Christian Horner, Team Principal: "A fantastic grand prix and the performance by Daniel today was truly sensational. Starting in wet conditions, he benefitted from being a little bit further back and being able to get in for slick tyres at the first safety car and then really managed to make his strategy work on the soft tyres through the next stages of the race. We knew we'd have to make a final stop, which would put us behind Alonso and Hamilton who were trying to get to the end. But he closed the gap down quickly and then, with some fantastic overtaking manoeuvres in the last five laps, pulled off a dramatic victory to achieve the second in his career and our second this season. Sebastian's afternoon was much more frustrating. Unfortunately, after a good start and some good battles, he got the call at the same time as Daniel to pit after the Caterham had an accident, but was too far round the last corner to make it into the pit lane. He then had to stop under the safety car which meant he lost some places. He was making progress but then had the spin and managed to avoid the pit wall, but he flat spotted his tyres and then had a problem at the restart. It was then a question of damage limitation, trying to run the hard tyres to the end of the race and he did a phenomenal job to keep Bottas behind him."
Thierry Salvi, Renault: "This race was amazing but also quite difficult to manage thanks to the multiple safety cars and changing track conditions. The fuel consumption was less than expected and forced us to use different energy scenarios to recharge the car. Seb did not benefit from the first safety car and so had a lot of work to do throughout the race to recover. Daniel on the other hand had a perfect strategy and was able to extract the maximum from his car. Winning the race is a very good result for the team, and we all deserve this. A lot of effort has gone into trying to catch up and this kind of result helps everyone keep that momentum and motivation high."
After a downpour of rain in the final hour before the race, all teams were forced to start on the intermediate tyres. Lewis ran a two-stop strategy, pitting on laps 8 and 39, running inters/option/prime. Nico ran to a three-stop strategy, pitting on laps 9, 32 and 56, running inters/option/option/option. The team has now finished on the podium in every race in 2014 so far and today secured 27 more points in the constructors' championship. The team now heads into the summer break with a 174 point lead in the championship with 8 races remaining.
Toto Wolff: The conditions today made the race very difficult. The safety car periods worked out better for some and worse for others. If you look at the leading three cars before the safety car period, they ended up in fourth, seventh and eighth - and that was what really cost Nico, when he was held by the Safety Car and couldn't get back to the pits. The result for us was also down to some brilliant driving from Lewis and Nico. To finish third and fourth on a circuit that's very difficult to overtake on is probably the best we could have done today, given the challenges that were thrown our way. Again we had reliability issues on Lewis' car and we had some very difficult decisions to make in the race. Obviously, we need to sit down, discuss and analyse the moment when Lewis was asked to let Nico pass - but, like always, we will do this calmly and work our way through any confusion or misunderstanding. There were so many things influencing the decisions we made and we must still determine whether we were right or not. We are not satisfied with third and fourth today, so we will look at everything and try to improve for the next race.
Paddy Lowe: It was a difficult afternoon; but it was never going to be easy with one car starting from the pit-lane. On the other side of the garage we were well lined up with a good car and good pace. We opened up a healthy lead from the start in tricky conditions until the race was overturned by a safety car. For reasons we don't yet understand, the safety car split the pack and Nico got stuck behind it because he had been unable to pit before it was called out. We put Nico on a three-stop strategy and Lewis on a two-stop. This caused an interaction which we explained as best we could to each driver. In the event, neither strategy was capable of recovering the win given the impact of the safety car periods. We had a few issues with brake management on both cars and a fuel pressure issue on Lewis' car that we will look into more closely. The problems didn't have a significant effect on performance and at the end of the day, third and fourth was probably the best we could do in the circumstances. As we start 'half-term' it's a good point to say well done to both drivers and the team for all that has been achieved this year, and we wish everybody, including the fans, happy holidays.
