2014 Hungarian Grand Prix: Full Weekend Report & Highlights

The 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix, officially the Formula 1 Pirelli Magyar Nagydíj 2014, was held on 27 July 2014 at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród, Hungary. It was the 11th round of the 2014 Formula One season, the 30th running of the Hungarian Grand Prix, and the 29th time the event counted towards the World Championship.

Pole position
Driver	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
Time	1:22.715
Fastest lap
Driver	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
Time	1:25.724 on lap 64
Podium
First	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-Renault
Second	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari
Third	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
25 July 2014	Practice 1	10:00 – 11:30
25 July 2014	Practice 2	14:00 – 15:30
26 July 2014	Practice 3	11:00 – 12:00
26 July 2014	Qualifying	14:00
27 July 2014	Race	14:00

After 70 dramatic laps, Daniel Ricciardo charged to victory in Hungary, passing Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso in a dramatic finish. Hamilton recovered from a pit-lane start to third, while changing conditions and safety cars repeatedly reshuffled the race. In hindsight, the result carried extra significance: it was Alonso’s final podium finish until the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix.

This was only the third wet Hungarian Grand Prix in World Championship history, following the rain-affected editions of 2006 and 2011. Thunderstorms and heavy rain swept across the circuit around lunchtime, leaving the field to begin on intermediate tyres before conditions gradually improved and the track dried later in the afternoon.

Background

The race featured 11 teams, each entering two cars. Those constructors were Red Bull Racing, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, Lotus, McLaren, Force India, Sauber, Toro Rosso, Williams, Marussia, and Caterham.

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought four compounds to Hungary: the medium tyre as the prime, the soft as the option, and the usual wet-weather choices of intermediate and full wet tyres. The drag reduction system was available in two zones: one on the start-finish straight between the final corner and Turn 1, and another on the run from Turn 1 to Turn 2.

Heading into the weekend, Nico Rosberg led the Drivers’ Championship on 190 points, with Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton second on 176. Ricciardo sat third on 106 points, followed by Alonso on 97, while Valtteri Bottas rounded out the top five on 91.

Mercedes was also firmly in command of the Constructors’ Championship with 366 points. Red Bull were second on 188, Williams third on 121, Ferrari fourth with 116, and Force India fifth on 98. It had been a season largely defined by Mercedes dominance: the team had won nine of the first ten races, with the only exception being Ricciardo’s breakthrough victory in Canada. Behind those wins, Kevin Magnussen and Bottas had each taken a second-place finish, while Sebastian Vettel, Alonso, Jenson Button, and Sergio Pérez had all recorded third-place podiums.

A number of teams arrived with updates. Marussia changed one of Max Chilton’s MR03 chassis after balance and electrical problems encountered in Austria. Williams introduced a small additional wing section intended to increase downforce and grip, while Lotus brought revised front wing endplates designed to manage airflow more effectively.

Free Practice

Lewis Hamilton led FP1 on a dusty, slippery circuit, with several drivers spinning or running wide at Turn 12. Max Chilton’s Marussia caught fire after an oil leak, restricting him to a handful of laps. Ferrari showed useful early pace behind Mercedes as teams worked to establish grip on the rarely used surface.

Lewis Hamilton remained quickest in FP2 despite struggling for grip and initially spoiling a soft-tyre lap by running wide. Williams adjusted its longer-run programme after Felipe Massa encountered trouble with his tyres. Mercedes looked strong as the sessions shifted towards race simulations, while drivers monitored how quickly performance faded over a stint.

Lewis Hamilton completed a practice clean sweep in FP3, narrowly ahead of Nico Rosberg. Teams spent much of the hour on medium tyres before saving their soft-compound qualifying simulations for the closing minutes. Red Bull emerged as the nearest challenger once those final runs were completed, with the Mercedes pair still clearly ahead.

Free Practice 1 Classification

2014 Hungarian Grand Prix FP1, 25 July 2014

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:25.814	27
2	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+0.183s	31
3	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+0.607s	29
4	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+1.058s	23
5	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	+1.406s	28
6	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren	+1.543s	28
7	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	+1.869s	30
8	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	+1.968s	16
9	22	Jenson Button	McLaren	+1.990s	27
10	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	+2.146s	24
11	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber	+2.153s	25
12	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	+2.287s	28
13	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	+2.394s	32
14	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus F1	+2.452s	28
15	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	+2.516s	21
16	11	Sergio Perez	Force India	+2.562s	24
17	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	+2.779s	24
18	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber	+3.211s	23
19	10	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham	+4.549s	30
20	9	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham	+5.078s	24
21	4	Max Chilton	Marussia	+5.190s	5
22	17	Jules Bianchi	Marussia	+5.434s	20

