Hungarian Grand Prix LIVE: Lewis Hamilton wins to extend championship lead as Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas crash
Lewis Hamilton starts from pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix with championship rival Sebastian Vettel down in fourth after an action-packed qualifying session.
Two thunderstorms hit the Hungaroring that shook up qualifying, and brought the best out of Hamilton as he left it late to snatch pole away from Mercedes teammate Valttero Bottas, who starts alongside him in second. Kimi Raikkonen claimed third, having at one point looked on course for his first pole in over a year, meaning both Ferraris start behind the Mercedes’ at a track that is supposed to favour them.
Red Bull endured a nightmare day as Max Verstappen could only manage seventh, but at least he made it out of Q2 whereas teammate Daniel Ricciardo failed to do so, leaving him in a lowly 13th. Fernando Alonso starts 11th in the McLaren on what is his 37th birthday, looking to bounce back from another disappointing day.
Chequered flag: No further action against Vettel or Bottas for their collision, but Bottas is still under investigation for the separate crash with Ricciardo. He ended up giving the position back - albeit with a fight - as the Red Bull past him on the exit of turn one, so I'd be surprised if there's any action there.
But in my opinion, Bottas was at fault for both crashes even if they didn't warrant action.
Lap 68: Bottas is struggling here and Ricciardo is all over him. Bottas goes for the inside, and Ricciardo sweeps around the outside...another crash! The damage to Bottas' front wing means he understeers straight into the side of the Red Bull and forces him off!
Lap 65: Vettel goes for the outside line on Turn 1, before switching back and passing Bottas on the run to Turn 2. Thinking he had the position, Vettel tried to close the door on Bottas and the Mercedes locked up and ran into the back of Vettel. The Ferrari keeps going, while Bottas has damage to his front wing as he leaves the track and allows Raikkonen past too.
Lap 63: Hamilton is now 20 seconds clear out in front, and he has enough time to radio in and check on Bottass tyres. It sounds like he's checking up on his teammate, but it's more likely that he's just making sure that his own tyres won't fall off. Vettel meanwhile reckons he can go 1.5s per lap faster if he clears Bottas, but the problem is he can't do that. Are they considering letting Raikkonen go by?
Lap 57: Bottas is under massive pressure now and radios in that his rears are starting to give up on him. That's ominous with 13 laps still to go, and to make matters worse Raikkonen is closing in rapidly, with the gap to Vettel just 2.9s.
Lap 54: That VSC has brought Vettel back into play as the gap to Bottas is only one second now. With 15 laps remaining, will the four-time world champion have a charge at the Mercedes?
Lap 52: Nope, despite Mercedes running out into the pits, neither Hamilton nor Bottas come in, while Vettel and Raikkonen also stay out. In fact, the only car to come in is the Renault of Hulkenberg, who is now down in 14th and well out of contention.
Lap 51: To everyone at McLaren, I'm sorry. No sooner as I mentioned their progress today, Vandoorne grinds to a halt coming out of turn one. Disaster for him as it was one of his best races of the season.
Lap 47: Right, where are we? Hamilton leads by 10.6s and is extending his advantage out in front. Vettel has dropped away from Bottas, 2.7s behind but with fresher tyres. Raikkonen is in a race of his own at the moment, 11s behind his teammate and 14s ahead of Ricciardo who isn't making any progress at all. However, he's doing so in ridiculous circumstances as the team forgot to attach his drinks bottle and in temperatures clearing 40 degrees, I don't envy him.
Behind, the rest of the top 10 is made up of Gasly, Magnussed, Alonso, Vandoorne and Sainz, which is great news for McLaren as their long first stint has moved them up into the points.
Lap 44: Vettel is struggling behind Bottas and he actually has to pull aside on the finish straight to cool his Ferrari, which may be a reason why he hasn't been able to have a run at him. Red Bull meanwhile are finally pitting Ricciardo after a mammoth 44 laps, and he should be fairly lively until the end of the race, though he trails Raikkonen by 13.8s.
Lap 41: Vettel's onto Bottas' gearbox already with fresh tyres, while Raikkonen sets a new fastest lap of the race. Vettel has half a look into turn one, but decides against it and remains behind for the rest of the lap.
