Mercedes falter as Vettel wins dramatic Hungarian GP

Sebastian Vettel took his second victory for Ferrari in 2015 as he kept his cool during a dramatic and action packed Hungarian Grand Prix.

The German stole a march on pole sitter Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg at the very beginning as he leaped the Mercedes pair, whilst team-mate Kimi Raikkonen also got ahead to lead a 1-2 for much of the race.

Hamilton meanwhile dropped to eighth come the end of the opening lap after a trip through the gravel. He would eventually fight his way back up to fourth.

Then came a Safety Car when Nico Hulkenberg’s front-wing disintegrated, sending the Force India driver into the barriers at Turn 1.

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At the restart Hamilton made contact with Ricciardo, dropping him to tenth due to a damaged front-wing, then a penalty for the contact pushed him back to 13th.

Meanwhile up front Rosberg dispatched a slow Raikkonen and began to hunt down Vettel, with Ricciardo joining in on the prancing horse hunt in his Red Bull.

As this battle played out, Raikkonen would retire, whilst Pastor Maldonado served three penalties for speeding, overtaking under the Safety Car and contact with Perez.

Hamilton fought his way back into the points, but it looked likely that he would concede the championship lead to his team-mate. That was until Ricciardo’s front-wing punctured Rosberg rear tyre, pushing the German down to P8 where he would eventually finish.

Meanwhile a stop for a new front-wing handed second to Red Bull team-mate Daniil Kvyat, who himself was handed a ten-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane, though it didn’t drop him down the order.

Amid the drama, McLaren enjoyed its best result with Fernando Alonso finishing fifth and Jenson Button ninth to take home 12 points.