Free Practice 2 Classification

2014 Hungarian Grand Prix FP2, 25 July 2014

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:24.482	38
2	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+0.238s	38
3	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	+0.629s	33
4	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+0.955s	26
5	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren	+1.098s	34
6	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+1.248s	30
7	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	+1.501s	29
8	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	+1.517s	37
9	22	Jenson Button	McLaren	+1.752s	33
10	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	+1.920s	18
11	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	+2.207s	42
12	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	+2.221s	37
13	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	+2.307s	39
14	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber	+2.437s	41
15	11	Sergio Perez	Force India	+2.531s	39
16	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus F1	+2.537s	40
17	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	+2.539s	14
18	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber	+2.998s	32
19	10	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham	+3.888s	35
20	17	Jules Bianchi	Marussia	+3.987s	26
21	4	Max Chilton	Marussia	+4.104s	35
22	9	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham	+4.554s	34

Free Practice 3 Classification

2014 Hungarian Grand Prix FP3, 26 July 2014

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:24.048	21
2	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+0.047s	24
3	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	+0.407s	16
4	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	+0.630s	15
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	+0.637s	21
6	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+0.721s	11
7	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+0.770s	19
8	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren	+0.819s	21
9	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	+1.114s	17
10	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	+1.122s	19
11	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	+1.183s	18
12	22	Jenson Button	McLaren	+1.420s	14
13	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus F1	+1.781s	22
14	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	+1.811s	19
15	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber	+1.886s	21
16	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber	+1.975s	23
17	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	+1.987s	19
18	11	Sergio Perez	Force India	+2.094s	17
19	10	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham	+3.512s	23
20	4	Max Chilton	Marussia	+4.035s	17
21	9	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham	+4.557s	22
22	17	Jules Bianchi	Marussia	+4.773s	14

Qualifying

Nico Rosberg headed qualifying for Mercedes, with Sebastian Vettel second and Valtteri Bottas third.

Nico Rosberg took pole, while a fire caused by a fuel leak prevented Lewis Hamilton from setting a time. Hamilton started from the pit lane after repairs and changes to his car, as did Pastor Maldonado after his own qualifying failure.

Qualifying Classification

2014 Hungarian Grand Prix Qualifying, 26 July 2014

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:25.227	1:23.310	1:22.715	20
2	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing	1:25.662	1:23.606	1:23.201	16
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	1:25.690	1:23.776	1:23.354	19
4	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	1:25.495	1:23.676	1:23.391	18
5	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:26.087	1:24.249	1:23.909	17
6	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	1:26.592	1:24.030	1:24.223	19
7	22	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:26.612	1:24.502	1:24.294	21
8	25	Jean-Éric Vergne	Toro Rosso	1:24.941	1:24.637	1:24.720	19
9	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India	1:26.149	1:24.647	1:24.775	22
10	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren	1:26.578	1:24.585	no time	13
11	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	1:25.361	1:24.706	—	14
12	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber	1:26.027	1:25.136	—	12
13	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India	1:25.910	1:25.211	—	11
14	21	Esteban Gutiérrez	Sauber	1:25.709	1:25.260	—	10
15	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	1:26.136	1:25.337	—	16
16	17	Jules Bianchi	Marussia	1:26.728	1:27.419	—	14
17	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:26.792	—	—	5
18	10	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham	1:27.139	—	—	10
19	4	Max Chilton	Marussia	1:27.819	—	—	7
20	9	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham	1:28.643	—	—	10
NC	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	no time	—	—	2
NC	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus F1	no time	—	—	1

Pastor Maldonado and Lewis Hamilton failed to set a lap time in Q1. They were later given permission to start by race stewards.

2014 Hungarian Grand Prix Race Results

At the getaway, Rosberg held the lead into Turn 1, but there was immediate action behind him. Bottas swept around the outside of Vettel at the first corner to take second, and Alonso also got ahead of Vettel shortly after, before Vettel reclaimed the place later in the lap. Hamilton, who had started from the pit lane and therefore had not taken part in the formation lap, was in a particularly awkward position. With his brakes still cold, he spun at Turn 2 on the opening lap and lightly brushed the barriers with the front-left corner of the car. The damage was minor, and he continued, but he was now down in 22nd and last.

By lap 9, Rosberg had built a healthy lead, while Hamilton had already fought back to 13th. Then the race changed completely. Marcus Ericsson crashed, bringing out the safety car. The timing of it was cruel for the leaders: Rosberg, Bottas, Vettel, and Alonso had already passed pit entry and were forced to complete an entire lap behind the safety car before they could stop. Everyone else was able to dive in immediately.

