Ocon takes first F1 win with victory at Hungary

Esteban Ocon has taken his first F1 win after an action-packed opening lap at the Hungaroring resulted in five retirements.

The French driver held off the challenge from Sebastian Vettel to take the honours at the Hungarian Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton recovering from a strategy mix-up to take third.

There was drama at the first corner as Valtteri Bottas went into the back of Lando Norris, punting the McLaren driver into Max Verstappen before collecting his teammate Sergio Perez, ending his own race, as well as the Mexican’s.

Charles Leclerc was involved in a separate incident early on as he spun Daniel Ricciardo before coming to rest in the barrier, while Lance Stroll was also out on the opening lap.

Despite the damage, Norris and Verstappen were able to continue, but the Dutchman had substantial floor damage, and continued to lose bodywork after exiting the pitlane.

The race was redflagged on the second lap to allow the track to be cleared and for the teams to try to make repairs to the cars, but McLaren were unable to send Norris back into the race.

The rain had stopped by the time the track was clear, with all the cars heading back out for the restart on intermediate tyres, but everyone except Hamilton came into the pits for dry tyres at the end of the formation lap, taking the restart in the pitlane, meaning Hamilton was the only driver on the grid as the lights came out.

George Russell briefly held second, but only found himself that far up the order due to undertaking in the pitlane, so he was ordered to give a number of positions back, dropping him down to seventh.

As Hamilton came in at the end of the first lap after the restart, Ocon took over at the front of the field, and with everyone else having already done a lap on slicks, the seven-time champion rejoined at the back of the pack.

Nikita Mazepin’s day came to a premature end when Alfa Romeo released Kimi Raikkonen into his path in the pitlane, leaving the Russian with too much damage to continue, while Antonio Giovinazzi was also in trouble in the pitlane, picking up a 10-second stop and go penalty for speeding.

Hamilton was among the first to stop for new tyres, pushing hard on his outlap to undercut Verstappen and Ricciardo, moving him into the points.

Those at the front stayed out longer, with Sebastian Vettel coming in from second on lap 37 in a bid to undercut Ocon, but the German had a slow pitstop. It seemed to cost the Aston Martin driver as Ocon came in on the next lap, rejoining just ahead of Vettel.

Hamilton continued to make his way through the field, finding himself in fifth place and closing the gap to Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard defended hard to frustrate the reigning champion for several laps, but eventually the Alpine driver locked his tyres up, allowing Hamilton to squeeze through.

Carlos Sainz soon came under pressure for the final spot on the podium, and Hamilton cruised past him with a couple of laps to spare to seal third.

There were celebrations in the Williams garage as well, with both drivers finishing in the points, while Pierre Gasly set the fastest lap of the race.

Provisional classification:

1 Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

2. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)

3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

5. Fernando Alonso (Alpine)

6. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)

7. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)

8. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)

9. George Russell (Williams)

10. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

11. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo)

12. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)

13. Mick Schumacher (Haas)

14. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo)

DNF:

Nikita Mazepin (Haas)

Lando Norris (McLaren)

Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)