Ocon holds off Vettel to claim shock maiden F1 win in epic Hungarian GP
The race was red-flagged after a chaotic start led to two major incidents at the first corner in tricky damp conditions, with Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas running into the rear of McLaren’s Lando Norris, who in turn hit Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.
Along with Bottas and Norris, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez were also eliminated in the collision.
A bizarre restart saw polesitter Lewis Hamilton line up on the grid by himself, as the rest of the field peeled into the pit lane to switch from intermediates onto slicks.
The decision proved to be a major mistake by Mercedes as Hamilton dropped to the rear of the field when he immediately pitted to change tyres at the end of the first completed lap of racing.
With Hamilton down in 14th, Ocon found himself in the lead ahead of Vettel’s Aston Martin and the pair engaged in a close scrap for victory throughout.
Vettel tried to pass Ocon a number of times but was unable to find a way past, while a slow pit stop also hampered the four-time world champion’s efforts to claim his first victory since making the move to Aston Martin.
Ocon ultimately held on for the entire 70 laps to claim a sensational victory ahead of Vettel, while Hamilton turned in a remarkable fight back drive to compete the podium and regain the lead of the world championship from Verstappen.
The Red Bull driver suffered extensive damage in the first corner pile-up and could only recover to 10th, meaning he now trails Hamilton by six points in the championship standings.
Carlos Sainz looked on course to record his second F1 podium for Ferrari but was denied when Hamilton passed him with three laps to go.
Fifth place went to Fernando Alonso, who turned in a typically brilliant drive on the weekend he turned 40 to play a huge role in helping Alpine secure its shock win.
The two-time world champion turned in an extraordinary defence against Hamilton for a number of laps in what was box office entertainment, with Alonso ultimately doing enough to halt Hamilton’s progress and deny him a chance of the win.
Such was Hamilton’s relentless pace that he eventually crossed the line just eight-tenths behind Vettel and 1.8s off the lead, but losing time being stuck behind Alonso proved costly.
AlphaTauri duo Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda were sixth and seventh, while it was an outstanding day for Williams as Nicholas Latifi and George Russell scored the team’s first points in over two years in eighth and ninth.
Verstappen rounded out the points in 10th place on what turned out to be a terrible final race before F1’s summer break for Red Bull.
Full results from the 2021 F1 Hungarian Grand Prix.
