| 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 11 of 22[a] in the2021 Formula One World Championship
| |||||
 Layout of the Hungaroring | |||||
| Race details[2][3] | |||||
| Date | 1 August 2021 | ||||
| Official name | Formula 1 RolexMagyar Nagydíj 2021 | ||||
| Location | Hungaroring Mogyoród,Hungary | ||||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||||
| Course length | 4.381 km (2.722 miles) | ||||
| Distance | 70 laps, 306.630 km (190.531 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Rain and sunny. Ambient: 26 to 29 °C (79 to 84 °F); Surface: 31 to 52 °C (88 to 126 °F).[3] | ||||
| Attendance | 130,000[4] | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Mercedes | ||||
| Time | 1:15.419 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |  Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Honda | |||
| Time | 1:18.394 on lap 70 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Alpine-Renault | ||||
| Second | Mercedes | ||||
| Third | Ferrari | ||||
Lap leaders | |||||
The2021 Hungarian Grand Prix (officially known as theFormula 1 Rolex Magyar Nagydíj 2021) was aFormula One motor race, held on 1 August 2021 at theHungaroring inMogyoród,Hungary. It was the eleventh round of the2021 Formula One World Championship,[2] and it was won byEsteban Ocon forAlpine-Renault. The win was Ocon's first in Formula One, the first win for theEnstone-based team since the2013 Australian Grand Prix, and the first win for aRenault-badged engine since the2014 Belgian Grand Prix,[5] with Hamilton andCarlos Sainz Jr. completing the podium afterSebastian Vettel was disqualified from second.Pierre Gasly earned the fastest lap, whileWilliams scored their first double points finish since the2018 Italian Grand Prix and their first points of any kind since the2019 German Grand Prix.
As of the2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix, Ocon's win remains his most recent, as well as the most recent achieved by a French driver in Formula One, and the most recent by a Renault engined car in Formula One.
The event, which was held over the weekend of 30 July – 1 August at theHungaroring, was the eleventh round of the 2021 World Championship, marking the thirty-sixth time theHungarian Grand Prix has appeared on the World Championship calendar. Additional debris fencing was installed at the thirteenth corner before the event, while minor modifications were made to the pit lane entrance and exit.[6]
After title contendersMax Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) andLewis Hamilton (Mercedes) collided on the first lap of theBritish Grand Prix, Verstappen's lead in the World Drivers' Championship was reduced to eight points.[7] They were followed byMcLaren driverLando Norris a further sixty-four points back, and Hamilton's teammateValtteri Bottas five points behind Norris.
Further, Mercedes had closed the gap between themselves and Red Bull in the World Constructors' Championship to four points.McLaren occupied third, 122 points behind Mercedes, but fifteen points ahead ofScuderia Ferrari.
The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list, with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.[8]Robert Kubica drove in the first practice session forAlfa Romeo Racing in place ofKimi Räikkönen.[9]
Sole tyre supplier Pirelli allocated theC2, C3, and C4 compounds of tyre to be used in the race.[10]
Free Practice 1 and 2 took place on 30 July at 11:30CEST and 15:00 CEST respectively.[6] Free Practice 3 was held on 31 July at 12:00 CEST.[6]
The first qualifying session took place on 31 July at 15:00 CEST.[6]Hamilton qualified inpole position ahead ofBottas andVerstappen.[11] Verstappen would start on the soft tyres after using them in the second segment, while Hamilton and Bottas would both start on the medium tyre compound.[12]Pérez qualified fourth, ahead ofGasly.[13] The second part of qualifying was stopped after a crash bySainz,[11] caused by a wind gust making the car unstable.[14]Russell failed to progress past the first segment for the first time in 2021.[15]Schumacher did not take part in the session because his car was damaged in a crash during free practice.[16]
