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Hungarian GP driver ratings

It's the mark of a champion as Lewis wins while not at his peak while Sainz, Raikkonen and Ricciardo take starring roles...

It wasn't as gutsy as his four previous Hungaroring victories and it certainly wasn't as pretty, but Lewis Hamilton did what he needed to do. As much as raw pace is a sign of a true world champion, the Hamilton we know today is just as capable of maturely controlling a race from start to finish.

His speed around the kart-like track that suits his inner-boy racer was never in doubt throughout the weekend, only waved double-yellows keeping him off pole, and Hamilton knew he had to make the pass on his Mercedes team-mate into Turn One. So often his starts have let him down this season but not on this occasion, with Hamilton seizing his opportunity to dart up the inside.

From then on it was just a case of keeping his rivals at a safe distance, which he did despite intermittent scares over his pace on the soft tyre and back-markers getting in his way. Every time he needed to increase the gap, he did so immediately.

"There was never a moment when I felt that I was going to lose it," the world champion said after the race - and he may take that approach into the second half of the season. Now holding an advantage in the title race for the first time this season, few would be surprised if he were to maintain this momentum on his way with a fourth title in sight.
Rating out of ten: 9

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In the post-race press conference, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have a disagreement over the double yellow flags incident during qualy.

"I lost the race into the first corner and that's really disappointing," concluded Nico Rosberg and, judging by the lack of overtaking that took place in a rather processional race, his assessment has considerable merit.

But whether Rosberg actually had superior pace to Hamilton or whether the Englishman was on cruise control is a different matter altogether while the debate about the sufficiency of Nico's lift in qualy will run and run - and continued to do so in the post-race press conference.

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The door was open this weekend for Nico after Lewis missed the majority of Practice Two and he then lucked into pole postion. But due to a poor start he was unable to capitalise and secure what could and perhaps should have been a straightforward win. That will hurt.
Rating out of ten: 7.5

The trademark smile is back on Daniel Ricciardo's face. And what a relief it must be for the man who has spent the last two and a half months under heightened scrutiny thanks to the arrival of his new 18-year-old Dutch team-mate. While Ricciardo has had the better of Verstappen for the most part in qualifying, race day has been a regular disappointment, so to walk away with a second podium of the season and hold off the Ferrari of Vettel for third will be a massive boost to the Australian.

Hungary has been good to Ricciardo over the years and perhaps this was just the weekend he needed to kick start his season.
Rating out of ten: 9

It's admirable that a four-time champion like Sebastian Vettel can stay positive in a Ferrari car that is still so far away from a 2016 victory - but Sunday's race was another day of frustration for the German.

The Scuderia have now been out-scored by Red Bull in three consecutive races and though Vettel felt he should have been ahead in qualifying, and after ducking out of the Turn One scrap for the lead, he will be sick of the sight of Ricciardo's RB12. Vettel, angered by blue flags throughout his afternoon, always kept the Australian in his sight but wasn't able to take advantage on fresher tyres in the final stages, just missing out on third place.

Interestingly, prior to the race he insisted he was eager to get Ferrari, the most successful team in F1's history, "back to where it belongs: up there on the podium" - but Vettel is now without a top-three finish in four grands prix, his most barren run since joining the Italian outfit.
Rating out of ten: 8

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Red Bull's Max Verstappen battled to keep Kimi Raikkonen from passing him before they made contact on lap 57

It's surely a measure of just how far Max Verstappen has come in a very short period of time that he described his race in Budapest as "difficult" despite hanging onto fifth ahead of Kimi Raikkonen.

Perhaps Max was still smarting from the criticism he had just received from both Ferrari drivers as Raikkonen joined forces with Sebastian Vettel to rebuke the teenager or, more likely, his downbeat assessment was tacit acknowledgment that he was second-best to Daniel Ricciardo all weekend.

Comfortably fastest in qualifying, the Red Bull duel was pretty much over from the moment Verstappen missed his mark for his first pit-stop, triggering a slow stop which condemned him to frustrating lap after frustrating lap behind Raikkonen during the middle stint. His revenge at the race's conclusion was emphatic, if a touch rude, but also meagre consolation.
Rating out of ten: 7

Maybe this is why Ferrari kept their faith in 37-year-old Kimi Raikkonen. Talk of his stay only being confirmed to appease his German team-mate swept through the paddock at Silverstone but, with his back well and truly up against the wall here, this was vintage Kimi.

The Saturday gap to Vettel remains and 14th was a disastrous result for the Finn, but he was a man on a mission from the get-go a day later. Ferrari's soft tyre strategy helped Raikkonen out-last his competitors but he wasn't just looking after his rubber - this was an attacking display which continued until the very end. The debate over whether Verstappen fell foul of the rules with his defending will rage on and yes, Raikkonen may head to Germany ruing a missed opportunity.

But let's focus on the positives. He had the best pace, produced the best overtakes and in fact, this was one of Kimi's best performances in his two-and-a-half-year spell back with the Scuderia. His battle with the Dutchman kept this race alive.
Rating out of ten: 8

Seventh in Practice One, seventh in Practice Two, seventh in Practice Three, seventh in qualifying and, yes you guessed it, seventh at the chequered flag on race day, Fernando Alonso's Hungarian GP weekend was a model of consistency (for reasons of poetic licence, let's ignore his spin in qualifying).

In the circumstances, which may very well be unique, there's only one possible grade we can give him…
Rating out of ten: 9 (sorry, but he was actually a lot better than a 7)

Finishing in eighth is becoming something of a habit for Carlos Sainz. This was his third eighth place in a row and fourth of the season. After starting in sixth but being overtaken at the start by Fernando Alonso, he then simply matched his fellow Spaniard's strategy to the end and never got an opportunity to try and pass him.

