2007 Hungarian Grand Prix
Pitlanegate: Alonso penalized, Hamilton wins from pole.
The 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Magyar Nagydíj 2007) was the eleventh race of the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship and was held on 5 August 2007 at the Hungaroring racing track in Mogyoród, Pest, Hungary. It was also memorable for an incident in the Saturday qualifying session, between McLaren teammates Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.
Quick Facts
- Event
- Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix
- Date
- August 5, 2007
- Circuit
- Hungaroring, Budapest
- Winner
- Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari)
- Mclaren pole position holder
- Lewis Hamilton (Disqualified)
- Team status
- Intra-team Conflict Peak
Lore & Background
Hamilton went into the race trailing Alonso by 2 points in the World Championship 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 the trophy presentation for the winning constructor was withheld. The team stated 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.
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.
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