The split in strategies between Mercedes and Red Bull before the Hungarian Grand Prix began came to naught. It didn’t matter that the Mercedes on the front row chose mediums and the Red Bulls behind them took softs, due to the downpour which hit the track before the race began, and allowed drivers to choose wet weather tyres.
Every driver therefore opted to start on intermediates – bar Antonio Giovinazzi, who peeled into the pits before the original start was given to fit slicks. Half an hour later, when the race was restarted following a messy first-corner crash, every driver also set out from the pit lane on the race restart with intermediates.But by now the track had dried, and all bar leader Hamilton pitted before the restart. After the first corner crash Hamilton looked on course for an easy win, but by the time he came in for slicks he was last, and it became clear we were going to see a surprise winner.
Worries before the race about whether it would be a one- or two-stop strategy disappeared due to the rain. Hamilton and Verstappen both found themselves having to work back up the grid, Hamilton’s efforts much more effective since his Mercedes was in good working order compared to Verstappen’s heavily damaged Red Bull.
The cars at the front of the race drove a much more ‘normal’ strategy. Had anyone chose to fit hards instead of mediums when they got rid of their intermediates, they could have tried running to the end, but the difficulty of warming up the harder tyres likely dissuaded teams from that gamble.
Once they’d inherited the top two spots, Esteban Ocon and Sebastian Vettel were in very close competition and needing to avoid being under or overcut in the pits. Both opted for long first stints, completing more than half the race distance before pitting.
Carlos Sainz Jnr, who ran in third place for much of the race, flew once he cleared the AlphaTauri cars but struggled severely with late-race pace after pitting relatively early. He was alert to the threat posed by Hamilton pitting, but powerless to keep the Mercedes behind when it appeared in his mirrors. Hamilton’s lap times, when compared to Verstappen’s, show the severe deficit the Red Bull was suffering due to damage.
Pierre Gasly took fastest lap on the final tour, pitting for soft tyres in the final laps of the race. However, team mate Yuki Tsunoda complained that Gasly wasn’t going fast enough after they switched positions mid-race and both AlphaTauri cars’ pace was quite variable, fighting in the mid-pack.
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2021 Hungarian Grand Prix lap chart
The positions of each driver on every lap. Click name to highlight, right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
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2021 Hungarian Grand Prix race chart
The gaps between each driver on every lap compared to the leader’s average lap time. Very large gaps omitted. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
Position change
| Driver | Start position | Lap one position change | Race position change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | 1 | 0 | -2 |
| Valtteri Bottas | 2 | ||
| Max Verstappen | 3 | -6 | -7 |
| Sergio Perez | 4 | ||
| Lando Norris | 6 | -9 | |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 11 | -3 | -1 |
| Lance Stroll | 12 | ||
| Sebastian Vettel | 10 | 7 | 8 |
| Esteban Ocon | 8 | 6 | 7 |
| Fernando Alonso | 9 | 2 | 4 |
| Charles Leclerc | 7 | ||
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | 15 | 11 | 11 |
| Pierre Gasly | 5 | -7 | -1 |
| Yuki Tsunoda | 16 | 11 | 9 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 13 | 3 | 2 |
| Antonio Giovinazzi | 14 | -2 | 0 |
| Mick Schumacher | 20 | 9 | 7 |
| Nikita Mazepin | 19 | 6 | |
| George Russell | 17 | 9 | 8 |
| Nicholas Latifi | 18 | 12 | 10 |
2021 Hungarian Grand Prix lap times
All the lap times by the drivers (in seconds, very slow laps excluded). Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and toggle drivers using the control below:
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2021 Hungarian Grand Prix fastest laps
Each driver’s fastest lap:
| Rank | Driver | Car | Fastest lap | Gap | On lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1’18.394 | 70 | |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’18.715 | 0.321 | 49 |
| 3 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine-Renault | 1’20.359 | 1.965 | 41 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda | 1’20.945 | 2.551 | 43 |
| 5 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 1’21.421 | 3.027 | 54 |
| 6 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 1’21.423 | 3.029 | 54 |
| 7 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1’21.459 | 3.065 | 60 |
| 8 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’21.518 | 3.124 | 58 |
| 9 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 1’22.112 | 3.718 | 62 |
| 10 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1’22.450 | 4.056 | 43 |
| 11 | Mick Schumacher | Haas-Ferrari | 1’22.711 | 4.317 | 44 |
| 12 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’22.736 | 4.342 | 44 |
| 13 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’22.802 | 4.408 | 58 |
| 14 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 1’22.831 | 4.437 | 62 |
