After poor qualifying and 18th on the grid, Sebastian Vettel almost ruled out points at the Hungarian GP, but on Sunday the German finished tenth and took one point with him into the summer break.
“I had a fun race with a lot of overtaking maneuvers and fights, that was good,” Vettel said happily at the finish. One of these fights at the start almost went haywire: Williams driver Alex Albon torpedoed Vettel in turn two, but the collision ended lightly. “I was lucky that I wasn’t badly injured. After that, the first stint was good,” reveals Vettel.
However, his second set of tires causes problems for the German. Vettel: “The balance was a bit wrong then, but we corrected that for the third stint and from then on it was much better.” The consequence: Vettel’s final attack leads him into the points – also because teammate Lance Stroll is playing this time: The Canadian had blocked Vettel roughly in the last lap in Le Castellet, but on Sunday he let the German past.
Vettel takes a point into the summer break as tenth.
Vettel explains the team’s strategic decision: “I thought I had a better chance of intercepting Esteban (Ocon; ed.). But it just wasn’t enough in the end, because then the virtual safety car (after a defect by Valtteri Bottas; ed.) came.” That’s why Vettel’s conclusion after the race is: “Not perfect, but quite good.” Looking back, the weak qualifying is a thorn in his side.
“If we had had a better day yesterday we might even have been eighth because the two Alpines were a bit vulnerable on their one-stop strategy.” For Vettel it is therefore clear: “Our goal must be to have better Saturdays. We have to do our homework there now. Because our Sundays are not that bad, we can be strong there and sometimes have good pace to beat other midfield cars. ”
Schumacher falls back after a good start
On Sunday, this also includes the Haas of buddy Mick Schumacher. The second German in the field clearly missed the points as 14th. Small consolation for Schumi Jr.: At least he lands ahead of his teammate Kevin Magnussen, who damaged his front wing in the turmoil at the start and therefore had to pit early for a change. The Dane can only show a little of the new update package on his Haas after that, and finally turns 16.
Mick Schumacher clearly missed the points in 14th place.
“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to keep it after that, which is why it ended up being only 14th place. We now have a lot to analyze and understand, so we know how the new package works for Spa,” says Schumacher. At the start of the summer break in Belgium, he too should finally receive the upgrades on the Haas. “I expect our package to work well there,” says the German, who is already looking forward to the next race in four weeks.
