The best Formula 1 season in years somehow stepped up the drama levels another notch at an extraordinary Hungarian Grand Prix.
It was a race that had everything. A shock winner, a multi-car pile-up on a chaotic first lap and one of the most surreal sights in F1 history – a single car on the grid for a start.
That car was Lewis Hamilton’s, after he and his Mercedes team made a misjudgement in not coming in for a change to dry-weather slick tyres when every other driver on the grid did.
That mistake left Hamilton down in last place after five laps in a race in which his team-mate Valtteri Bottas had already inadvertently taken out both the cars of their rival Red Bull team, further worsening the already dire relations between the two title contenders, and leading to a frosty exchange between their respective bosses.
Through the chaos came Esteban Ocon to take a most unlikely but well deserved victory for the Alpine team. A win thanks in no small part to team-mate Fernando Alonso, who used all his experience and renowned race-craft to hold back Hamilton for a crucial 10 laps when the seven-time champion was hunting a win in the closing stages.
