Australian Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo has won the Hungarian Grand Prix for Red Bull on Sunday beating Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
The thrilling final saw the rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate and championship leader Nico Rosberg reach a peak as Hamilton nabbed third place and knocked Rosberg back to fourth, trimming his lead from 14 points to 11. It was only the second time in 11 grands prix that Mercedes was beaten for the title spot.
Ricciardo, 25, managed to held off Alonso who came in second in a race which saw several crashes after a heavy downpour just before the start changed the track conditions and the course of the race. “It feels as good as the first win, it really does,” said the Australian, reports Reuters.
“The safety car at first played to our advantage but the second one didn’t really help us, but we got there in the end and I had to do the overtaking at the end which was fun.” The young driver won the Canadian Grand Prix in June and is the only non-Mercedes driver to have won a race this year.
Reports the AFP, Hamilton and Rosberg battled each other with contrasting strategies as the track’s conditions changed. Hamilton reportedly disregarded calls from the team to let Rosberg pass because the German still had one more pitstop to make and eventually seized a podium finish.
Rosberg said he was told after by the team that Hamilton would let him pass. “I don’t know what happened,” he said, saying it would have to be discussed “internally”. Mercedes cheif Toto Wolff said there would be “no knee-jerk reaction” to Hamilton’s actions and there would be an internal inquiry.