Pat Fry: "After mixed fortunes in qualifying yesterday, today the team showed it could react extremely well and keep a cool head when faced with the variable situations that arose during the race. It's never easy in cases like this, with rain at the start, the Safety Car, having to avoid traffic and especially with having to keep faster cars behind us, but the team performed very competently. The F14 T demonstrated the good race pace it had already shown on Friday and that has helped us re-take third place in the Constructors' classification. After the summer break, we come to two races that will be difficult for us, on two tracks where it will be important to make the most of any opportunity, just as we did today. On behalf of the team, I wish to congratulate Fernando and Kimi. We had promised them redemption and we were true to our word. We know that there is still a long way to go, but we will spare nothing in our efforts, continuing to work hard to improve, day by day."
Romain started from P14 on new intermediate tyres, changing to new soft compound tyres on lap 8. He retired from the race on lap 11. Pastor started from twentieth position on new intermediate tyres. He pitted on laps 8, 17 and 43 for new soft tyres, with a new front wing fitted in the middle stop.
Federico Gastaldi, Deputy Team Principal: "It was quite some race for us and for many teams too! Romain was unlucky to be caught out by the conditions as he had good potential in the race, but as we saw many drivers had moments off track today. It was good for Pastor to see the chequered flag in such an eventful Grand Prix. The team worked well together all weekend and now we have a week to apply all the lessons learnt from the last two races before the well-needed summer shutdown."
Nick Chester, Technical Director: "That was an eventful race for everyone. It was unfortunate for Romain as the conditions were really tricky and a wheel on a wet kerb was all it took for him to spin off. It would have been interesting to see what he could have done if he'd stayed in the race. Pastor had a good Grand Prix, albeit he couldn't find a way past Daniil Kvyat in the early laps which compromised his eventual finishing position. We have a lot of aero data from this weekend, which we will scrutinise ahead of the summer shutdown in our quest to extract more performance from the E22."
Simon Rebreyend, Renault Sport F1 track support leader: "We did the best we could, given the situation and weather conditions. Pastor was not far from the top ten, which is a good effort from his starting position. Romain was unlucky to spin in the damp conditions - without this we could have had the pace to get some points. Although we go away without a score, the form we've shown in the race will give us a boost going into the summer break."
A typically unpredictable wet-to-dry grand prix that resulted in an edge-of-the-seat climax involving three drivers.
For McLaren, a misleading weather forecast prompted the team to remain on Intermediate tyres while the rest of the field pitted behind the Safety Car for Options. With the chance of rain diminishing, both drivers lost ground after pitting for dry-weather tyres - a decision that dictated our performance for the remainder of the grand prix.
A scheduled mid-race switch to the Prime tyre failed to bring pace to their races, and Jenson and Kevin established themselves in 10th and 12th respectively until the chequer.
Eric Boullier, Racing Director: "Formula 1 put on a great show for its fans today - but, unfortunately, it wasn't a great afternoon for the team. We worked hard to make the most of the tricky conditions at the start of the race - but it didn't go our way. That's frustrating, but, equally, that's racing - it happens sometimes. We made the wrong call, but, in such a topsy-turvy race weather-wise, sometimes there are some very narrow margins involved.
"If things had panned out differently, we may have had a good afternoon - but we don't dwell on the maybes. We'll learn from this experience, and we'll move on. We tried our best today but it just didn't work out for us - that's a shame for both Jenson and Kevin, because they both drove very well in some difficult circumstances.
"This isn't a great reward for the team after a lot of hard work, but we'll regroup over the summer, learn from our mistakes, and work hard to improve our fortunes for the second half of the season. There are positives to take away from many of our performances this year, but areas where we can still work harder. I want to wish the whole team a restful and relaxing summer vacation, and we'll come back ready to work even harder to return McLaren to the front."
Vijay Mallya, Team Principal & Managing Director: "It is disappointing to come away from this weekend with nothing, especially as the race was shaping up nicely for us. Both Checo and Nico were on course for a points finish, but it was not our day. Sometimes, this is how motorsport is. But a negative result must not detract from our great first half of the year because this is the first race in 2014 in which we have not scored points. Despite the missed opportunity, we remain in fifth place in the championship. It was also a fantastic race for Formula One with wheel-to-wheel racing and a great show for the fans. We have the summer break now, an occasion to regroup and come back stronger in Belgium and get ready for the final eight races."
Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: "This was a good performance by the whole team that was unfortunately not rewarded. Esteban was driving strongly, and it's really frustrating that we had a problem with the Energy Recovery System, which forced him to retire. Adrian also drove strongly, but unfortunately didn't manage to gain the decisive position on track. The whole team delivered an impeccable performance under very difficult circumstances."
Giampaolo Dall'Ara, Head of Track Engineering: "There were two deciding factors in this race for our team. First we lost Esteban due to a failure of the Energy Recovery System. He was running in eighth and could have finished the race in the points. The second key point was that we lost a position on the track, and this car slowed Adrian quite a bit towards the end of the race. During the first safety car period, we made the call to bring both cars in on the same lap, which was not easy to handle, but under the circumstances it was a correct decision. It was positive that we were able to race with quite a lot of competition, but it's disappointing not to finish in the points."
Franz Tost (Team Principal): "We showed a very good performance in the Qualifying, starting the race with Jev from eighth and Daniil from tenth position. Jev showed a fantastic race under wet conditions, but also in the drying off circumstances, when he was second behind Alonso showing Rosberg, Vettel and Hamilton the back of the car. It was clear that under a full dry track we can’t keep this position. At the end we scored points again which is quite positive. Daniil’s engine stalled at the start. We have never faced this before. We will investigate the reason for this to prevent it in the future. Taking into consideration that Daniil had to start from the pit lane he showed a good race. Thanks to the team which did a good job during the entire weekend, and congratulations to Red Bull and Daniel Ricciardo for the fantastic victory."
Ricardo Penteado (Renault Sport F1 track support leader): "Both cars crossed the line with all the Power Unit parameters on the green side and energy management was good, considering the evolving conditions. JEV showed incredible form on the changing track and in fact deserved to score more points. Daniil’s race was unfortunately compromised at the start when the engine stalled - we are still investigating why this occurred. Congratulations to our sister team Red Bull and to Daniel on a great victory today."
Felipe Massa finished fifth and Valtteri Bottas eighth as Williams Martini Racing scored points with both cars in an eventful Hungarian Grand Prix.
Felipe put in a strong performance in changeable conditions to end his run of bad luck with a solid points finish. Valtteri ran second in the early stages but was delayed by traffic during his first pit stop, eventually challenging Vettel for seventh in the closing laps. Williams Martini Racing heads into Formula 1's summer break fourth in the constructors championship with 135 points.
Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: We've been used to racing for podiums lately, so today was a bit different. The pace of the car wasn't fantastic, which we can accept on a tight and twisty track like this. We did what we could, we got two cars home in the points and pulled away from McLaren and Force India in the championship. We're happy with fourth in the Constructors' going into the break and we've got some good races coming up, so we will come back eager for more podiums at Spa and Monza.
A pre-race downpour in Budapest produced an incredible show in today's 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix, in which the Marussia F1 Team delivered another strong two-car finish and retained 9th position in the Constructors' Championship. Jules Bianchi ended the race in 15th place, with team-mate Max Chilton in P16.
The heavens opened around 15 minutes before the pit lane opened and although the showers abated by the time the cars left the garage, the track was wet enough to evaluate the Extreme Wet tyre on the reconnaissance laps to the grid. As it was, the entire field started the race on the Intermediate tyre but the track was ready for slicks within six laps.
It was at the crossover from wets to slicks that the race dialled up several notches, with several cars coming unstuck in the slippery conditions, some big crashes and three safety car periods. On lap 17, whilst minding his own race, Jules was hit in the side by Pastor Maldonado. The impact punctured the tyre and at the ensuing pit stop, the first of three, it was clear that there was a lot of damage to the bodywork and floor. This did not prevent Jules from completing the race, but his car was a handful for the remaining 53 laps, quite some distance to drive with a badly imbalanced car that was hurting the tyres significantly. The engineers tried to improve the car with the steering wheel settings and Jules did a very good job to manage the issues whilst ensuring he did not drop to the back of the field.
Max experienced a straightforward race, utilising the Soft tyres well, having started on the Intermediate tyre. The retirement of Kobayashi and Jules' incident with Maldonado handed some advantage back to Max for several laps and later in the race he was racing right behind Jules.
