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Ricciardo wins chaotic Hungarian GP

BUDAPEST, Hungary - Daniel Ricciardo charged to a thrilling 2014 Hungarian GP victory on Sunday (July 27), his second Formula 1 win for Red Bull, as a drenched track caused chaos among championship leaders.

Rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team mate and Drivers' championship leader Nico Rosberg reached a new peak as Hamilton rebuffed team orders to let Rosberg by into third place.

Mercedes said it would hold a team inquiry. Hamilton's success trimmed Rosberg's lead in the title race from 14 points to 11. Rosberg leads with 202, Hamilton has 191 and Ricciardo is third with 131.

HIGH-SPEED CRASHES

Ricciardo held off Ferrari's Fernando Alonso to take first place in a race which saw several high-speed crashes after a heavy downpour before the start changed the course of the race.

Ricciardo led twice before he fought back to recapture the lead with three laps remaining, following a series of daring passes.

Ricciardo's win was executed with great elan and confirmed him as a driver with the potential to be a future champion. Ricciardo won the 2014 Canadian Grand Prix in June and is the only non-Mercedes driver to have won a race in 2014.

Ricciardo said: "This feels just as good as the first one. It was a lot of fun in the last few laps, with the passing. I had to go for it."

FROM PITS LANE TO THIRD

Hamilton and Rosberg had a fierce battle on the track and via the Mercedes team radio as they tried to make the most of contrasting strategies in the changeable conditions.

Hamilton started from the pit lane along with Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat, who had stalled on the formation grid, and Kevin Magnussen, who crashed his McLaren in qualifying.

Hamilton was running with cold brakes in a car rebuilt overnight following the blaze, caused by a fuel leak.

Pushing to make up places, he spun on his opening lap and brushed the barriers at Turn Two.

Hamilton said: "My front left hit the wall. The brakes just gave up."

SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED

Another crash, when rookie Marcus Ericsson lost control of his Caterham, on lap eight brought out the Safety Car.

Jenson Button in a McLaren took the lead for a while but as the conditions changed he had to pit. This put Ricciardo back on top again.

Hamilton, sensibly, had pitted and was soon back up to ninth, within two cars of Rosberg, as the field, shuffled heavily by the rain and the Safety Car, began to settle again.

Both Force Indias were soon among the list of retirements. Nico Hulkenberg crashed out at Turn One, after clipping team mate Sergio Perez, and soon after Perez lost control at the final corner and spun heavily into the walls.

The Safety Car came out for a second time and Ricciardo pitted again from the lead, gifting Alonso the rarity of running at the front for Ferrari as the beleaguered Italian team struggled to end their poor form.

On lap 33, Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull car spun at the final corner and down the straight, saving himself from disaster by kissing the wall. Rosberg pitted, endured a problematic stop, and rejoined 13th.

Offered his chance, Hamilton seized it. On lap 34, he delivered a sublime pass round Jean-Eric Vergne in a Torro Rosso to take second and begin the chase after Alonso.

Alonso finally pitted again after lap 38 and Hamilton, from a pit lane start, took the lead. It lasted one lap before he pitted again, for medium tyres, rejoining fifth behind Alonso with Ricciardo leading.

'I'M NOT SLOWING FOR NICO'

On lap 47, Hamilton's race engineer Pete Bonnington warned him "Nico is behind and on the option tyres so don't hold him up."

Further warnings followed but Hamilton declined to heed them.

He said:"I'll let him through if he gets closer. I'm not slowing down for Nico..."

Rosberg pitted again with 13 laps remaining. He rejoined seventh and battled his way to fourth and finished half a second behind Hamilton.

Rosberg said after he had been told by the team that Hamilton would let him by. "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.

Williams' Felipe Massa finished fifth ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, in the second Ferrari, defending four time champion Sebastian Vettel in the second Red Bull and Williams' Valtteri Bottas.

Result from the 2014 Hungarian GP at Hungaroring: 
1 Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Red Bull) 1hr53min 05.058sec (average: 162.691 km/h) 
2 Fernando Alonso (ESP/Ferrari) at 5.200sec 
3 Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 5.800
4 Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes) 6.300 
5 Felipe Massa (BRA/Williams) 29.700
6 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari) 31.300
7 Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull) 40.700 
8 Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Williams) 41.000 
9 Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA/Toro Rosso) 58.100
10 Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren) 1:06.800
11 Adrian Sutil (GER/Sauber) 1:07.600
12 Kevin Magnussen (DEN/McLaren) 1:17.800
13 Pastor Maldonado (VEN/Lotus) 1:23.300 
14 Daniil Kvyat (RUS/Toro Rosso) at 1 lap
15 Jules Bianchi (FRA/Marussia) 1 lap
16 Max Chilton (GBR/Marussia) 1 lap

Retired 

Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) Sauber 37 laps 
Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Caterham  46 laps 
Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) Force India 56 laps 
Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus  60 laps
Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India 48 laps 
Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Caterham 62 laps 
Fastest lap - Nico Rosberg - 1min25.724 lap 64

Overall standings:
Drivers’ championship

1 Nico Rosberg (GER) 202 
2 Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 191
3 Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) 131 
4 Fernando Alonso (ESP) 115
5 Valtteri Bottas (FIN) 95
6 Sebastian Vettel (GER) 88
7 Nico Hulkenberg (GER) 69 
8 Jenson Button (GBR) 60
9 Felipe Massa (BRA) 40
10 Kevin Magnussen (DEN) 37
11 Sergio Perez (MEX) 29
12 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) 27
13 Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA) 11
14 Romain Grosjean (FRA) 8.0
15 Daniil Kvyat (RUS) 6.0
16 Jules Bianchi (FRA) 2.0

Constructors’ championship:

1 Mercedes 393
2 Red Bull 219 
3 Ferrari 142 
4 Williams 135 
5 Force India 98 
6 McLaren 97 
7 Toro Rosso 17
8 Lotus 8 
9 Marussia 2

Qualifying
First practice
Second practice
Third practice


Stay with Wheels24 for the 2014 Hungarian GP this weekend.


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