2007 Hungarian Grand Prix

Lore & Background

Hamilton went into the race with a 2-point advantage in World Championship points over Alonso and was 11 points ahead of 3rd place man Felipe Massa after a chaotic European Grand Prix, whilst McLaren held a 27-point lead in the Constructors' Championship over their main rivals Ferrari. Ralf Schumacher scored his last World Championship points at this race. Japanese former Super Aguri driver Sakon Yamamoto filled the second Spyker car, replacing European GP leader, German Markus Winkelhock. Sebastian Vettel, the youngest Grand Prix point scorer made his second Grand Prix start replacing Scott Speed at Scuderia Toro Rosso. Controversy hit the qualifying sessions when Hamilton failed to honour an agreement to let Alonso past on track; this denied Alonso a competitive advantage when setting his lap time. Alonso then retaliated by holding Hamilton up in the pit lane, to in turn deny Hamilton a chance to record a final lap time. Stewards later dropped Alonso five places down the starting grid of the race, putting him in sixth while Hamilton started in pole position. McLaren were also told they would not score any Constructor's Championship points in the race and wouldn't be presented with a winning constructor's trophy on the podium if one of their drivers were to win the race. The team stated Hamilton's hold-up was not Alonso's fault (although Alonso gave the stewards a different explanation, that he was inquiring about his tyres), and that Hamilton had disobeyed team orders to let Alonso pass him, which put the two drivers out of sequence for their pit stops. McLaren had initially expressed their intent to appeal the Constructor's points penalty but ultimately withdrew their appeal after subsequently losing all their Constructor's points as penalty for the espionage scandal.

In Their Own Story

The air in the Hungaroring pit lane hung thick with humidity and unspoken venom. Lewis Hamilton sat in his MP4-22, engine idling, waiting for a gap that Fernando Alonso refused to yield. The radio crackled with static, but the silence between the two drivers spoke louder than any telemetry data could. Ron Dennis stormed down the line, face masked by fury, shouting orders that were drowned out by the roar of engines and the rising tension of a team tearing itself apart from the inside. As Hamilton finally surged forward to take pole, he knew the victory was hollow; the checkered flag felt miles away, replaced by the looming shadow of disqualification and the realization that the golden era they had built together was crumbling in real-time.

Reader's Guide

Lewis Hamilton led every lap of the race (the first time anyone had done so in 2007), but had to withstand near constant pressure from the Ferrari of Kimi Räikkönen, which appeared more competitive than it did in qualifying and practice. Hamilton's team-mate Fernando Alonso managed to climb from his 6th place grid-slot to 4th by the end of the race, just behind the BMW Sauber of Nick Heidfeld. Alonso spent much of the race behind the Toyota of Ralf Schumacher, only getting past by the third stint. Schumacher finished in 6th place, after repassing Nico Rosberg (7th) and Heikki Kovalainen (8th) who were on three-stop strategies compared to Schumacher's two-stop strategy. This was the last time that Ralf Schumacher scored in Formula One. Retirements from the race were Sakon Yamamoto, who crashed in the early laps of the race on his Spyker debut. Jenson Button and Vitantonio Liuzzi both suffered mechanical failure while the Super Aguri of Anthony Davidson was taken out after a collision with the Renault of Giancarlo Fisichella. The moment Lewis Hamilton crossed the finish line he was celebrated, becoming the first ever rookie and the only active Formula One driver to have achieved a Grand Chelem at the time. However 0.715 seconds later, Kimi Räikkönen beat Hamilton's fastest lap, depriving him of the record.

Did You Know?

• Ralf Schumacher scored his last World Championship points at this race.
• Sakon Yamamoto replaced Markus Winkelhock at Spyker for this race.
• Sebastian Vettel made his second Grand Prix start at this race, replacing Scott Speed at Toro Rosso.
• Lewis Hamilton became the first rookie to achieve a Grand Chelem (pole, win, led every lap) at this race.