2017 Hungarian Grand Prix, or the thing that goes on while we discuss the halo

[Nitrodaze]

Overall, not a brilliant race. Tyres still an impedment to racing but the effect of the wider car on a track like Hungaroring with lots of twists and turns means close racing was difficult and at the expense of downforce.

It was daft for Mercedes and Hamilton to swop places with a much slower Bottas today and they may pay dearly for it, come Abu dhabi. As we guessed at the beginning of the season, this aspect is a clear advantage for Vettel who has the benefit of a clear number one status at Ferrari as demonstrated today. Kimi was faster but Ferrari would not entertain the idea of letting him pass Vettel to win the race. Mercedes may try to argue some sort of moral high ground, but that sort of argument only applies if they clearly have a sizeable advantage over Ferrari. As it goes, and with all the Mercedes mistakes in this first half of the season that has cost Hamilton wins and loads of points, the team are set to lose the drivers championship for Hamilton. This season is a very different ball game and they just don't seem to get it. There are still loads of points on the table but would bet against Vettel with the level of support he is getting from Ferrari. Especially with Mercedes only interested in securing constructors championship and not really caring about the driver championship.

Fiesty drive by Verstapenn but a touch dangerous and reckless. I think most drivers are now finding him dangerous and unpredictable. Not because of his defensive talent which is widely admired, but because he does not appear to know the limit when a move could be potentially dangerous. Ricciado is definitely not very impressed as his race was prematurely ended by what was an unnecessary accident. Beside this altercation, he drove a great race, gave Hamilton a good fight and recovered a 10 second deficit to within a second of Bottas at the end of the race. Definitely gave Mercedes a bit of worry.

Alonso gave a glimpse of what could be if Honda got on top of their engine woes. That Maclaren chassis is brilliant by all accounts. Great to see Di Resta in a Hybrid F1 car, for such a very late call to duty, he put up a great effort. That said, the Williams cars were nowhere this weekend. The Williams chassis seem to be one of the worst in the paddock. Even the great Mercedes engine cannot seem to compensate for the inadequacy of that chassis.

Those Pirelli tyres are crap, certainly not as good as the Bridgestone tyres of old by a mile.