HUNGRY Formula 1 fans enjoyed breakfast at a local pub on Sunday as the Hungarian Grand Prix took centre stage for the day.
Pub owner, Michael Phytides, welcomed the opportunity to accommodate local F1 fans to enjoy the entire Sunday broadcast at his bar, even adding a hearty breakfast to his Sunday menu for those who were hungry for more than just racing.
Read: English Breakfast goes down a treat at Vryheid pub during British F1 GP
The green lights went out as the clock struck 2pm and the Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix of 2017 was underway.
It was a Ferrari front row of Vettel in pole position and Raikkonen in second, both Mercedes drivers making up the second row of the starting grid, Bottas ahead of Hamilton, a Red Bull third row with Verstappen ahead of Ricciardo and a surprising McLaren Honda fourth row of Alonso and then Van Doorne in seventh and eighth position respectively.
Both Scuderia Ferraris had great starts, followed closely by the Mercs, although Hamilton had a slightly more sluggish start compared to his teammate, Bottas. The Red Bulls looked set to make quick inroads against the frontrunners, until Verstappen was pushed wide off the track by the Mercedes of Bottas, causing a lock up and understeer into the side of his teammate, Ricciardo, as he rejoined the pack. The collision led to an early retirement from the Hungarian GP for the unfortunate Aussie, Ricciardo, in the first lap and subsequent deployment of the safety car as oil and debris was cleared from the track.
Racing resumed at the end of lap five as the safety car returned to the pit lane and, after investigation by the stewards, Verstappen was handed a ten second time penalty for causing a collision.
Patrons of the pub who attended the #F1SundaysatElla event watched for many uneventful laps until Sebastian Vettel reported steering problems shortly before the first round of pit stops.
After the flurry of pit stops Verstappen led the race for several laps until making his pit stop and serving his ten second penalty in lap 43. Verstappen rejoined in fifth place behind the Ferraris and Mercs.
Lap 45 saw Hamilton request that his teammate, Bottas be ordered to move aside so that Hamilton could have a go at the Ferrari of Raikkonen. In lap 46, Bottas followed team orders to allow Hamilton through, who was given the instruction that he had five laps to make the move on Raikkonen or he would have to give back the place to Bottas.
Meanwhile, at the front, Vettel’s steering issues were causing frustration for Raikkonen, who felt that he had the speed to overtake the leading German. However, Raikkonen was ordered to stay with his teammate as he struggled at the front.
With Raikkonen looming large in his mirrors, Vettel managed to take another 25 points for the win in Hungary after 70 laps, with Raikkonen coming in at second and Hamilton waiting until the final straight to give back third place to Bottas and come in at fourth.
Verstappen had a magnificent race, despite his penalty and came in at fifth, followed by Fernando Alonso in the McLaren Honda in sixth who took the fastest lap of the race. Carlos Sainz in the Torro Rosso took seventh place, followed by the two Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon respectively. Stoffel van Doorne took the last points paying position in the other McLaren in a surprising double-points finish for the struggling McLaren team.
Sebastian Vettel now leads Lewis Hamilton in the World Drivers’ Championship by 14 points.
