategy, a quick pit-stop and the added advantage of the ultra-soft tyres could have been enough to see him breeze past Bottas and ultimately challenge Hamilton for track position. However, that didn't happen and a slow pit-stop greatly benefited Lewis instead.
#1 Bottas brilliantly held up Vettel
Valtteri Bottas can consider himself very unfortunate to have finished fifth in a race he started at second. The Mercedes driver proved his worth from the very beginning and picked up the pace midway after a slow section in the race.
After Vettel's slow pit-stop however, he determinedly beat off the threat of the scarlet Ferrari of Vettel despite being on the harder of the two tyres and perhaps the slower of the two cars. Vettel simply couldn't get past Bottas which resulted in Hamilton opening up a significant gap ahead of the pair while in the clear.
Such was the pace of Hamilton thanks to Bottas' hold-up of Vettel, that even when the German finally got past his Finnish counterpart, he was still way behind Hamilton. Bottas' contact with Vettel, unfortunately, cost him a few places and the Finn finished in the fifth position.