Sainz was happy to see the pace he had in qualifying translate to the race but went so far as to describe it as a "bit of a boring one". Racing against his hero might have been a thrill at the start of his F1 career - but it is clear that Sainz now wants more.

Nonetheless it was a solid performance from a driver Sky F1's Martin Brundle insisted in the pre-race show should be snapped up by one of the big teams before too long.
Rating out of ten: 8.5

A good job efficiently done for Valtteri Bottas in Budapest. Tenth on the grid, a decent start gained another place into the first corner and the Finn stayed thereafter.

"I think we got the maximum points today from the starting position that we had," said the Finn. The concern for his Williams team, however, is that ninth was probably the maximum any driver could have achieved with their package this weekend. 
Rating out of ten: 7

A point for Nico Hulkenberg is surely scant consolation on a pretty frustrating day for the Force India driver. He lost a place at the start and then held his hands up to a mistake in the pits which cost him a further place - and track time - to Jolyon Palmer.

A case of must do better for the German at his home race next week even if did have the edge over his Force India team-mate throughout proceedings in Budapest.
Rating out of ten: 6

A weekend to forget for Sergio Perez. After a mistake in qualifying relegated him to 13th, four places behind his team-mate, a miscommunication with his Force India which saw the Mexican pit without any prior warning for his startled crew, killed off any hope of a points-scoring finish.

A rare, but forgivable, poor performance all round from a driver who has otherwise consistently excelled over the last 18 months.
Rating out of ten: 5

So close, yet so far for Jolyon Palmer. In his own words, everything was "perfect" on Sunday - the strategy, the Renault pace at the Hungaroring, his driving display. Perfect up until Lap 49, that is.

A first F1 point finally looked to be his before a horrendous spin at Turn Four which is sure to play back like a nightmare in Palmer's head. Halfway through his one-year contract, this was the last thing the Englishman needed.

"I'm gutted because it was there," said a despondent Palmer, who had his family watching on in the garage. "Obviously it's a disaster - it was the best drive of my career."
Rating out of ten: 7

The wait goes on for Esteban Gutierrez's first point with Haas and though he eventually got the better of his team-mate, it was another uneventful race day for the Mexican. However, he did almost have a huge say on this race when his failure to slow under blue flags cost race leader Hamilton time and Rosberg quickly jumped to within a second of his team-mate.

Hamilton reacted with a furious hand gesture and Gutierrez received a five-second penalty from the stewards, but he wasn't too impressed with the Brit either. 'Being a world champion doesn't give you the right to be disrespectful to your competitors, my friend,' he posted on Twitter.
Rating out of ten: 7

If starting 11th is starting to feel like a recurring nightmare for Haas and Romain Grosjean, finishing outside the points must be too.

P7 in Austria was a nice distraction for Grosjean but it's clear that the American outfit's true pace keeps them towards the back of the midfield. That was in evidence in Budapest again, with the Frenchman losing two places on the first round of pitstops before struggling around behind his team-mate.

Dogged with brake problems, he admitted: "This may be the worst race of the year".
Rating out of ten: 6

Kevin Magnussen's weekend never really got started and never once impressed. Unusually, the Dane was beaten by team-mate Palmer in both qualifying and on race day. Kevin, however, is sure to be at Renault next year. Jolyon, on the other hand, we're rather less sure about.
Rating out of ten: 5

It goes from bad to worse for Daniil Kvyat. Finishing eight places behind his team-mate Sainz in 16th surely doesn't help his cause as he tries to persuade the powers that be at Red Bull to keep him in the fold next season. He also won't be doing himself any favours by announcing that he has "no trust in the car." It's all looking rather gloomy for the Russian. 
Rating out of ten: 5

It won't have garnered much attention, and the heady heights quickly fell away to last in Q2, but Felipe Nasr's ninth place during a wet Q1 was very arguably one of the best performances of the weekend.

It's tough to impress at the back of the grid, but the Brazilian has driven consistently well ever since his chassis was changed two months ago and finishing a lap ahead of team-mate Ericsson was another commendable effort.
Rating out of ten: 8

It was one to forget for Felipe Massa - starting and finishing in 18th. In his words, it was "a terrible race", by no means helped by the fact he was hampered throughout by a steering rack problem. The team's ability to solve the issue so much so that he was able to race at all perhaps the only positive to come out of the day.  
Rating out of ten: 5

A frustrating afternoon for Pascal Wehrlein after another explosive start in his Manor saw him rise four places to 16th. Unfortunately the MRT05 was never going to enjoy the slow corners here, as the German professed: "We did not have a car to fight in those positions."
Rating out of ten: 6

After trundling around for his joint-lowest F1 finish in 20th, Marcus Ericsson will probably be remembered on-track in Budapest for yet another Saturday crash, and off-track for rumours that he, or his backers at least, have something to do with Sauber's financial safety.

On Sunday he had to start from the pitlane with the dreaded No 2 chassis which his team-mate gave up earlier in the season - while he was forced to make three pitstops thanks to tyre wear.
Rating out of ten: 6

Another race finish at the back will do nothing for Rio Haryanto's self-esteem - especially if this was indeed his final race. McLaren reserve Stoffel Vandoorne is thought to be in the frame to replace the Indonesian as soon as the German GP due to a lack of cash.

"There is definitely something going on," reported Sky F1's Ted Kravitz. "Stoffel doesn't have another race in Japan until the end of August so he could easily do that. Haryanto's sponsorship just hasn't turned up."
Rating out of ten: 5

DNF: Jenson Button, McLaren

Don't miss the F1 Report: Hungarian GP review on Sky Sports F1 at 8.30pm on Wednesday as Marc Priestley and Ben Hunt join Natalie Pinkham in the studio to discuss the fallout from the Budapest race. 

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