John Booth, Team Principal: "A difficult start to the race with the downpour that happened as we were preparing to go to the grid, however it was fairly clear that the Intermediate tyres would be required for the race start. It took a little longer than expected for the track to dry, but with the arrival of the safety car it was clear that we would have to stop for dry tyres at this point. Jules was running well at the back of the midfield pack when Maldonado hit him. Unfortunately, this effectively ended his ability to race in this position in the field, having sustained a significant amount of car damage, which cost him a lot of downforce. Max had a less eventful race doing well to avoid the incidents, of which there were plenty, and he made the best of his car in tricky conditions to follow Jules home. It's good to end the first part of the season with a two-car finish. The Team have done a great job so far and hopefully the break will provide the respite we deserve to come back and fight even harder in the remaining eight races."
Claudio Albertini, Head of Customer Teams Power Unit Operations, Scuderia Ferrari: "Once again, an intense weekend ended with a result that reflects the predictions. The best moment of this Grand Prix weekend was definitely yesterday, when Jules brought a Ferrari powered Marussia in Q2 for the third time this season. Today both drivers did their best, although it is clear that the race of the French driver was affected by the collision with Maldonado, which has made his car very difficult to drive. From the point of view of reliability, not everything went smoothly. A gearbox problem prevented Max from taking advantage of all the available time in FP1 on Friday, which confirms how crucial it is never lower our guard on this front. Now for all, in Maranello and in Banbury, there is a chance to take a breather at the end of this very demanding first part of the season: an opportunity to recharge our batteries for the second half of the championship, which promises to be just as intense. The aim will be to put the team in the best conditions to consolidate the proud ninth place it occupies so far in the Constructors' Championship."
Fernando Alonso in his Ferrari held off his second place against Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton who charged through the field to finish third after having started from the pit lane. Both used a two-stop strategy starting on the intermediates with Hamilton then completing one stint on the soft and his final stint on the medium tyre. Alonso just used the soft tyre for his final two stints, changing for the second time on lap 38 and thus making the soft tyre last for 32 laps.
An important rain shower just before the cars were supposed to go on the grid provoked some hectic thinking for the teams' strategists as the determined whether the Cinturato Blue full wet tyre or the intermediate would be the tyre to start on. After having completed some careful reconnaissance laps on either the full wet or the intermediate tyre before going to the grid, all drivers opted to start the race on the intermediate tyre.
A safety car period in lap 8 changed predetermined strategies as the whole field except McLaren's Kevin Magnussen, who stayed out until lap 15, changed to the P Zero Yellow soft tyre on a rapidly drying track. His team-mate Jenson Button was the only one to opt for another set of the intermediate tyres which did not work out for him in the end, finishing in 10th after briefly having been in the lead.
As rain tyres were used during some point of the race, the rule of having to use both types of dry compounds was no longer valid. This then made for some very exciting racing with positions being swapped constantly, not only at the top but all the way down through the field and various strategies being at play. At one stage of the race an equal balance of medium and soft tyres were being run.
Paul Hembery: "Today's race at the Hungaroring showed how tyre strategy can benefit a race. The brief we received from the promoter and the teams in 2011 when we entered the sport is still valid and today's results have shown how the tyres and strategy can help to produce very exciting races. The rain that fell just before the start of the race also helped as teams had to determine which of the rain tyres would be the most appropriate to start on. We saw some extremely close battles throughout until the very end, underlining the importance of selecting the right strategy and being able to react to changing circumstances. Now Formula One heads off for its summer break, and after the first half of a season that can only be described as impressive – during which the sport entered a new era, and we even previewed what an 18-inch tyre could look like – we look forward to an equally intriguing second half from the Belgian Grand Prix onwards."
Truth-O-Meter:
We said that a three-stop strategy was theoretically fastest for the 70-lap race with a two-stop strategy likely to avoid the risk of getting caught up in traffic. This was based on the assumption that it would be a dry race which it was only after the first eight laps.
In the end, Daniel Ricciardo won the race by doing a three-stop starting on the intermediate tyre and then completing three stints on the soft tyre, changing on laps eight, 23 and 54.
