Sundaram Ramaswami
The 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix was the type of race F1 fans witness once every year or two. A mixed up grid, crashes, chaos and track battles right from the first corner up until the very last, with a new race winner emerging from the midfield pack. Such races often tend to bring out an interesting set of stats and facts, and so it did.
Here are all the numbers from the 2021 Hungarian GP –
GENERAL –
- The opening lap chaos brought out the first-ever red flag interruption at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 36 years.
- As a result, it ended up being the longest-ever race at the Hungaroring (2h 4m 43.199s). It lasted four minutes longer than the inaugural race held at this circuit in 1986.
- The race had just 13 drivers being classified after 70 laps, the lowest since the 2020 Tuscan GP which witnessed 12 drivers cross the finish line.
- Esteban Ocon’s surprise victory was the fifth time a driver took his maiden win at the Hungaroring (after Damon Hill, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Heikki Kovalainen). As an event, the Indianapolis GP has seen the most first-wins for F1 drivers – 10.
ALPINE –
- Ocon became the 111th driver to win a world championship event in F1, and the 11th one in the hybrid era.
- It was quite a special day for France, as it was the first French combination victory of driver-constructor-engine since the 1983 Austrian GP. Alain Prost won that race driving for the same team.
- Ocon is the second Frenchman, after Pierre Gasly, to win a race in the hybrid era.
- Fernando Alonso led a lap for the first time since the 2014 Hungarian GP, breaking the record for the longest interval between races led – 7 years.
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- Coincidentally, both Alpine drivers have taken their maiden race wins at the Hungaroring while driving Renault-powered cars.
- Ocon sits third on the list of most laps led in 2021 (65), behind Max Verstappen (403) and Lewis Hamilton (128). Quite surprisingly, he has led more laps than Sergio Perez (26) and Valtteri Bottas (19) this year.
- It was also Alpine’s first-ever race win as a new outfit. The Enstone-based team last won a race at the 2008 Japanese GP under the ‘Renault’ moniker.
MERCEDES –
- The Silver Arrows became the fourth and fastest team to touch the 250 podiums landmark, after Ferrari, McLaren, and Williams. The Brackley-based team did it in just 238 race outings.
- Valtteri Bottas, a veteran of 167 race starts, suffered an opening lap retirement for the very first time in his career.
- Taking Sebastian Vettel’s disqualification into consideration, last time’s winner Lewis Hamilton finished second, breaking the all-time record for most second-place finishes in F1 (44). He pipped Michael Schumacher en route to the record, who had set the benchmark in 2006.
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FERRARI –
- Carlos Sainz Jr. took his fourth podium in F1, courtesy of Vettel’s post-race disqualification. Coincidentally, Charles Leclerc hasn’t seen the chequered flag in either of those races.
RED BULL –
- P9 was Max Verstappen’s worst race finish since the 2018 Monaco GP.
- Sergio Perez’s poor record at the Hungaroring continued with his first-lap retirement last weekend. In 11 Hungarian GPs, he’s scored on only three occasions.
- Red Bull scored a meagre five points in the last two races. Meanwhile, Mercedes made hay by accumulating 61 points which catapulted them to the top of both championships.
McLAREN –
- Lando Norris’ supreme run of 15 races in the points came to a sad end with Bottas’ first lap shunt which forced him to retire. It was the longest point-scoring streak for a McLaren driver.
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ALPHATAURI –
- Pierre Gasly’s set the fastest lap at the Hungarian Grand Prix, his first since the 2019 Monaco GP. It was AlphaTauri/Toro Rosso’s first fastest lap since Spain 2016.
- AlphaTauri now remain the sole team to score points in every race this year.
ASTON MARTIN –
- Sebastian Vettel has been provisionally disqualified from the race result for a fuel sample infringement. The last few drivers who copped a fuel-related penalty were Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen at the 2018 USA GP. Ocon had exceeded the fuel flow rate, while Magnussen had burnt more fuel than allowed.
WILLIAMS –
- Williams went home with a huge haul of 10 points, thanks to Nicholas Latifi’s P7 and George Russell’s P8. It was their first points finish since the 2019 German GP and their first double-points finish since Italy 2018.
- George Russell finally managed to score in a Williams car, a feat that’s taken him 48 races and over two and a half years.
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