| 15 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 3’06.733 | 108.339 | 2 |
| 16 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas-Ferrari | 3’09.487 | 111.093 | 2 |
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2021 Hungarian Grand Prix tyre strategies
The tyre strategies for each driver:
| Stint 1 | Stint 2 | Stint 3 | Stint 4 | Stint 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Esteban Ocon | Intermediate (3) | C3 (34) | C2 (33) | ||
| Sebastian Vettel | Intermediate (3) | C3 (33) | C2 (34) | ||
| Lewis Hamilton | Intermediate (2) | Intermediate (2) | C3 (15) | C2 (28) | C3 (23) |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | Intermediate (3) | C3 (29) | C2 (38) | ||
| Fernando Alonso | Intermediate (3) | C3 (36) | C2 (31) | ||
| Pierre Gasly | Intermediate (3) | C3 (27) | C2 (38) | C4 (2) | |
| Yuki Tsunoda | Intermediate (3) | C3 (19) | C2 (48) | ||
| Nicholas Latifi | Intermediate (3) | C3 (20) | C2 (47) | ||
| George Russell | Intermediate (3) | C3 (18) | C2 (49) | ||
| Max Verstappen | Intermediate (1) | Intermediate (2) | C3 (17) | C2 (20) | C3 (30) |
| Kimi Raikkonen | Intermediate (3) | C3 (12) | C2 (38) | C4 (16) | |
| Daniel Ricciardo | Intermediate (3) | C3 (17) | C2 (49) | ||
| Mick Schumacher | Intermediate (3) | C3 (31) | C2 (35) | ||
| Antonio Giovinazzi | C3 (1) | Intermediate (2) | Intermediate (8) | C3 (22) | C2 (36) |
| Nikita Mazepin | Intermediate (1) | Intermediate (2) | |||
| Lando Norris | Intermediate (1) | Intermediate (1) |
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2021 Hungarian Grand Prix pit stop times
How long each driver’s pit stops took:
| Driver | Team | Pit stop time | Gap | On lap | |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 20.848 | 40 | |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 21.047 | 0.199 | 20 |
| 3 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 21.172 | 0.324 | 53 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 21.208 | 0.360 | 47 |
| 5 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 21.295 | 0.447 | 30 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 21.516 | 0.668 | 19 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 21.523 | 0.675 | 39 |
| 8 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 21.543 | 0.695 | 68 |
| 9 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 21.623 | 0.775 | 20 |
| 10 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 21.642 | 0.794 | 37 |
| 11 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 21.731 | 0.883 | 4 |
| 12 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 21.819 | 0.971 | 22 |
| 13 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 21.874 | 1.026 | 33 |
| 14 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 21.951 | 1.103 | 32 |
| 15 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | 22.113 | 1.265 | 34 |
| 16 | George Russell | Williams | 22.186 | 1.338 | 21 |
| 17 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 22.569 | 1.721 | 1 |
| 18 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 22.703 | 1.855 | 36 |
| 19 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 22.704 | 1.856 | 23 |
| 20 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas | 23.715 | 2.867 | 1 |
| 21 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 26.573 | 5.725 | 1 |
| 22 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 29.191 | 8.343 | 11 |
| 23 | George Russell | Williams | 29.374 | 8.526 | 3 |
| 24 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 34.492 | 13.644 | 3 |
| 25 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 35.245 | 14.397 | 3 |
| 26 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 35.451 | 14.603 | 3 |
| 27 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | 36.457 | 15.609 | 15 |
| 28 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | 36.813 | 15.965 | 3 |
| 29 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | 36.899 | 16.051 | 3 |
| 30 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | 37.122 | 16.274 | 3 |
| 31 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 38.267 | 17.419 | 1 |
| 32 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | 39.081 | 18.233 | 3 |
| 33 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 39.522 | 18.674 | 3 |
| 34 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | 39.839 | 18.991 | 3 |
| 35 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 40.740 | 19.892 | 3 |
| 36 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | 40.882 | 20.034 | 3 |
| 37 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Ferrari | 42.786 | 21.938 | 3 |
| 38 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1449.259 | 1428.411 | 2 |
2021 Hungarian Grand Prix
- Ocon congratulated by past French F1 aces after breakthrough win
- Alpine doubt first win signals a performance breakthrough
- Vettel disqualification hearing to take place on Monday
- Why no one received a Grosjean-style race ban for the Hungarian GP pile-up
- Ocon’s “beautiful” late-stint pace was other key to Alpine’s breakthrough win
Mach1 (@mach1)
2nd August 2021, 0:05
A simulation I am interested in:
If Merc had pitted, would their box position rendered them unable to leave the pits while the train of cars passed by?
