Unfortunately Fated Finn Fails To Finish In Ferrari

The Hungarian Grand Prix was a race with all one could want from Formula One, it’s just a pity it’s the exception instead of the rule in a championship beginning to bore as often as it excites

My sitting down to watch Formula One races now bemuses she-that-must-be-obeyed, she hears me bemoan it so much and so frequently that she thinks I must have developed some sadomasochistic tendencies and has started hinting at the use of whips and chains in the bedroom. I understand her confusion, although not the gleam in her eye, because on the face of it F1 couldn’t be more dull, well, unless you’re one of those people who likes to bet on sport in Finland.

Hungarian Grand Prix A Stormer

• Mercedes fail to make podium
• Red Bull get 2nd & 3rd
• Sebastian Vettel takes the win

If you’re Finnish watching F1 racing is great because you get to spend a few hours on a Sunday afternoon watching television trying to work out at precisely which moment in the race Kimi Raikkonen’s appallingly atrocious luck will make its presence felt and end his race. His failing to live up to the expectations of his team, however, more often than not the team’s fault not his, but that seems to count for little as against his lack of victories this season.

The Hungarian Grand Prix seemed to be shaping up for something of a rerun of many other races already held this year. The Mercedes sat at the front of the grid, with everyone else behind them in a land of many dreams but very few hopes. Perez had tried to make it more interesting by crashing spectacularly during practice, but all in all, with Hamilton on pole, the race looked like it was going to be pretty predictable. We were wrong.

Perhaps in memory of the passing of Jules Bianchi, Formula One finally gave us a race. It’s been a few years since we’ve witnessed a proper race and from the very first moment you knew the Hungarian Grand Prix was going to be different because the usual script was torn up in the first few seconds. When the five red lights went out and the drivers all gunned their engines the Mercedes should have streaked off into the distance, but they didn’t.

Where Were You When The Lights Went Out?

Off the line it was the Ferraris of Vettel and Raikkonen that seemed quickest and by the end of turn two the red cars had cleared the silver streaks and taken up command at the front of the pack. This seemed to rattle both Hamilton and Rosberg. The latter very nearly went off watching Raikkonen go by him on the inside of turn two, and Hamilton seemed to just panic and lose the ability to drive a racing car getting into a tussle that saw him off the track and dropped back in the field.

Now obviously if you’re Finnish gambling laws of averages mean that Raikkonen is bound to win sometime it was at this point you were bouncing on your sofa with as much excitement as the Ferrari pit crew were seen to exhibit. Vettel was out in front, Raikkonen just behind, and the Mercedes didn’t seem to have an answer for this remarkable turn of speed early on. After all the years of dull parades dressed up as racing we finally had a proper race.

Sadly Rosberg, who’d spent all weekend complaining about his car’s balance couldn’t keep pace with the Ferraris, and Hamilton who’d dropped back to 10th at one point had to make up ground in the pack, but it was Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India suffering a complete (and dramatic) failure of his front wing that brought out the safety car and bunched everyone up again, with some taking the opportunity to swap to new tires.

With twenty laps to go when they were once again allowed to race, there was everything to play for and no one was playing nice. Hamilton and Ricciardo touched in an incident deemed to be Lewis’ fault for which he not only had to pit to replace a damaged wing but also to serve a drive through penalty rejoining in 12th place. This meant that technically Rosberg should have been able to overtake him at the top of the table, but the race wasn’t done.

Hybrid System Knocks Out Raikkonen

Raikkonen’s car developed a fault in the hybrid system that left it well down on power and he slid from second to a retirement with very little of the race left to go. His luck wholly and completely ghastly this season to say the very least, but when it came to bad luck that was nothing compared to Nico Rosberg’s attempts to ward off last year’s winner Ricciardo that saw him shred a rear tire with just five laps to go and drop so far down the field that when it was all over Hamilton still extended his championship lead.

As it was Sebastian Vettel drove a near perfect race and got a well-deserved win, and having jostled and won with both Mercedes (and the unfortunate Raikkonen) out for the count it was the two Red Bulls that came in second and third. Daniel Ricciardo won at the Hungaroring last year and was set to try it again, but it was Daniil Kvyat (the well-known spelling error) who came in second getting his first ever podium in F1 and pushed the Australian into third.

Where Ricciardo had pushed, harried and hassled his way throught he field, Kvyat had kept it calm and brought the car home in good order, his race a steady sensible drive that was aptly rewarded by second step on the rostrum but perhaps the performance of the day was from Max Verstappen who got fourth despite being 17 years old and not yet possessing a road going driving license, something he intends to remedy in the four week summer break.

All in all it was the race that had everything. Incidents, accidents, mistakes, overtakes and, of course, Kimi Raikkonen once again left without a result through no fault of his own. ComeOn! Sportsbook will give you odds on the next race in Spa, Belgium, but don’t go doing anything silly like gambling news of Ferrari’s line up next year will feature Raikkonen, because it would seem that’s destined not to happen, and by now, even Kimi knows it.