Mercedes-Benz - Hamilton wins Hungarian GP
Lewis Hamilton on Vodafone McLaren Mercedes was the big winner of the 2009 Hungarian GP. Nicole Scherzinger was one of the first congratulators.
After qualifying fourth, Lewis Hamilton made a good start but was able to benefit from KERS to charge down to the first turn alongside Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel. He out-braked Mark Webber to briefly hold second before losing traction at the exit and ceding the place back into Turn Two. Nonetheless, he kept up the pressure to pass the Australian around the outside of Turn Two five laps later.
He immediately started to close the gap to leader Fernando Alonso, and took the lead on lap 12 when the Spaniard was the first to pit.
Lewis changed tyres on lap 20 and spent the majority of the second stint establishing a cushion over Raikkonen. With a comfortable margin, he switched to Primes on lap 46 and finished 11 seconds ahead of the Finn. It was Lewis’s first win of 2009 and his 10th career victory in Formula 1.
“It’s an incredible feeling to be back on the top spot after what feels like such a long time and such a struggle,” he said afterwards. “This was one of my best races – I never gave up and, more importantly, neither did anyone in this team. I’m so proud of all the guys. We didn’t expect to win today – we didn’t think we quite had the overall pace – but the car was just perfect to drive, it felt fantastic for the entire race.
“We need to take as much as we can from this weekend. We’ll continue to push because that’s the only way this team knows. Now we want to be winners on a regular basis.
“Finally, my thoughts are with Felipe today. Despite our celebrations, it’s important to remember that there’s a guy lying in a hospital bed tonight, and I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say that we all had Felipe in our hearts and minds today and we wish him a speedy recovery.”
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MARTIN WHITMARSH Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes: “Even as recently as four weeks ago, I don’t think many people would have believed you if you’d told them that we’d win the Hungarian Grand Prix in dominant fashion, but that’s exactly what we did today. And the fact that we did just that is a fantastic testimony to what can only be described as a superhuman team effort. Yes, 2009 has been a very hard year for us, but no-one at Woking, Brixworth or Stuttgart ever gave up; we all kept pulling together, we all kept our spirits up, and above all we all kept working. I’m immensely proud of every single one of them.
“And, today, Lewis, who has also never stopped pushing all year, was simply magnificent: there’s no other word. He was in the groove all afternoon, he delivered breathtaking speed where it mattered, and he controlled the race like the winner he is.”
NORBERT HAUG Vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: “A sensation! Lewis was a class of his own – a historic win, the first with the KERS Hybrid in Formula 1 - the Silver Arrows are flying again! Unfortunately, Heikki got stuck in traffic, but he was fast and with his fifth place we scored as many points today as in the previous nine races together. We think of Felipe - he would have been capable of being among the best or even to fight for a victory today, as Kimi showed. We wish him a good recovery. Thank you to all our team members who worked so incredibly hard for this success. Now is the summer break and you deserve it.”
With todays win of Lewis Hamilton and a season which still has a long way to go, chances are that we might be able to see many more great appearances of the “silver arrows”. Looking forward to the next races.