In which case they would have ended up last or near last even after pitting.
Red Bull are the second box, but Max was not at the front after the formation lap. Nor was Ricciardo who has the next box in the Mclaren.
If so, it seems Merc were in a unique situation where they were dammed if they pitted and dammed if they didn’t.
Add to that the frustration of trying to leave their box, I could imagine a scenario where Lewis ended up with a penalty or even collecting a car on leaving.
If it went well, they may not have ended up at the back, but they probably would have lost a lot of places.
So I can kind of see why Merc went super cautious.
Russell pointed out this whole scenario in his post race interview.
Thoughs?
AJ (@asleepatthewheel)
2nd August 2021, 2:37
He might have slotted somewhere in the middle of the pack depending on where the gap was. But there could have been a risk of an unsafe release. However, even if he came out dead last, he’d have been right behind Giovinazzi and in touch with the pack, as compared to 5-6 seconds he had to make up to catch up in race conditions.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
2nd August 2021, 4:16
If Hamilton had also pitted, resulting in absolutely no grid for the restart, would Masi have responded and called an extra formation lap, sending them all back around for a full dry grid start?
There’s no precedent for all of this really.
Also, the pit lane was chaos, and was potentially far more dangerous than Raidillon (referencing Saturday’s accident and debate).
Frankly impressive that we only had one unsafe release.
sumedh
2nd August 2021, 5:05
Don’t think Lewis would have come out last. If you notice the queue, you will see that the 2nd drivers of teams had started creating space for themselves by slowing down while entering the pitlane in order to avoid losing time behind their teammates. So that would have created an opening for Lewis to slot into once he was serviced in his pit box.
The first ‘2nd driver’ to cross Lewis’ pit box would have been Fernando and next would be George. So, I think he would have come out ahead of Fernando (best case) or ahead of George (next best case). Which would have made him P7 or P8.
Lewis would have won on a canter from the P7, P8 position.
Jere (@jerejj)
2nd August 2021, 13:07
@sumedh Mercedes’ estimation was he would’ve rejoined in P6.
Corey (@dragon86)
2nd August 2021, 5:20
Even if Lewis had to wait for the entire field to enter, he would not have been last. Many of those cars would boxed themselves allowing for Lewis to get back around them.
MarcusAurelius (@marcusaurelius)
2nd August 2021, 8:25
Well, this is a far more logical explanation than “The team thought it was going to rain”. Especialy when all the other teams thought otherwises.
rodewulf (@rodewulf)
2nd August 2021, 1:00
That Hungarian GP race chart looks like a spider’s web in the first laps! ;O It indicates how much of a good and crazy race it was.
I have an opinion
2nd August 2021, 9:15
The Williams cars confirmed their reputation as some of the hardest to overtake, despite their poor laptimes. Latifi and Russell had trains behind them.
Tricky (@tricky)
2nd August 2021, 12:25
When Max pitted the second time, he recaught Ricciardo in about 10 laps!
papaya
2nd August 2021, 12:55
I think Red Bull pit stop crew did a 1.85s pit stop or something for Verstappen yesterday. Amazing job they keep improving to break the fastest pit stop record, salute their determination.
Matthijs (@matthijs)
2nd August 2021, 14:13
Giovinazzi missed a massive opportunity here, if the displayed tyre strategies are indeed correct. He pitted in the warmup lap for slicks, but apparently decided to switch to inters after the first lap. Seconds later there was a red flag. During the restart he followed all the other drivers into the pits, only to be the only one to switch to inters. I have no idea why he did that, since he already was on fresh inters but the track was almost completely dry at the time.
rodewulf (@rodewulf)
3rd August 2021, 20:33
@matthijs Gio and his team probably had an overthought because of the pile up first lap accident. It’s a shame, because they got it right but changed to the wrong choice only to follow everyody afterwards, reaping only the onus of the gamble.