Most of the field switched to dry tyres, but the two McLarens took another set of intermediates, gambling that the track would remain wet enough for longer. When the order settled after the stops, the complexion of the race had been transformed. Rosberg had dropped from first to fourth, Bottas had fallen all the way from second to 11th, while Ricciardo was the man who emerged in front. Hamilton, despite the chaos, remained 13th.

The safety car period was extended even further when Romain Grosjean crashed under caution, delaying the restart until lap 14. When racing resumed, Jenson Button wasted no time and immediately passed Ricciardo for the lead. Rosberg, meanwhile, was overtaken by Jean-Éric Vergne, dropping him to fifth, while Hamilton produced one of the race’s most aggressive bursts by passing four cars in a single lap to climb to ninth.

But Button’s time at the front did not last. After only two laps on his second set of intermediates, McLaren realised the circuit was drying too quickly and pitted him for slicks on lap 16. The earlier decision to stay on intermediates had backfired badly, and Button dropped down to 16th.

On lap 17, Nico Hülkenberg retired after making contact with Force India teammate Sergio Pérez, though Pérez escaped significant damage. By then, Hamilton had climbed to seventh and was tucked in behind Vettel, only a second away from Rosberg, who was still bottled up behind Vergne. Alonso, meanwhile, was thriving in the changing conditions and had surged into third by lap 18.

Another major twist came on lap 23, when Pérez spun at the final corner and crashed into the pit wall, handing Force India a rare double retirement. Out came the safety car once again. This time Ricciardo and Felipe Massa, running first and second, chose to pit. They rejoined sixth and seventh, behind Alonso, Vergne, Rosberg, Vettel, and Hamilton, all of whom stayed out.

When the race restarted on lap 27, Alonso took control beautifully, pulling out a gap while a fierce queue developed behind him. Vergne led the train in second, stubbornly keeping Rosberg at bay, with Vettel and Hamilton stacked up directly behind. On lap 33, Rosberg blinked first and pitted for soft tyres, rejoining in 13th. Moments later, Vettel spun at the final corner — exactly where Pérez had crashed earlier — but somehow avoided the wall. It was a heart-in-mouth moment, and it allowed Hamilton to close rapidly on Vergne. One lap later, Hamilton made a superb move around the outside at Turn 4 to get past the Toro Rosso.

The strategic battle intensified from there. Alonso stopped for softs on lap 39, with Hamilton coming in a lap later for mediums. They rejoined in fourth and fifth, respectively, and Ricciardo inherited the lead once more. Rosberg had been charging back through the order, but the timing of the stops left him down in ninth, having effectively been undercut by Hamilton.

By lap 47, Rosberg had recovered enough ground to sit right behind his teammate, with no cars between them. Mercedes then issued the instruction for Hamilton to let Rosberg through, since Rosberg was on the softer tyre and on a different strategy, still needing one more stop. Hamilton refused. Over team radio, he delivered one of the defining lines of the season: “I’m not slowing down for Nico. If he gets close enough to overtake, he can overtake me.”

From Hamilton’s perspective, the logic was simple: Rosberg was his title rival, and there was little sense in giving away time and track position if Rosberg was not actually close enough to pass. The tension inside Mercedes was now out in the open.

Ricciardo made his final stop for soft tyres on lap 54, with Rosberg following on lap 56, also taking softs. They rejoined fourth and seventh, respectively. As the final phase unfolded, the race tightened dramatically. By lap 62, Alonso, Hamilton, and Ricciardo were running nose-to-tail as first, second, and third. Hamilton was only 0.4 seconds behind Alonso, and Ricciardo was another 0.4 seconds behind Hamilton.

Further back, Rosberg was in fourth, over 20 seconds adrift of Ricciardo, but his fresher soft tyres were delivering a staggering pace advantage. He was taking chunks of time out of the leaders — as much as three seconds a lap — while setting the fastest lap of the race.

On lap 63, Alonso cut the chicane but escaped without penalty and kept the lead. The decisive moment came four laps later when Ricciardo, full of confidence and grip, passed Hamilton around the outside of Turn 2 on lap 67. Then, on the next lap, he made the winning move, sweeping past Alonso into Turn 1 to snatch the lead with just two laps remaining.

Alonso did everything he could to hold off Hamilton, but both were deep into the life of their tyres and had dropped well beyond peak performance. Rosberg arrived on the final lap, closing rapidly and piling on one last burst of pressure. He attacked Hamilton around the outside of Turn 2, but Hamilton defended robustly and kept third place.