The race started at 15:00CEST on 1 August.[6] It was held for seventy laps at theHungaroring withLewis Hamilton starting on pole position.[21] Rain before and during the first lap led to all cars starting on intermediate tyres,Antonio Giovinazzi pitted for dry tyres at the end of the formation lap and subsequently started from the pit lane.[22] The race began with major incidents at the first turn on the first lap;Valtteri Bottas braked late, causing him to hit the back of theMcLaren ofLando Norris, sending Norris into Verstappen, who suffered damage but was able to continue. After hitting Norris, Bottas slid into the otherRed Bull ofSergio Pérez, taking him out of the race.Lance Stroll also left his braking too late, and attempted to avoid a collision by taking to the grass on the inside, but collided with theFerrari ofCharles Leclerc, who then forcedDaniel Ricciardo to spin as a result. When the safety car was called out, Pérez retired. After following two laps under thesafety car, the race was red-flagged. Norris then retired under the red flag.[23] The engine in Leclerc's car was written off as it was found to be damaged beyond repair.[24][25] Verstappen's car had significant damage, greatly hampering his performance.[26][27] As the cars came into the pit lane to change tyres and come out for the restart, an unsafe release from Alfa Romeo causedKimi Räikkönen to collide withNikita Mazepin, taking the Haas driver out of the race. Räikkönen was subsequently given a ten-second time penalty.[28]
On the restart, only race leader Hamilton started from the grid on intermediate tyres; the rest of the grid started from the pits having changed to slick tyres. Hamilton pitted after the fourth lap, putting theAlpine of Ocon into the lead with Vettel chasing close behind.[citation needed] Hamilton made a pit stop for hard tyres on the nineteenth lap, allowing him toundercut Verstappen and Ricciardo when they stopped the following lap.[29][30]Sainz overcutLatifi andTsunoda, putting him into third behind Ocon and Vettel.[citation needed] Verstappen overtook Räikkönen to move up into eleventh place.[22] Vettel and Ocon made pit stops for new tyres on the thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh laps, respectively.[31] Hamilton fought his way up to fourth, then pitted on the forty-eighth lap, coming out behindAlonso. Alonso held him back for twelve laps after the fifty-third lap until the Spaniard locked up and Hamilton passed at the first turn.[citation needed] Hamilton overtook the Ferrari of Sainz on the sixty-seventh lap and moved into third.[30] Gasly pitted on the sixty-eighth lap for fresh tyres and got the fastest lap on the last lap of the race. Ocon won the race from Vettel and Hamilton.
This was Ocon and Alpine's first victory, the first Grand Prix win for the Enstone team since the2013 Australian Grand Prix, when they were known asLotus F1,[32][33][34][c] and Ocon's first win in any motor race since the2015 GP3 Series.[36][31] Ocon credited teammate Alonso for preventing Hamilton from catching him by the end of the race.[37] It also marked the first victory for aFrench driver driving for a French team sinceOlivier Panis' triumph at the1996 Monaco Grand Prix driving for theLigier team as well as the first victory for a French driver driving a French car powered by aFrench engine sinceAlain Prost's triumph at the1983 Austrian Grand Prix driving aRenault car.[32][35]
The result allowed Mercedes to pass Red Bull for the lead of the Constructors' Championship.[38] Williams moved up to eighth in the championship, ahead of Alfa Romeo, after both their drivers scored for the first time since 2018.[39]
As a result of their roles in causing multiple-car collisions at the first turn of the opening lap, Bottas and Stroll were each given five-place grid penalties for the Belgian Grand Prix.[40][41]
During post-race scrutineering, stewards were unable to extract sufficient fuel from Sebastian Vettel's Aston Martin for a one-litre (0.22 imp gal; 0.26 US gal) sample requested by the rules. Vettel was therefore disqualified.[42][43] This promoted Mercedes’ Hamilton to second and Ferrari's Sainz to third.[44] Aston Martin initially appealed the disqualification,[45] but later withdrew the appeal.[46]
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Previous race: 2021 British Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 2021 season | Next race: 2021 Belgian Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix | Hungarian Grand Prix | Next race: 2022 Hungarian Grand Prix |
