Staff Reporter.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon took a maiden Formula 1 victory in an extraordinary and madcap Hungarian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton regained the world championship lead for the first time since May after fighting back to third place after being last five laps into the race.
His title rival Max Verstappen was a victim of an incident-strewn wet start but managed to salvage a point for 10th place in a badly damaged Red Bull.
A race featuring an opening first few laps among the craziest in Formula 1 history left Hamilton with a six-point lead over Verstappen as the sport goes into its three-week summer break.
A pile-up at the first corner on a slippery track left Hamilton briefly leading Ocon and Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel on the first lap before the race was red-flagged to clear up the mess strewn over the track.
Extraordinarily, when the race re-started, Hamilton was the only car on the grid for a second start as behind him every other driver made pit stops for dry-weather slick tyres because the sun had come out and the track was almost dry.
Hamilton had to stop at the end of the next lap, dropping to the tail of the field, leaving Ocon to fend off Vettel for the rest of the race.
RACE CLASSIFICATION
How we crossed the line in Hungary! ?#HungarianGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/bKVLqLHouP
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 1, 2021
Vettel tried to pass a number of times, but Ocon – a former Mercedes young driver – held on for the entire 70 laps to take a superb first win.