It was a stunning victory for Daniel Ricciardo as he drove his Red Bull past the chequered flag at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Also, Lewis Hamilton beat team-mate Nico Rosberg despite starting from the pit lane, to take third place. Alonso fought off attacks from both, Hamilton and Ricciardo, in a race affected by rain and two safety car periods.
Ricciardo pulled an exquisite move on Hamilton before passing the Ferrari in to Turn 1 to take his second win of the season. Alonso was on soft tyres for 32 laps and somehow managed to keep Hamilton at bay. Hamilton, on the other hand, engaged in a battle with his team-mate Rosberg to take third even after having started from the pit lane and spun out on the opening lap.
Tensions were certainly on the rise when Hamilton ignored team orders to let Rosberg through, and robustly defended his place till the end of the race.
While Rosberg finished fourth, it was Felipe Massa who bravely defended his fifth place by holding off the Ferrari driven by Kimi Raikkonen. Kimi was clearly on a roll as he recovered to sixth place after having started in 16th place.
Sebastian Vettel managed to finish seventh despite a high-speed spin out of the final corner which could have possibly ended his race. Valtteri Bottas, Jean-Eric Vergne and Jenson Button completed the top ten.
A huge downpour in the hour before the race left the track wet and drivers starting on intermediate tyres. Rosberg sped away as the rest of the pack tried to catch up with the Mercedes. But Marcus Ericsson crashed head-on in to the barriers at Turn 3 and the safety car was out on the track.
And it wasn't the last time that it came out. Crashes continued as Caterham and Force India both suffered due to the lack of grip. However, it was Ricciardo's day and the Australian put on a fantastic performance as he went past race leader Alonso with just 3 laps remaining.
Let's not forget that Hamilton's efforts also deserve appreciation and the fact that being ahead of Rosberg cut the championship lead to 11 points.
The next race is about a month away and this is a much deserved summer break for all the drivers. While Red Bull and Ferrari ended their week on a high, it will be a quiet celebration for Team Mercedes.
The Drivers Championship table is as follows:
1 Nico Rosberg - 202
2 Lewis Hamilton - 191
3 Daniel Ricciardo - 131
4 Fernando Alonso - 115
5 Valtteri Bottas - 95
6 Sebastian Vettel - 88
7 Nico Hulkenberg - 69
8 Jenson Button - 60
9 Felipe Massa - 40
10 Kevin Magnussen - 37
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