A look back at Hungary: 2014

As the Hungarian Grand Prix looms this weekend, F1Today is looking back at some classic Hungaroring showdowns of the past. Today, we revisit the 2014 race, which saw Daniel Ricciardo continue his mightily impressive season with his second career victory for Red Bull.

2014 Hungarian Grand Prix

Nico Rosberg led the Drivers' Championship heading to Hungary for the eleventh race of 2014, with 190 points and a 14-point lead over his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in second. Ricciardo was third on 106 points, and already had one win to his name from a stellar first year with Red Bull's senior team. Fernando Alonso was fourth for Ferrari with 97 points, and Williams' Valtteri Bottas rounded out the top five with 91.

Qualifying saw Rosberg take his sixth pole position of the season so far, and he would have a significant advantage over Hamilton going into Sunday as his car caught fire in Q3, meaning he would have to start from the pit lane. Ricciardo's team-mate Sebastian Vettel would line up alongside Vettel on the front row, and Bottas and Ricciardo would share row two in third and fourth respectively. Alonso was fifth, whilst Bottas' team-mate Felipe Massa qualified in sixth position.

The race got underway on a wet track due to the thunderstorms that had rumbled throughout the day, and this meant that the drivers all chose to start on Intermediate tyres. As the lights went out, Rosberg maintained his position to lead into the first turn as Bottas leapfrogged Vettel to move into second. Alonso initially did the same, although Vettel was able to take third back shortly afterwards.

Meanwhile, Hamilton had been released from the pit lane, but had cold brakes without the heat provided by a formation lap, and duly spun towards the wall at the second corner. He made light contact with the barrier and sustained mild front wing damage, but was able to continue - albeit in last place. It seemed that the Briton had even more of a mountain to climb, but it would not be long before he started making progress.

Rosberg was swiftly building a lead at the front and had a clear advantage before long - behind him, Hamilton had moved up to thirteenth. All their hard work would be wiped out on lap 9, however, when an accident for Marcus Ericsson's Caterham led to the appearance of the Safety Car. By this time the circuit had begun to dry, and the entire field - with the exception of the two McLarens - decided to pit for dry tyres. The four leaders lost out here as they initially missed the pit entrance and had to stop on the next lap. Rosberg slipped to fourth and Bottas to eleventh, but Ricciardo benefitted from the situation to move into the lead.

When the green flags waved again on lap 14 (the Safety Car period had been prolonged by another crash for Romain Grosjean), the Australian was coming under attack from Jenson Button, who passed the Red Bull very quickly. The McLaren's charge was to be short-lived, however, as he was in the pits on lap 16 for his own set of dry tyres, his extended stint on Intermediates having failed on an increasingly dry track surface.

On the next lap, Hamilton was seventh, chasing Vettel while circulating only a second behind Rosberg, who in turn was stuck in fifth behind Jean-Eric Vergne's Toro Rosso. Alonso had also made progress and was soon third, but this would be curtailed with another Safety Car on lap 23 after Sergio Perez thumped the pitwall in his Force India. Ricciardo and Massa pitted from the top two positions as the other frontrunners stayed out, promoting Alonso to first.

He retained and built his lead after the restart four laps later, followed by Vergne, Rosberg, Vettel and Hamilton. A spin by Vettel on lap 33 allowed Hamilton to catch and pass Vergne, as Rosberg had made another pit stop that demoted him to thirteenth. Hamilton and Alonso both pitted shortly afterwards, rejoining in fourth and ninth as Ricciardo retook the lead.

Rosberg was moving through the pack again by this stage and by lap 47 he was a second behind Hamilton. The Briton was instructed to let his faster team-mate through, but Hamilton vocally refused. Rosberg and Ricciardo both pitted on lap 54 and rejoined in fourth and seventh respectively, but they were soon dicing with Alonso and Hamilton for the lead and the win as the race reached its climax. Ricciardo was second with just three laps to go, having passed Hamilton, who in turn was pursued by Rosberg on his fresher tyres.

On the next lap, the Australian was right on Alonso's tail and passed the Spaniard at the first corner, holding on to win the race by 5.2 seconds. Alonso kept second in spite of fading tyres, with Hamilton's excellent recovery drive rewarding him with third. Rosberg had to settle for fourth despite his late charge, while Massa was fifth with Kimi Raikkonen a quiet sixth.

Mason Hawker