Ricciardo crossed the line to take his second victory of the season, finishing 5.2 seconds clear. Alonso claimed a brilliantly managed second place for Ferrari, while Hamilton completed an outstanding recovery from the pit lane to finish third, just ahead of Rosberg in fourth. Massa and Räikkönen were fifth and sixth, while Vettel and Bottas — who had started second and third — could manage only seventh and eighth. Ferrari’s result also allowed the team to move ahead of Williams for third in the Constructors’ Championship.

Post-race

The top three finishers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies before facing the media in the post-race press conference.

Despite the drama, the championship tables changed only slightly. Hamilton’s third place trimmed Rosberg’s lead in the Drivers’ Championship to 11 points, while the Constructors’ standings also saw only minimal movement.

Much of the post-race focus centred on Mercedes and the team orders dispute. Niki Lauda, the team’s non-executive chairman, openly backed Hamilton’s refusal to move aside, saying Mercedes had effectively panicked in making the call.

Mercedes also revealed technical troubles for both drivers during the race. Rosberg suffered from overheating rear brakes behind the first safety car, while Hamilton encountered a similar problem later on. Hamilton’s car also developed a fuel pressure issue, which further complicated his race. After the Grand Prix, Mercedes discovered that the fuel pressure problem had caused a significant loss of engine power shortly after Hamilton’s second stop on lap 40. The team estimated it cost him around half a second per lap for the remainder of the race — enough to suggest that, on a cleaner day, victory may genuinely have been within reach.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing Renault	70	01:53:05	25
2	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	70	+5.225s	18
3	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	70	+5.857s	15
4	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	70	+6.361s	12
5	19	Felipe Massa	Williams Mercedes	70	+29.841s	10
6	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	70	+31.491s	8
7	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing Renault	70	+40.964s	6
8	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Mercedes	70	+41.344s	4
9	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR Renault	70	+58.527s	2
10	22	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes	70	+67.280s	1
11	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber Ferrari	70	+68.169s	0
12	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren Mercedes	70	+78.465s	0
13	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus Renault	70	+84.024s	0
14	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR Renault	69	+1 lap	0
15	17	Jules Bianchi	Marussia Ferrari	69	+1 lap	0
16	4	Max Chilton	Marussia Ferrari	69	+1 lap	0
NC	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber Ferrari	32	DNF	0
NC	10	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham Renault	24	DNF	0
NC	11	Sergio Perez	Force India Mercedes	22	DNF	0
NC	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India Mercedes	14	DNF	0
NC	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Renault	10	DNF	0
NC	9	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham Renault	7	DNF	0

2014 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix.

2014 Post-Race F1 Drivers’ Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Nico Rosberg	German	Mercedes	202
2	Lewis Hamilton	British	Mercedes	191
3	Daniel Ricciardo	Australian	Red Bull Racing	131
4	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Ferrari	115
5	Valtteri Bottas	Finnish	Williams	95
6	Sebastian Vettel	German	Red Bull Racing	88
7	Nico Hülkenberg	German	Force India	69
8	Jenson Button	British	McLaren	60
9	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Williams	40
10	Kevin Magnussen	Danish	McLaren	37
11	Sergio Pérez	Mexican	Force India	29
12	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	Ferrari	27
13	Jean-Éric Vergne	French	Toro Rosso	11
14	Romain Grosjean	French	Lotus F1	8
15	Daniil Kvyat	Russian	Toro Rosso	6
16	Jules Bianchi	French	Marussia	2
17	Adrian Sutil	German	Sauber	0
18	Marcus Ericsson	Swedish	Caterham	0
19	Pastor Maldonado	Venezuelan	Lotus F1	0
20	Esteban Gutiérrez	Mexican	Sauber	0
21	Max Chilton	British	Marussia	0
22	Kamui Kobayashi	Japanese	Caterham	0

2014 Post-Race F1 Constructors’ Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Mercedes	393
2	Red Bull Racing	219
3	Ferrari	142
4	Williams	135
5	Force India	98
6	McLaren	97
7	Toro Rosso	17
8	Lotus F1	8
9	Marussia	2
10	Sauber	0
11	Caterham	0

2014 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	2014 Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne	16 March
2	2014 Malaysian Grand Prix	Sepang International Circuit, Sepang	30 March
3	2014 Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	6 April
4	2014 Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai	20 April
5	2014 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló	11 May
6	2014 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	25 May
7	2014 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montréal	8 June
8	2014 Austrian Grand Prix	Red Bull Ring, Spielberg	22 June
9	2014 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	6 July
10	2014 German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim	20 July
11	2014 Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	27 July
12	2014 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	24 August
13	2014 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	7 September
14	2014 Singapore Grand Prix	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore	21 September
15	2014 Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka	5 October
16	2014 Russian Grand Prix	Sochi Autodrom, Sochi	12 October
17	2014 United States Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas	2 November
18	2014 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	9 November
19	2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi	23 November